Chapter 52
Percy
Ialmost turned and fled when Dodge entered the room. My knees knocked together and I didn’t know what to say or how to start. And then, the moment I set eyes on him, the moment the air changed because he was there... A relief so intense I almost passed out rolled through me, and my legs weakened.
I managed to stay standing but I couldn’t control my tears. They escaped in a rush. My face crumpled and I felt like a total idiot, but I sobbed and didn’t know how to stop. I had no idea how much I’d missed him until he stood in front of me. It was like I’d had an immense hole in my guts that I didn’t know was there, and that only he could fill.
The floor creaked and I knew it was Dodge moving closer. Then the warmth of his arms drew me in and I rested my cheek against the soft, clean-smelling fabric of his shirt. I squeezed my eyes shut and held onto him, desperate to feel whole again. I felt safe – reallysafe– for the first time since I’d knocked on the Evershaws’ door looking for a job. I leaned into him as Dodge murmured nonsense and nuzzled behind my ear, his arms squeezing me tight until I didn’t even need to stand up on my own. He had me. He supported me.
I had no idea how long we stood there, me crying on his shoulder and Dodge holding me close. Eventually I straightened and tried to wipe my cheeks and my nose so I didn’t dribble all over myself and him. I’d already left some tears on his shoulder, but adding snot to the mix was just plain rude. My cheeks heated as I looked down, embarrassed by being so out of control and falling all over Dodge the moment I saw him.
“Hey now,” he said softly, gently brushing at the moisture on my cheeks. He gazed at me with an intensity that made my stomach flip, like he searched for something. In a moment of panic, I wondered if he smelled the pregnancy just like Rafe had. Dodge held my face and leaned to kiss my forehead. “I missed you.”
I sucked in a breath and tried not to let my hope shine like a beacon. He missed me? He really missed me? I nodded slowly, unable to form words that weren’t just blurting out that I loved him and needed him in my life. I swayed as the ebb and rush of emotions left me light-headed. Dodge immediately put his arm around my waist and eased me to the couch where I’d sat during the interview with Deirdre and her husband. Where I’d first met Dodge and watched him and thought that little dimple in his cheek was far too sexy for a man.
Dodge looked over at where Deirdre and Evershaw canoodled. “Can you give us a minute?”
“No,” Deirdre said before her husband could say anything. The witch didn’t glance at me, but I knew she stayed to make sure Dodge didn’t immediately assume it was me if he smelled someone pregnant. It wouldn’t last long as a deception, but she thought it would buy me enough time to say what I needed to say. She patted Evershaw’s cheek and pointed him over toward a pair of chairs on the other side of the room. “We’ll just sit here and let you two get to it, but we’re staying in the room in case Percy needs some help... interpreting all the growls and grunts that you use to communicate.”
He gave her a dirty look, which earned a warning growl from Evershaw. “We don’t need a fucking peanut gallery for this.”
Silas, still a wolf, snorted and flopped on his side near the coffee table. Deirdre gave Dodge an arch look and folded her arms over her chest. I knew he’d lost and it wasn’t worth a fight, particularly when I still wanted Deirdre there, and said quietly, “It’s fine. Let them stay.”
Dodge grumbled but turned to face me on the couch. He caught both my hands in his, searching my face for something. He looked terrible – probably almost as bad as I did. He’d lost weight and his skin no longer had a healthy tan. The lines around his eyes had deepened noticeably, as if he’d aged years in the weeks since I’d last seen him.
Even with all that... I’d never seen any man as handsome, as breathtaking. The warmth in his eyes nearly set me sobbing again, because I got the first hint that he didn’t blame me for being shot, that we might actually be together long term. That this day was the first day of the rest of our life together, instead of the last day I harbored the hope that things would work out.
Dodge seemed content to just hold my hands, his thumb stroking the inside of my wrist over and over. Most of my anxiety receded, though I tensed against when Evershaw muttered, “What the hell is...” and started poking at Deirdre.
Shit. He must have figured it out. If Evershaw announced that Deirdre was expecting, then it might tip Dodge to search for the same hint. Or the other couple would start celebrating and I wouldn’t have the opportunity to tell Dodge what I needed to before everything else went off the rails. Evershaw didn’t strike me as the kind of guy with a subdued reaction to good news. Or bad news. Any news, really.
I steeled myself and reached deep for some courage. I managed to meet Dodge’s gaze, but just barely. “I missed you, too. I really did. I wondered why you didn’t... That’s fine. I just wanted to say...” I stumbled and my voice cracked. I got lost in describing the enormity of my feelings for him. It was such a strange depth and intensity...
Dodge caught my shoulder and pulled me closer, against his chest, and rested his chin on my head after tucking me against his shoulder. He took a deep breath and exhaled, and more of the tension ran out of him. “You can tell me anything you want. Anything.”
I believed him, God help me. And it made it easier to talk without him looking right at me. I squeezed my eyes shut and let the words out in a rush. “You said that you were mine as long as I wanted you. Or something like that. Well, I wanted to say that I want you. I want you for... for as long as I can have you. Forever, if you’re up for it.”
He went still.
I braced for rejection, some kind of back-pedaling or excuses, and tried to memorize the feel of his arms around me so I had something to remember later.
Dodge dropped his chin a little so his mouth brushed my ear. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with supernaturals. Including me.”
“I didn’t...”
“I’ll give it up,” he said abruptly. His arms tightened and relaxed. “I’ll leave the pack. I’ll walk away from it, I’ll never shift again, if that’s what you want. If that’s what you need. I want you, too, Persephone. There are still things I need to tell you, but I promise, we don’t have to say another word about magic and shifters if that’s what makes you happy.”
My heart started beating again. He wanted me. And he would walk away from his pack for me. I didn’t want that, not at all. I shook my head against his shoulder but stayed plastered against him so I could breathe him in. “I know I freaked out. It was... a lot to take in. And it’s still a little... overwhelming, so I need this to go slowly with all the supernatural stuff and magic. But in the last few weeks, I’ve really appreciated what a pack brings into your life. The support. I kind of like that.”
He grumbled and his fingers drifted over the bare skin of my shoulder where my collar gapped. His voice held a curious tension. “But you want to joinmypack, not Rafe O’Shea’s. Right?”
I smiled and nuzzled closer. “It’s just, I’ve been on my own for a long time and I’m not used to being able to rely on anyone. It’s new. Very new. But I want to try it out. See how it feels.”
Dodge rubbed his chin over my head, messing up my ponytail. He started to say something else, no doubt something unbearably sweet, but he paused. Took another deep, deep breath. Exhaled and made a curious sound. Then he pressed his nose to my hair, repeating it before moving to snuffle along my collar and against my bare skin.
My heart immediately jumped and plummeted at the same time. He must have sensed something different.
Dodge pulled back to look at me with a frown, clearly puzzled over something. I could only stare at him, my pulse pounding in my ears. Did he know? Had he guessed?
