Ambrose hadn’t been anywhere near my condo, so we’d driven back in comfortable silence, his hand on my thigh and his jaw clenched.
We came home to find Mercury and Kiara curled together in the nest, fast asleep. Dash hadn’t made it back yet, but there was an update text flashing on the lock screen of Mercury’s phone. It confirmed everything was going well and he hadn’t blown anything up—the man clearly wasn’t used to being left to his own devices.
Ambrose and I didn’t wake either of them, dropping onto the leather living room couch instead.
I flicked on the TV, trying to process what we’d learned. The plans we hoped would work to get Kiara out from under her father for good. The way I’d been making the world a worse place for years because of my mother’s sins.
A mindless cooking show came on and I left it playing, staring blankly with my hands limp on my thighs.
After a few minutes of that, Ambrose laid his arm across my shoulders and dragged me into his lap. I relaxed against him. “Is this alright?” he asked.
It never would have been, before all this. Before Kiara. I’d fled like a demon was on my tail after every encounter at The Pointe Lounge. I stayed exactly long enough for aftercare to bring me out of my typical slump, and then I was gone. There was no excessive cuddling or time spent on the couch watching pointless television.
I’d been bleeding him dry, never giving anything back.
Why does he even want me after all that?
His dedication to me was part of the reason I was so comfortable entrusting Kiara to him, even after the incident.
“It’s fine,” I whispered.
He released a heavy breath—relief, I imagined.
“I kind of treated you like shit.” My admittance was sudden and Ambrose didn’t respond right away.
The cooking show rated and scored the final dishes of phase one, and when they’d moved on to phase two he spoke. “I’m no saint, Leighton. I should have told my pack about you. My secret is probably the reason Mercury is so resentful now—he cut off our relationship for Dash’s sake, but I wasn’t willing to give up what he was. I wasn’t willing to give up him or you.”
“He’s in my omega’s nest with her, so he must be overcoming that bitterness.”
Ambrose chuckled. “Maybe. Slowly. He was alone for a year, letting himself go under to save a drowning man. If I hadn’t been selfish and kept seeing you, I might have been disgruntled too.”
“I can’t see how you’re not, after so long of seeing me. I didn’t treat you like a human being. You were more like…” I trailed off, sighing and sliding down to lie on the couch, half my body in his lap. “A convenient cock and an escape from life.”
Drama unfolded on the show—a squabble about stolen ingredients, or something. I wasn’t paying much attention, but Ambrose waited until it was done before he spoke again.
“I was happy to be that for you, Leighton. Did I want more? Yes, I did. But I knew you weren’t ready, and I didn’t want to push.”
“I doubt you felt good about it.”
“No,” he admitted. “Every brush off hurt, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
My pulse pounded faster. I turned in his lap, staring up at his scarred jaw and stubbled cheeks. His body was taut. He was trying to resist the temptation to free the words clinging to the tip of his tongue.
If this had been a month ago, I would have let it rest. I wouldn’t have wanted to know—there was no part of me that was ready for an admittance like the one he was currently holding back.
Now?
I craved it. I’d gotten a taste of having someone close besides myself. I’d gotten a taste of Kiara invading my head and space, and I liked it, damn it.
“Why would you do it all over again?” I whispered, giving him permission to say it—if he was as ready as I was.
“Fuck, Leighton. I love you. How could I not?”
His thick fingers stroked through my hair, his other arm resting over my relaxed body. I sat up, untangling myself from him, only to press closer once again.
Our lips brushed and he groaned, deepening what was meant to be a simple kiss. We devoured each other, ignoring the cooking show for real. When we broke apart we were panting, and his warm brown eyes exposed every soft piece of him I’d been ignoring for years.
“I…” I trailed off, the words lodging in my throat.
