Chapter 28 Delilah
TWENTY-EIGHT
Delilah
Seeing my name in neon lights sends my stomach plummeting. He bought a freaking bakery and changed its name for me? Sure, some omegas would love such extravagant gifts, but this is just like the mixer all over again but on steroids.
I have to get out of here.
I turn away from him and dash for the door.
“Wait!” Jagger catches my wrist, sending a zap of electricity up my arm. “What’s wrong?” I spin, seeing the genuine confusion on his face, creases forming between his brows. “What did I do? I thought you’d be happy.”
My skin prickles, fury bubbling up inside me like a volcano that I can’t hold back, especially under the stark fluorescent glare of the sign that looks so out of place inside the charming small town bakery.
“Happy that you bought me this?” I wave my hands around. “You’re just throwing money at our problems. This only proves how little you know me. We’re from two different worlds.”
“But…” His shoulders slump. “I thought you loved this place.”
“That doesn’t mean I wanted it to be named after me,” I snap. “My forgiveness can’t be bought, Jagger.”
“Is that what you think I’m trying to do?” He takes a step back into the shadows. “Buy you?”
“Isn’t it? First the mixer, then this. I don’t need stuff. Nor do I want it!”
“I just wanted to do something special for you. Something to show you how much I care. I…” He scratches his chin. “I guess it was too much.”
“Too much?” I splutter. “That’s an understatement. Who buys people bakeries?!”
“Don’t go,” he pleads as I grip the doorhandle. “Please.” His voice drops to a hoarse whisper. “Obviously I went too far, but I… I’m trying.”
I poke his chest hard with my finger then gesture at the ridiculous signage. “You can’t expect stuff to do all the work for you.”
“I was trying in the only way I knew how,” he admits, voice trembling, making me question whether I’m being too harsh. “I want to fix it. Fix us. Whatever I do seems to make it worse.”
“You hurt me, Jagger.” My bottom lip trembles as I fight back tears. “You tore my heart out.”
“And I’m so fucking sorry, Delilah.” He takes my hand. “I’d do anything to go back in time and change it.”
“You broke me.”
“And I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to put you back together.” He pulls my hand to his lips and kisses it tenderly. “Because I love you.”
I feel my resolve weakening, my body reveling in the delicate way his mouth grazes over my skin.
“Love doesn’t make everything okay.”
“I know.” His eyes meet mine. The sparkling green orbs feel like they’re penetrating deep into my soul as he takes both of my hands in his. “But I still need you to know. I love you, Delilah.”
“But you hurt me,” I whisper.
I cling to the memories of what happened, refusing to let myself fall off the proverbial precipice I’m standing on the edge off.
“And I love you.”
His words feel genuine. Strong. They reverberate through me, their husky, melodic quality caressing my skin. His salty caramel scent impossible to resist.
“You left me.”
“I’ll never leave you again.” He clings onto my hands. “I love you.”
“You…”
I’m running out of excuses and reasons to run. It doesn’t seem to matter how much pain he’s caused because my body wants him. Every cell in my being seems to call to him and responds to his touch, leaving no room for doubt of what we are to each other.
“I love you,” he repeats. “You’re my everything, Delilah Goodwin. My scent match. My very reason for breathing, and I’ll spend the rest of our lives making sure you know that.”
The battle of wills—my need for self-protection, my fury at his earlier betrayal, and overwhelming lust—collide inside me. My breathing hitches. “Jagger…”
“I.” His blown-out pupils pierce me. “Love.” My eyes are drawn to his bottom lip as his teeth tug on it. Then they part, making my heart pound as my eyes snap back up to meet his heated gaze. “You.”
He leans closer. Instead of pushing him away like I know I should, all of my desire-fueled rage breaks through the surface, and I launch myself at him.
My mouth hungrily finds his, ravaging his lips with a kiss that is filled with urgent neediness.
A whine escapes me as he grabs my waist, drawing our bodies together.
The hardness of his length against his jeans rubs against my stomach, pulsating through the fabric, letting me know he wants—needs—this almost as much as I do.
He tastes like all my favorite memories rolled into one. Like lazy mornings in bed. Like delicious desserts. Like snuggly blankets against my skin. He tastes like mine.
He groans, his strong shoulder muscles relaxing under my fingertips as I run my hands over them then down his back. His tongue plays with mine, our kiss deepening until—
I sniff the air, an unpleasant, scorched odor breaking through our haze. “Is something burning?”
Oblivious, seeming to be lost in a blissful daze, Jagger plants kisses along the column of my neck. “Wh—”
“Jagger!” I point at the orange lick of a flame catching the edge of his T-shirt that must have caught on a nearby candle. “You’re on fire!”
“Fuck!” He acts fast, whipping off his T-shirt, hurling it to the floor, then stamping out the flames. “That was a close call…”
But I’m no longer looking at the burned fabric under his shoes.
Over his heart, I see a tattoo that wasn’t there the last time I saw him without a shirt on. It’s not fresh—I’d guess it was done some months ago as it’s well-healed. A date has been permanently etched onto him forever. I know it. It’s a date I’ll never forget.
“Is that…” I reach out, my hands trembling as I trace my index finger over the black-inked numbers.
“The day we met? Yes.” He nods sadly. “I got it a few weeks after I left.” Tears fill my eyes as he tips my chin up to face him.
“Even though I believed we couldn’t be together, you were always with me.
I never left you behind.” He places my hand over the ink, his heart thrumming a steady rhythm underneath my shaking fingers. “Not in here.”
“This is…” A tear slides down my cheek, and he kisses it away.
“I…” Why can’t I keep my emotions in check?
One minute I’m furious at him for buying a bakery, the next minute I’m panting with lust. Now, knowing he commemorated the day we met on his skin forever, makes me think that maybe he’s been telling the truth.
Maybe he really didn’t forget about me at all.
Maybe I can actually trust what he says.
His inked torso radiates heat as I glide my hands over his chest.
“I’m so fucking sorry.” I look up at him, his eyes also swimming with tears. “I really thought I was protecting you by leaving, but I got it all wrong.”
As I stroke his cheek with my other hand, time seems to melt away, transporting us back to the first time we met. “I know,” I whisper as he nuzzles his cheek against my palm. “I know.”
He leans in, and our mouths meet again. This time, it’s not a frenzied battle but a sensual and deep kiss, steeped with emotions that can’t be put into words: relief, sadness, and care all surging through me at once.
My body sags against him as a huge weight lifts from me, allowing me to surrender to the inevitable.
While I haven’t fully forgiven Jagger yet—perhaps I won’t ever be able to—this feels like the first step in a new journey.
Letting go of some of my anger feels oddly freeing.
While it doesn’t mean I’m letting my guard down fully yet, the door has inched open.
Sure, our love story isn’t exactly what I imagined as a child, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have a happily ever after.
“I’ll never let you down again.” He holds my face in his inked hands, cradling my cheeks like I’m something fragile he’s afraid to break. “I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” I reply, rubbing my face into his chest, marking him with my scent.
“I’ll go at your pace.” He strokes my hair. “Whatever you want, okay?”
“No more buying bakeries.”
He laughs, a sound I haven’t heard since we reunited. There’s a light, carefree element to it that makes me smile as I wipe away my tears.
“No more bakeries, got it. Although, if it helps, I didn’t exactly buy it for you.
I bought it to gift it back to the original owner, Dora.
She was there for me when I needed advice.
You’d like her.” He shrugs. “I have more money than I know what to do with, so I figured I might as well use some of it to help good people. My only condition was her changing the name to Delilah’s…
And she really liked the name, so I’m not sure we’ll be able to change it back. ”
“I don’t know if I’ll get used to seeing my name up on a sign.”
“You deserve to see your name in the brightest lights, Delilah.” He picks up a nearby apron and puts it over his bare chest, making me giggle. “Now what can I get you?”
His eyes twinkle as he leads me back into the candlelit kitchen. Seeing Jagger half-naked is enough to make my mouth water and forget about all the goodies.
He pulls out a chair then bows like a gentleman from an Austen novel. “Take a seat. I’m at your service.”
For tonight, I’m going to allow myself to be treated like a character from a novel and live in the moment. I only hope I don’t come to regret it later.