Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Jayce
Hayden disappeared shortly after lunch to do who knows what, and Aury left not long after. Which means I’m the only one here with my pretty little omega, and I have no idea what to do about it.
She’s currently flipping through tarot cards and scowling at them, while I lurk in the hallway like a creep.
“You can come in,” she calls. “You don’t have to keep hiding out there.”
I guess I’m not as stealthy as I thought. “Sorry for bothering you.” I step around the doorframe and into the reading room.
“You’re not,” she says, then sighs like I absolutely am.
“I can feel it.” I pat my chest where our bond stretches between us.
“Okay, I’m annoyed, but not at you.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, perching on the couch armrest, then immediately standing back up again because I don’t know if it’ll hold my weight. The last thing I need to do is break her pretty couch.
“Not really, but a distraction might be nice,” she says, glancing outside. “Want to take a walk? It feels like I haven’t been out in nature in ages.”
“Sure.” Not the type of distraction I would have chosen, but I’m happy to spend whatever time with her I can.
We slip on our shoes and she fusses with her hair in front of the entryway mirror.
“You’re stunning,” I say. I slide behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, molding myself to the curves she has hidden under her oversized cardigan.
“My hair is a disaster,” she mutters. “I could have a bird nesting in there and I wouldn’t know.”
My lips quirk at that image, and I chuckle under my breath. “Somehow, I think you might like that. And be able to pull it off.”
She beams at me through the mirror, then spins in my arms and tilts her chin up to gaze at me.
“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
I balk and shake my head once. “What? I tell you nice things all the time!”
“Sure,” she shrugs one shoulder. “Generic things. And those are nice, don’t get me wrong. I know you mean them. But that was so specific. So knowing.” She smiles, and every cell in my body melts for her. “It made me feel seen.”
“I do see you,” I murmur. “Even if I don’t know how to show it or say it all the time.”
She nods slowly, thoughtfully, then pats my chest with her hand.
“Let’s go.”
We meander along a paved path through red and orange trees a couple blocks from her house, and Siobhan periodically closes her eyes and turns her face into the wind.
Every time she does, I can’t help but drink in every inch of her.
The beauty that radiates from her soul. The fitted crop top that hugs her curves, and the long cardigan that hides them she when tucks it around her.
I want to scoop her up and cuddle her for hours.
Her bright hair and brighter smile make me feel lighter than I have in years.
A glimmer on the side of the path catches my eye, and I dip down to investigate, worried it might be broken glass. It’s a pretty rock, multi-faceted with sparkly pink, red, and white speckles. I grin and snatch it up, then hand it to Siobhan.
“For you.”
“Ooooh,” she says, her husky voice sending shivers down my spine. “How pretty.”
She goes to drop her hand back to her side, but I catch her wrist, closing my fingers around it.
“I can carry it for you. If you want.”
She quirks a half smile, then allows me to take it back. “Okay, but don’t lose it.”
I drop it in the chest pocket of my flannel and pat it. “Never.”
I see a feather next, right at the edge of the tree line. It’s fuzzy and a few inches long, with soft beige and tan stripes. When I present it to her, she coos over it.
“I wonder what it came from.” She strokes it between her fingertips, so gentle. “Maybe an owl or a hawk?” When her questioning eyes rise to meet mine, I shrug.
“No idea, but I’ll carry that for you too.”
“Okay,” she says, then bites her lip. The tiniest twinge of anxiety seeps down her side of the bond.
“I’ll be careful with it, pretty omega,” I murmur, pulling her into me and dropping a kiss on the crown of her head. She gives me a shy smile, then hands it over. Satisfaction thrums through my veins as I tuck it carefully into the opposite breast pocket from the rock.
We continue along the path, mostly peaceful silence between us, and I hold her hand the whole time—except when I’m collecting trinkets for her. A fallen flower here, a perfectly round pebble there. Her smile grows each time, as does happiness and ease on her side of the bond.
When I spot a stick that’s fallen from above and got caught on a lower branch of a maple tree, I stop to carefully detangle it, then slide it in my back pocket. The look she gives me is one of delighted befuddlement.
“What’s that for?” Her bright blue eyes glimmer as she twists her head to look at the stick.
“Just a little project I had in mind before your heat hit,” I say, trying to contain my excitement. I forgot about that idea until I saw the stick, and now I’m even more excited to gift it to her.
“Oh,” she says, a slight frown pulling at her pink lips. She looks away, eyes dropping to her feet. “Sorry if I messed things up for all of you.”
“Nah,” I say, keeping my tone light. “We wouldn’t have missed that for the world.” I snag her hand, loving how dainty it is and that I can envelope it in mine. “We all want to be there for you, I’m glad you let us.”
Her cheeks flush a delightful pale pink and contentment softens her side of the bond. I meet it with my own, showering her with encouragement and satisfaction.
“Thank you,” she murmurs.
I simply squeeze her hand in mine, and we continue wandering until we’re ready to return. I don’t ask to stay the night, sensing that she needs some space to think things through. Sure enough, she gives me a regretful sort of smile at the door, and I take the hint to go.
“See you tomorrow, pretty omega,” I tell her, then pull her into a kiss. I push all of my admiration and desire for her down the bond, and she gasps into my mouth. I take the opportunity to sweep my tongue in, stroking it along hers until she melts into me. Only then do I pull back.
I take one step away, then reach into my pocket for the stones, and then the other for the feather. Her blue eyes sparkle as she takes them from me, and then she turns and disappears into her house.