Page 79 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

“Always,” I tell him simply. “I want you always.”

Something like wonder crosses his face, as if he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing. Then he kisses me again, deeper this time, pouring everything he can’t say into the connection of our lips.

Too soon, he pulls back with a reluctant sigh. “We should go,” he says. “We need to get to the cabin and…” He glances down at where we’re still joined. “We both need a proper bed and a shower before the next wave hits.”

The reminder that this is just a temporary reprieve, that the heat will return, should terrify me. But with Ren looking at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world, I’m not even mildly afraid.

“Okay,” I agree. “But can we…after?”

His smile is slow and full of promise. “As many times as you need,” he assures me. “I’m not going anywhere.” But there’s a flicker. A flicker of something I can’t quite decipher in his eyes.Does he regret it? Regret being with me?

Achingly slowly, he withdraws from me, both of us gasping at the sensation. He helps me clean up as best we can, then pulls his pants back on.

“Better?” he asks, smoothing my hair back from my face.

I nod, although I already miss the feel of him inside me. That endless need is still lurking.

Ren seems to read my thoughts. “The cabin’s not far,” he promises. “Fifteen more minutes, tops. And I’ll get you in a proper bed, with everything you need.”

“I already have everything I need,” I tell him. Honestly.

His expression softens, something vulnerable and hopeful in his gaze. “Hailey, when this is over—when the heat has passed and you’re thinking clearly again—I want you to know thatnothing changes for me. How I feel, what I want…it’ll be the same.”

I understand what he’s saying—that this isn’t just the heat for him, that he’ll still want me when the drugs have cleared my system. But why is he telling me that? As if he doesn’t expect the same from me.

“For me too,” I assure him. “This just…accelerated things. And…I’m happy. It’s made me admit what I already knew. That I’m yours, Ren. Theirs. I think I have been since the moment we met.”

He pulls me into his arms, holding me close for a long moment. We stay like that, wrapped in each other, until a distant siren reminds us of the world beyond this vehicle, of the dangers we’ve escaped and those that might still be coming.

Ren helps me into the front passenger seat this time, keeping me close beside him before he slides behind the wheel. His hands are steadier now, his eyes clear and focused as he steers us back onto the main road.

As we drive the remaining distance to the cabin, his hand finds mine across the console, our fingers intertwining. The simple connection grounds me, anchors me against the heat that’s already beginning to build again in my blood.

I look over at him—face bruised, knuckles split, that stubborn jaw clenched tight even now. Any omega would kill to have an alpha who fights like he does. Whobleedslike he does.

But he’s not theirs.

He’smine.

Chapter 17

Ren

Hailey’s hand grips mine tighter across the console, her fingers tensing with each passing minute. I don’t need to look at her to know the heat is rising again—I can smell it, sweet honey intensifying, vanilla notes sharpening with need. The scent fills the vehicle, making my cock harden despite the release we just shared.

That release. God. I still can’t believe it happened. Can’t believe she wanted me—chose me—even after everything.

I keep replaying the sensations: the taste of her on my tongue, impossibly sweet and addictive; the tight heat of her body gripping mine; the sound of my name on her lips as she came. Perfect. She was perfect.

But a nagging doubt persists. Was it really me she wanted? Will she want me afterward, when the madness of the heat clears?

“Ren?” Her voice pulls me from my thoughts. She’s looking at me, her cheeks flushed with renewed fever, eyes glassy but still somehow lucid. “Are we close?”

“Almost there,” I assure her, squeezing her hand gently. “Just around this bend.”

The narrow road winds through dense forest before opening to a small clearing. The cabin sits nestled among the trees, rustic and unassuming. She’s been here before, without me, and I don’t know if she knows that this place isn’t just a safe house. It’s my sanctuary. The place I come to when I need to escape. From the world. From myself.

And now she’s here. Being brought into the most private part of my life.

---