Page 107 of Knot in Bloom
“Well, I’m learning that some kinds of help come with unexpected benefits.” She shoots me a look that makes heat stir again. “The hands-on kind especially.”
“I’m always available for hands-on consultations. Equipment malfunctions, plant emergencies, general troubleshooting.”
“Feel better?” I watch her survey our work with satisfaction.
“Much better.” She stands on her toes to kiss me softly. “Thank you. For the help, and for reminding me that disasters don’t have to stay disasters.”
“They’re just opportunities to get creative. And to spend quality time with my omega in interesting locations.”
“Speaking of which.” A wicked gleam enters her eyes. “Reid’s designing a new potting shed for the back garden. I might need someone to help me... break it in properly.”
“Sweetheart.” I murmur against her lips. “I’d be happy to help you break in any new structures. Very thoroughly.”
Her delighted laughter follows us out of the greenhouse, mixing with morning sunshine and the promise of many more disasters we’ll handle together.
Chapter 32
Sadie
The bookstore after hours feels like our secret sanctuary.
“You don’t have to help with inventory.” Levi’s said this three times now, but he’s smiling as he watches me shelve poetry collections. “Reid’s handling all the business expansion paperwork.”
“I love being here.” I carry new releases toward the front display, breathing in the familiar smell of old paper and leather bindings. “This is where you first kissed me. Besides, I want to understand what we’re building together.”
Four weeks after claiming, and I still feel this incredible sense of belonging. Like every day I discover something new about being part of a pack, about being loved this completely.
It still amazes me sometimes. Being claimed, being wanted, being home. Contributing feels good, feels right. The habit of being useful is older than most, and now I get to channel it into something I actually love.
“I love watching you work.” His voice has gone quieter, rougher. I can feel his breath against my neck when he speaks.
My pulse kicks up. “Levi.”
“I love how you bite your lip when you’re concentrating.” His thumb traces across my mouth, and I have to suppress a shiver. “How you get that little furrow between your eyebrows when you’re problem-solving.”
Heat races through my system, settling low in my belly. “Stop talking like that.”
“Why?”
“Because it makes me want to do inappropriate things in your bookstore.”
His smile promises trouble. “What kind of inappropriate things?”
The question hangs between us, and suddenly the air feels thick with possibility. I can see the exact moment he realizes I’m not joking, when his pupils dilate and his scent shifts to something darker, hungrier.
The smart thing would probably be to suggest we go upstairs to the apartment above his store that’s currently unoccupied. But then he takes a half-step closer, and I catch the full intensity of his scent, and I realize I don’t want to be smart right now.
Instead, I reach for his shirt front and guide him away from the mystery section, walking him backward through the narrow aisle until his shoulders hit the poetry shelf where we shared our first kiss.
His eyes go wide—surprise and arousal mixing in those amber depths—as I claim his mouth. I pour all my gratitude and want into the kiss, tasting coffee and something uniquely him. When his hands tangle in my hair, I make a sound that’s embarrassingly desperate.
“Here?” He’s breathless when I break away to work at his shirt buttons.
“Especially here.” I kiss my way down his chest as I free him from his clothes, mapping the lean muscles I’ve memorized overweeks of stolen touches. “Where you first made me believe I could have this.”
The practical part of my brain notes that we should probably lock the front door, that someone could walk by and see the lights on, that I’m about to give him a blowjob surrounded by first-edition Dickens. But the larger part of me just feels deliciously bold.
When I sink to my knees before him, his hands tangle in my hair with a soft groan that sounds like prayer and surrender combined.
