“With a mate like me, it’s no doubt you’ll be sad sometimes. But you were happy, and you told me so.” He couldn’t make himself say the rest and wished for the nurse to come in, or Cass, even his mother. Coward. In a burst, her gaze steady on him, he said, “You told me you loved me—and I couldn’t reciprocate.”
River’s hands flew up to her temples and she whimpered, so quietly his wolf primarily heard her and the beast retreated to curl up into a ball. Jett listened to instinct and climbed onto the narrow hospital bed beside her, crowding her and drawing her close.
He spoke against her temple, into the short, silky hair growing in where they’d shaved her scalp, past the bandage denoting the injury that so nearly took her life. “I couldn’t reciprocate then, sweetheart. Not then, but only because I didn’t know what you were talking about. Absolutely no fucking idea. But I know now. And almost losing you nearly killed me. Way past the attachment of mates. River, sweetheart, I love you much I can’t get a deep breath most times.”
“Sweetheart.” The word sounded strangled as if she could barely speak it.
“I called you it before I understood why. It’s more than an endearment. To me. I’ve been praying you’ll forgive me.”
“Do you promise?”
“Promise?” He carefully moved her so he could see her face, her brutalized, beautiful face. “I’ll promise anything if I know I can keep it.”
“Do you promise that you love me? That it’s not something you’re saying so I’ll get better?”
He choked on something in his throat. Not a sob. He’d had softer feelings beaten from him before he was eight. And his eyes weren’t wet either. “I promise.”
Somehow, the simple responses, the humble words, meant more than all the flowery speeches.
“I forgive you.” The whisper was the last of her strength because her body went slack in his arms and for one agonizing moment, he thought…
But her chest lifted and fell beneath the fabric of her gown, festooned with bouncing lambs and tiny bunnies. Marlene had brought in a variety to choose from and didn’t contain her delight when he picked this one. He held her until his arm went to sleep and the pins and needles tormented him. He deserved far worse.
Epilogue
She could hear Cassandra calling Andrew’s name as she chased him across the yard. Her first born could keep four adults busy at any given time with his over-the-top energy and crazy antics. He was bright—too bright for nearly three, and River reflected that Marlene had warned her. Andrew was already reading and doing simple sums. And he required far less sleep than was fair.
She and her mother-in-law maintained a cordial relationship, and River knew the older woman would choose for it to be deeper, the way it started out, but there was something different about Marlene. Something Fae. River wasn’t enamored with the paternalism that ruled the shifter packs, but the other woman would dismantle it, and without anything to replace it. If she knew anything, River knew not to mess with nature.
She left it to Desi to deal with her mother, especially where Tahl was concerned. Tahl, come back to the pack and never far from Desiree—who didn’t appear to notice he existed.
“His grandfather went for a nap.” Jett stretched out beside her on a lounger, the pool sparkling beyond him. His scent enveloped her and she breathed him in. “Reginald keeps saying he’s glad he had girl pups.”
“Your father can’t keep up for an afternoon.”
“And he’s had more experience with boys,” her mate conceded.
“But not like Andrew.”
“True. He’s destined for greatness if we can keep him pointed in the right direction.” He reached out and set his hand on her belly. “Do you want to find out what this one is?”
“No. The Goddess wouldn’t be so cruel to give us another Andrew. This baby will be more sedate. Like Bella.” Their eighteen-month-old daughter slept in the shade of a tree, sprawled out luxuriously, tired after hours in the pool with her daddy. Bella was quietly smart and tended to get her own way because she wasn’t as obvious as Andrew.
“And then there’s the next one after this.” He smiled, and despite her heat having fizzled to nothing the instant she conceived, her core moistened. He only had to look at her sometimes for her to crave him, the way any woman craves the man she loves. Jett lifted a brow at the way her nipples peaked and pointed beneath the fabric of her bikini. Her breasts were fuller now, considerably larger, and she knew he liked them though would never compare from earlier times.
“Another one? If you carry it. And bear it.”
“I would if I could, sweetheart. Andrew made you scream, and not in a good way, and Bella made you work too hard, as well. I hate feeling powerless and unable to intervene and help you.”
“You complained about having no feeling in your hand for days. And you keep showing people the teeth marks in your forearm.”
He took hold of her waist and without any apparent effort, swept her to lie on top of him. She splayed across him with no regard for Cass’s sensibilities, figuring her sister’s education was far superior to her own at that age.
“I like your touch. Any of it,” he said.
She loved the feel of him, that broad, muscled chest with its soft fur against her skin. The long, thick length of his cock hardened against her mound, and she hitched up a little to work it between her folds. Only the thin material of her suit kept him from sliding right inside. That and the definite possibility that their son would burst on the scene with his uncanny timing. The loving he’d interrupted…
“Three babies, Jett. Three. And then you’ll be making a trip to your friend the doctor.”
He blanched but nodded. “You’re sure? If you make the visit, your heats will stop.”
“They’ve diminished and are manageable. I don’t find them incapacitating. ” She pumped her hips against him, enjoying his involuntary hiss. “Maybe because you’ve proven to be more than capable of assuaging them. Fully.”
“Wench.”
“Snuggle buns.”
On a groan, he hugged her tight. “I’ve give you a sample of assuaging tonight, once the kids are in bed—asleep.”
“I’d like more than a sample.”
“Deal.”
They relaxed under the hot sun, a cool breeze making it bearable.
“I love you, sweetheart.”
After a proper time count, she replied, “Love you back.”
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Bound by Destiny (Blue Star Shifters Book 1) Page 18