Braiden
“She is asle ep. Crashed after the sugar rush.” Ava’s voice, while soft and somewhat shy, startles me.
I have been walking around my living room in awe at its transformation from its usually drab appearance. It was
lonely before. Now, it is filled with color. I cannot imagine how they managed to do this in such a short period of
time. All these memories are like little windows to events I am only privy to on the outside. It is a special kind of
torture—heartache and joy. Ava is trying to lessen the ache I feel by not being there. I appreciate it, but it is a
double-edged sword.
“Is this difficult for you? I didn’t mean for it to be hurtful. Not after everything you have been through.”
I turn to face her as she stands just outside the string of lights, her face concerned. God, she is beautiful. I have
missed her so much.
I don’t respond. Instead, I take in every little detail about her. A fear I hate to carry now settling in me like a virus.
The fear that she might be taken from me again.
Her green eyes don’t waiver as she stares at me, allowing me to drink my fill of her. Brown hair, piled into a cute
messy bun on her head like I remember it. Red cheeks, a sign of her embarrassment even after so much time has
passed. Still innocent. Still my sweet girl. Lips slightly parted as her breathing increases. My eyes dip to the pulse
on her neck, the throbbing
vein telling me more about her internal state than her scent does. Unsure.
Nervous. Turned on.
My eyes drift down the column of her neck to the flesh exposed by her off-shoulder floral shirt—one I arranged for
her. Perhaps it is a sign of acc eptance. She even knows it as she smoothes her hands over the material covering her
stomach. She looks uncertain.
“I have changed.” Her eyes dip down to her body, and she shifts nervously.
“You are just perfect, Ava.” I rake my gaze down her body, aware of what she is referring to. Childbirth has
changed her shape. Wider hips, softer stomach. What I saw was my Ava. The mother of my child. Stunning.
Gorgeous. Fucking flawless.
I st ep toward her, the action drawing her attention.
“This is beautiful.” I wave my hand in the air, indicating the pictures and drawings on display, and then even drag it
over her form.
“Thank you.” I take another st ep toward her, a small smile on her face now at my praise.
“Were these the only dreams you had of me?” I take another st ep towards her, now only a few feet between us. I
can see how this makes her anxious, her eyes darting to my feet and then to my face.
“What do you mean?” More lust as I close the distance between us, inches now s eparating us. Her scent and mine
mingle together, pulling desire up through my body. She feels its impact, too, as she closes her eyes and breathes
de eply. Realizing, her eyes fly open, and she looks startled.
“I have imagined you in many ways over the years, Ava. Not all of them are images I could display where our
daughter can see them.”
She blushes fiercely, and then, with the courage I have always admired when Ava is in an uncomfortable position,
she leans over and pulls out a folder hidden between the couch cushions.
She hands it to me, her head tilted back as our gazes lock. The tension in the air is thick. Electric.
I st ep a little back and open the clasp before pulling out page after page of beautifully drawn memories—dreams to
Ava, but memories to me.
Ava and I in an elevator as we kiss. Ava bent over a couch as I spank her delicious rear. My hand around Ava’s
neck, her mouth forming a beautiful ‘o’ as she unravels. Ava on her hands and knees as I penetrate her from
behind. Ava with her face buried into my neck as she marks me. Drawing after drawing of Ava and I in every
intimate moment we have shared.
Ava is standing stock still, her eyes on the drawing in my hand, her breathing labored.
“You remember.” I wait for her gaze to meet mine, and then I pull out the picture in my pocket, the one I found
under her bed in the forest house.
“My photo,” she says softly, taking it from me and holding it to her chest.
“My photo, actually.” I smile when she whips her gaze up to meet mine.
She hesitates for a long time, her mouth working as if she wants to say something but is uncertain. And then, she
bites her bottom lip.
I growl as my gaze drops to her mouth, and she shivers before releasing it.
“I looked at this picture more times than I can remember. Every time feeling guilty. Until now. I was told you
would kill me. That you would kill Aliana.” I drop my gaze, about to take a st ep back.
Ava’s grasp on my arm stops me, and she closes the distance between us.
She is staring at my chest, so close that I can feel her warm breath against my pecks.
“Even with that threat, Braiden, I have been drawn to you. Opening and closing that picture like a lifeline in the last
three years. Your face consoling me when my chest ached with a need that only thoughts of you could satiate.”
She looks up at me, tears brimming in her eyes as she opens herself up to me, the vulnerability etched onto her
perfect porcelain skin.
I can’t help it. In an instant, my mouth is on hers, and her hands grip my T-shirt, egging me on and pulling me
closer as we devour each other.
Tongues duel and breath mingle as we dance a tune so familiar to our souls that they we ep for the loss of four
years.
We melt together. We burn. We explode into a world of feeling and sensation. My arms wrap around her, pulling
her even closer to me. She edges upward, her toes carrying the weight of her body. Time stands still as we fall into
each other. Rediscover what we have lost.
It is only when air becomes a problem that we break the kiss. If it can even be called that. Kissing Ava after so
much time has passed is like being fucking reborn.
She stares at me dumbfounded, clinging to me even now. I can’t help but smile. I am happy.
“This is why I want you to mark me.” Her finger gently touches my mark, making me shiver.
“Do you remember how I got this mark?” Ava’s finger stills, and she looks at me.
“I remember only what I dreamed.” I smile, and her eyes dip to my mouth again.
“You were in heat, and we... eased you through it.” I struggle to find the words for what happened that night. A
night that bore fruits in the form of the little angel sle eping upstairs. It was hot and heavy, the thought of it making
my already stiff cock ache with need.
“In my dream, it was a lot more intense than us ‘easing me through it,’” she blurts out, her hand flying up to cover
her mouth.
“If I mark you, that is how it will happen.” I let my words marinade between us. Marking and mating went hand in
hand. It was only because of her blood being toxic before that I had somehow managed to hold back.
Now, just the thought of that barrier being eliminated made every moment about that for my wolf. So much so that
my dreams were filled with those visions as my wolf unconsciously primed me for the occasion.
It had only one thought.
“Mine.” Ava’s eyes are white as she vocalizes the very feeling I am having.
“I understand that is how it will be. That is how I want it to be.” Her eyes don’t waiver as she permits me. And I am
too fucking cowardly to ask her if she is sure.
“I am sure, Braiden. That is how I want it.” Fuck. I growl. Seconds later and one squeal from her perfect pink lips, I
have her in my arms, her legs straddling my waist as I march us upstairs.
Excitement bubbles with every st ep and her eyes on my face make me feel feral.
I close my bedroom door behind us and then walk over to my bed, the enormity of what we are about to do making
me hesitate.
This would complete the mating process. This would make us one.
She cups my face in her hands, drawing my gaze to hers.
“I’m ready, My King.” Four little words seal our fate and unleash everything I have held back.
It was time. Time to make Ava officially mine.