Page 177

“I’m going to have some of your sketches framed to display around the store. Is there anything I need to do to keep them safe?” Dez jerks back, and I scramble to keep him from toppling off the car. “What the hell?”

“Sorry, I just…you don’t have to do that.”

He’s so sure of himself until something triggers him and then I see the wounded man beneath everything else. The alpha who gave everything and got nothing but heartache in return. I don’t need to know his story to know he deserved better.

Moving the remaining garbage to the roof, I fold him around me as best I can. “I love the drawings, Dez. I want them everywhere.”

Pulling the newest sheet out of my pocket, I flash it at him, satisfied to watch the breath explode from his chest. “I can’t believe you kept that with you.”

“My alpha made it for me as a courting gift. Why wouldn’t I?” When he freezes, I wonder if I’ve misread the situation. “They are courting gifts, right?”

Dez shudders, squeezing me tighter. “Yeah, little muse. They’re part of your courting present.”

“Only part of it?” I’m not sure I can handle more. This man is devastating. I don’t know how to guard myself from the way he wages war.

“Do you want more?”

“No.”

He brushes a wayward curl out of my face carefully. “Well, you’re getting it, anyway.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I say as he tips my head back onto his shoulder.

Peppering kisses across my throat, my cheek and finally my lips, Dez softens one touch at a time. “I want to show you how much you mean to me, Daphne.”

We’re silent for a long while, enjoying the night sounds and the city spread below us before he nuzzles into his favorite place on my neck. “I have an art show in a few months. Will you go as my date?”

The air goes still, the critters around us quiet. There’s nothing but his words wrapping themselves around my heart.

“You want me there?”

“Of course. I need the muse for my centerpiece.” He shows me a picture on his phone that I know doesn’t do justice for the painting itself.

This is so much more than his sketches. It’s vibrant, full of longing that tightens my throat. I see his devotion in every stroke. The way he treats each little freckle, crease and curve of my body like it’s a masterpiece of its own.

I’ve never felt more beautiful or more laid bare.

“Is this how you see me?” My voice cracks, and Dez frowns.

“If you’re not comfortable with people seeing it, I won’t put it up for display, but?—”

“No!” I interrupt, twisting so he gets a firsthand view of me, happy tears and all. “I love it. I just don’t want you to be embarrassed with me there. I mean, I know bringing a date is unprofessional, so it’s okay if you’d rather go alone.”

Dez stills, almost eerily so. “Why would bringing my omega to myevent be unprofessional?”

“Is it not?”

He waits a moment, then absolutely crushes me to his chest. His face falls in the hollow of my neck, to the place he finds the most comfort. I feel the rumble of his growl more than I hear it and when he eventually pulls away, gone is the relaxed, teasing man from earlier. “Bringing you with me would enhance the night, little muse, not ruin it. Did your exes use that as an excuse?”

“Yes.”

“Baby.” My heart aches at how soft Dez’s voice is now, the way he clings to me like he never wants to let go. “They used that as an excuse to keep you isolated. Probably because it meant fewer witnesses seeing how you were treated. Less support when you needed it. They weren’t embarrassed of you; they just knew they weren’t treating you right.”

How did I not see it before? How tightly they kept me chained to them or the house. How hard they made finding friends or people to confide in. No fucking wonder it took me eight years to leave. They made sure every exit was closed, and that I was too scared to be fully transparent with the few friends I had in case they didn’t believe me. “Fuck, you’re right.”

“I’m sorry, little muse.”

“No, this is good. I didn’t realize what they’d done. Now, I know it’s not my fault.”