Page 54 of Bonding with the Beta (Fated Souls #2)

54

KAYLEIGH

A fter hours of talking nonsense with Ava, my nostalgia creeps back to the times we used to have sleepovers and talk until the early hours. My mum would always wonder how we never ran out of things to say, but we both could talk for England.

We vacate to the kitchen, where Ava prepares us dinner. Aurora starts crying at the top of her lungs, and Ava huffs. “What’s the matter?” She frowns as she attempts to run around the kitchen. “You’ve been fed and had your nappy changed. What can I do?”

I attempt to rock her in my arms, but she doesn’t settle.

“Maybe she’s tired,” I murmur.

“She’s been napping all day,” Ava sighs and closes her eyes.

“I’ve got her,” Kayden’s voice echoes into the kitchen, and I find myself stuck in a trance when I focus on his dark brown eyes. “You two have dinner.”

Ava wipes her forehead. “Ugh. Thank you.”

Kayden walks towards me, and my skin begins to heat like a furnace. He holds out his arms and takes a wailing Aurora from me, his biceps flexing in his T-shirt as he does so.

Our hands brush, and a jolt of electricity rushes down my spine. We both pause for a moment as our eyes lock before he takes her again, and I drop my arms to my sides.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he says softly to her. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”

Aurora cries for a moment before Kayden rocks her from side to side and presses a kiss to her forehead. Then she settles into his arms as he smiles down at her.

I can’t take my eyes off them.

“That’s it, pretty girl.” He smiles. “You’re okay.”

My ovaries literally burst at the sight of them together.

Kayden slowly walks around the kitchen to keep her settled as Ava comes up behind me, her ear resting against mine.

“She’s completely in love with him,” she whispers.

I understand because same, I think to myself. Even when I tried not to.

Kayden’s eyes raise to mine for half a second, the corner of his lip twitching into the subtlest smile. Aurora makes a small sound before snuggling her face into his chest.

“You’re going to spoil that child rotten when she’s older,” Ava calls out. “Because you’re going to be the favourite by a mile.”

He laughs, and I have deeply missed the sound. “Oh, yeah, I will. She’s going to be so loved. And best believe she’s going to end up being a troublemaker.”

“From being around you?” Ava scoffs playfully. “Of course she is.”

My heartstrings tug, and if I weren’t sitting down, I’d have fallen to the floor with a thud. I want to look away, but I can’t. I’m stuck. I’m enthralled.

“Could you put her down for me and grab the baby monitor?” Ava asks.

“Sure.”

When Kayden leaves, Ava snaps her fingers in front of my face, and I flinch.

“You good?” She chuckles.

“Yep. Yeah. I’m good. Fine.”

Ava grins. “He’s so good with her. He really knows how to settle her.”

“It’s cute,” I admit.

“Yeah, they’re pretty cute.”

I step off the stool with shaky legs and walk towards the stove. “What can I help with?” I ask, glancing across the multiple frying pans.

“ Everything .”

No matter how hard I try to drift off, sleep never claims me.

I toss and turn until the sheets are a bundled mess and stare helplessly at the ceiling.

I roll over to my bedside table to grab my phone and find it’s past two in the morning. A groan falls from the back of my throat as I pull myself from the bed and make my way downstairs to find something to help me finally sleep.

My bare feet touch the cold wooden floor of the hall. I press my fingers to the door of the kitchen and creep inside. My entire body jumps off the ground at the sight of someone sitting at the kitchen island, the under lights of the counter casting a shadow across his face.

I press a hand to my chest and inhale a breath to calm down.

Kayden’s attention turns to me, brows furrowed. “Why are you awake?”

My fingers find the hem of my T-shirt, and I attempt to pull it down over the equally small shorts that barely cover my thighs. His eyes follow the action, and my entire body erupts into flames.

“Can’t sleep,” I respond as I walk across the kitchen and perch on the opposite stool. “You?”

Kayden breathes out harshly through his nose. “Same.”

Exhausted doesn’t even describe the expression on his face.

“Why?” I ask curiously as my fingers fumble with the corner of a magazine on the counter.

He holds my stare for a beat too long, and I squirm. “I can’t sleep knowing you are here, and I can’t be anywhere near you.”

A chill runs down my spine at his honesty. My throat dries up within seconds.

“What about you?”

“Something like that,” I whisper without hesitation.

I didn’t stop to think that might be the reason, but the last time I was here, I was in his bed, cuddled into his side with his arms wrapped around me. My eyes close at the memory, the feeling all too familiar and safe.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur as I push myself off the chair. “I should go. I shouldn’t–”

The words barely form as I stumble towards the door. I hear the sound of his stool scraping against the floor, and before I can make it across the room, his warm presence is right behind me.

“Kayleigh,” he says, his voice rough.

I stop walking, but I don’t turn to face him. I can’t.

His hand delicately presses to my hip, and I don’t pull away, not even when his fingers slip beneath my T-shirt and graze the spot above my shorts. I release a loud breath as his other hand collapses around me, tugging my back against his chest in an embrace I would wait centuries for.

“Please,” he says hoarsely. “Please, just let me hold you.”

And I can’t say no because I am so weak for him.

I press back into his touch and close my eyes when his face buries into the crook of my neck, and my entire body bursts into goosebumps. His warmth travels through me, and I’d think I was half delirious if he didn’t press a kiss on my shoulder to remind me I am very much awake.

My hands rise, and I clutch onto his arms, desperate for him not to let go.

I take a breath, and the hole in my heart throbs.

“Do you have any idea how much I have missed you?” he whispers.

My lips press together at the devastation in his voice.

“I need you,” he continues. “I need you more than anything.”

The pressure behind my eyes grows, and I shake my head once.

“What about her?”

“You are the only her. There has never been anyone else.”

“I thought you’d move on with her.”

“There is no moving on from you, Kayleigh.”

My heart thrashes in my chest, and I tremble.

“If I don’t have you, then I’ll have no one. It’s simple.”

I crash back into him, and he holds me with his Godlike strength, wrapping me up tighter until the hole in my heart twitches like it wants to form together again.

My chest heaves rapidly. “I missed you, too,” I admit.

Kayden presses his head further into my shoulder and releases a long sigh of relief. “You have no idea how it feels to hear those words, especially after I thought I had lost you forever.”

I somehow gather the courage to remove myself from his hold.

His arms drop to his sides, and I gasp down air like I’ve been withheld from oxygen for too long. I slowly turn to face him, and when I do, his eyes are wet in the creases, and I forget everything else in existence.

“Please, just—” he cuts himself off as his throat tenses. “I will get down on my knees and beg you to forgive me. I will do everything to prove that you can trust me because I don’t want anyone else but you, Kayleigh. I can’t fucking breathe without you.”

My heart falls onto the floor in a heap.

“You mean that?”

“Yes.” He nods and steps closer. “I am so sorry that I hurt you. I hate myself for how I handled the situation. I was fucking awful to you, and I’ll live with that regret for the rest of my life. But if you give me another chance, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I want nothing more than to shower you with the love that you deserve—that you have always deserved.”

I flick my eyes between his slowly as his continues to glisten at me, and it breaks my heart all over again.

“I don’t know how to trust you,” I confess.

Kayden nods. “I know,” he whispers hauntingly. “I understand if you need to take your time. But please, let me prove you are everything I have always wanted. I will never take you and what we have for granted. Especially after what I know now.”

My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain when you’re ready, but I don’t think you’re ready to forgive me.”

I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried.

“It’s still raw.” I wrap my arms around myself. “And I’ve been focusing on myself.”

Kayden’s expression softens. “Yeah? That’s amazing, Kayleigh.”

“Mm-hm,” I hum. “And right now, I think I still need to focus on that.”

“I understand,” he says after a few moments.

I take a small step back. “I should get to bed.”

“Okay.”

My eyes dip low, and I walk towards the door.

“Wait, Kayleigh–”

I say nothing.

“Please, tell me there is hope for us.”

Hope.

My mouth parts, and I clutch tighter onto my arms. I glance at him over my shoulder. “The heart wants what the heart wants,” I whisper as I reach the door. “And unfortunately, it will always want you.”