Page 106 of Daisy

"Fuck," I gasp, my hips jerking involuntarily. I know I'm not going to last much longer.

"Princess," I warn, my voice strained and my breathing ragged. "I'm close. If you don't want to?—"

But she just looks up at me with those determined dark eyes, and I can see her decision written there. She wants this. Wants to experience everything with me.

When I finally let go, it's with her name torn from my throat and my hand gentle in her hair. The sensation rocks through me, white-hot and overwhelming, and she takes everything I give her, swallowing around me with soft sounds that make my heart race. The trust in that moment. Her willingness to take all of me nearly brings me to my knees all over again.

Afterwards, I pull her up into my arms, capturing her mouth in a kiss that tastes like us both. She melts against me, boneless and satisfied, and I can smell the contentment in her scent.

I notice she's shivering slightly in the cool air, and I immediately reach for my jacket from where I dropped it earlier. "Here," I murmur, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her closer against my chest. "Can't have you getting cold, princess."

She burrows into the warmth, and I hold her quietly for a moment, letting her process. My hands run soothingly up and down her back through the jacket.

"Hey," I say softly, tilting her chin up so I can see her eyes. "How are you feeling? Really feeling? Are you okay?"

"That was..." she starts, but words seem to fail her too.

"Perfect," I finish with a gentle smile. "Absolutely perfect. But I need to know you're okay. Did anything hurt? Do you need anything, water, or..."

She shakes her head, her smile growing. "I'm more than okay. I feel incredible."

I press my forehead against hers, both of us still breathing hard. "You were incredible, princess. So brave, so beautiful. Thank you for trusting me with that."

"I feel different," she admits quietly, her voice soft against my neck. "Bolder. Like I'm finally becoming who I'm supposed to be."

"You are," I tell her, meaning every word. One hand comes up to stroke her hair gently. "You're becoming exactly who you were always meant to be."

But even as I hold her, even as I try to memorize this perfect moment while making sure she's safe and warm in my arms, something's nagging at me. The way her scent has been changing. Getting richer. More complex.

"We should go back," I say reluctantly.

"Should we?" That wicked tone is back in her voice, and when she nips at my jaw, I nearly lose my mind all over again.

"Yeah, we should. Before I forget that I'm supposed to be a gentleman and take you right here against this tree," I say with a grin.

She laughs, bright and free, and the sound goes straight to my chest. "Maybe next time?"

Fuck me sideways. This woman is going to be the death of me.

"Come on, princess." I help her straighten her clothes, trying to ignore the way she's watching me get dressed. "Let's go home."

Home. The word tastes right.

As we walk back toward the cabin, her scent wrapping around me like a promise, I know everything has changed. She's going into heat. And when she does, she's going to have to make choices.

Real choices about what she wants. Who she wants.

But for the first time since this all started, I'm not worried about being chosen.

Because I already have been.

Chapter 28

Daisy

The last pill sits in my palm.

I stare at it for a long moment, my skin already feeling too tight, too warm. This tiny white thing that's been keeping my heat away. I should have three or four days left, but I've been doubling up when I got scared. Two pills when one wasn't enough. I doubled up after watching Cassian and August together—seeing them like that made my pre-heat symptoms so much worse.