Page 33 of Sweet Whiskey

COLT

I’ve never been so nervous in my life. I know Kinsey didn’t care about making it a big deal, considering Brooks bit her inside a public bathroom, but I wanted to do this for the both of us.

Last week when Levi asked Maverick and me to help clear out some of the guest rooms in the main house so he can start spending some weekends on the land to visit Kinsey, I found a box of photos.

Something in my gut told me to look through them, and I found a couple of Kinsey’s mom and Levi.

At least, I’m ninety percent sure it’s them.

She looks strikingly like Kinsey and Levi swears it is, but he’s old and hopeful .

One of the photos was taken in the middle of the Firewick Festival, a summer tradition in town.

Twinkle lights are strung up all over Main Street and we have a town-size block party to celebrate the founder of Brackenridge.

Levi and her mom are dancing in the middle of the road, the lights above them shining.

The photo is beautiful and as soon as I saw it, I knew that’s how I wanted to ask Kinsey to bond with me.

Dallas’s footsteps thud down the back porch as he comes toward me. His hands are in the front pockets of his wranglers as he glances over all the hung lights.

“Brooks says she’s on her way here. Told her we’re having a pack dinner, and he’s running late. Need anything else from me? The food is all set up around the kitchen island.”

I shake my head. “No, thanks for doing all that.”

He grins then shrugs. “Kinsey deserved a little romance from at least one of us. Am I surprised it’s coming from you? A little, but also it makes sense, Dad?— ”

Dallas jogs away from me with a chuckle before I can punch him.

I turn back to the backyard, taking in the lights I’ve strung up all over the yard.

There’s still some work that needs to be done with the gardening, but we cleared out enough of a patch to lay a large picnic basket and some poles for the lights.

A bouquet of roses rests on top of a packet of papers, our official application to become an established pack.

All that’s missing is her signature, and I know she’ll sign it in a heartbeat, but I hope to bond with her first.

Gravel crunches and I tense, unsure if it’s Dallas leaving or Kinsey driving in. My heart takes off as I hear the tinkle of her laugh and then Dallas’s truck starting up.

“Colt!” she calls out, and I face toward the side yard where she’s walking around the house. Worry turns in my belly; it’s getting darker and some of the yard still has to be cleared out.

“Watch your step please,” I yell back.

Kinsey snorts. “I’m pregnant, not incapable. Dallas says he forgot something and needs to…run…what?— ”

Her eyes widen as she stops short, staring at all the lights shining, and then they drop to the blanket before she finally looks at me. I’m too nervous to smile, so I walk toward her and grab her face to wipe at the tears already falling.

“I can feel their nerves,” Kinsey whispers, and that causes me to grin.

“I don’t know what they’re nervous about. I’m the one about to bare my soul.”

Her nostrils flare, and more tears gather in her eyes. “Colt.”

I shake my head. “I want to do this, Kinsey.” Letting go, I grab her hand and pull her toward the center of the backyard.

Her eyebrows furrow. “What is that?”

Moving us closer, I grab the photo I taped on a pole and hand it to her. “Levi found it. That’s your mom, right?”

With a harsh swallow, Kinsey nods and strokes her finger over the photo, then she looks over the backyard again. “ Did you?—”

“Recreate it as much as I could? Yeah, but you’ll see the real thing in the summer. We hold the festival every year. Only you’ll have to give three of us a dance.”

When she looks back up at me, red lines her eyes and she’s sniffling to hold back more. I blow out a breath and cup her face again.

“Kinsey, I know I told you that I love you already, but it’s more than that.

That night in Sweet Whiskey, it was fate.

Something had driven me there when I rarely went anymore.

And then I saw you and I knew why. Everything in my world tilted in that moment, and you became the center.

I didn’t need to get your scent to know you were mine, and I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have cared either way. I just knew I had to get to know you.”

She draws in a sharp breath, stepping closer to me. The photo floats to the ground as her hands twist into my button-up shirt. I thought the occasion called for more than just a Henley.

“When I saw you that night, I knew I wouldn’t be leaving town. Even if I never found Levi, it’s like what I was really searching for…was you. All of you,” she says, her voice thick with emotion .

I clear my throat, waving toward the blanket. “Will you do me the honor of bonding and joining our pack?”

She hiccups on a sob and nods. Taking off my hat, I hang it on the nail in the pole before I sit on the blanket, my heart pounding away. Kinsey follows, straddling my lap, and I grip onto her hips. I blink up at her in surprise with a smile.

“I figured we’d sign, and I’ll take you inside to eat. Then we can head upstairs.”

Kinsey grins back, her fingers combing through my short hair. “No, I want to bond with you first. Then we’ll sign and go inside.”

I slide my hands up to her waist, squeezing lightly as she leans down to kiss me. Her soft, pillowy lips move against mine and I growl, grabbing the back of her neck to kiss her deeper. Kinsey lets out a whimper, rocking her pussy against my hardening cock, and I rip my mouth away, panting.

“Gotta slow down or I’ll take you right here,” I get out.

She giggles and leans away to strip out of her hoodie then tilts her head to the side. Her finger drags along the crook of her neck. “This is your spot, right? You’ve kissed it enough.”

My cock throbs and my canines ache. I pull her closer, kissing her soft skin. “Yeah, baby. That’s my spot.”

She shudders, her hands gripping onto my shoulders. “I love you. Make me yours, Colt.”

Tangling my fingers into her auburn hair, I hold her in place and bite down.

The second my teeth pierce through, our bond snaps into place, and I groan into her skin at the avalanche of emotions that flood into my chest. It’s mostly Kinsey’s love for me, but I can feel faint traces of Brooks and Dallas in the background.

A thread that is linked to us all, and the warmth of it settles in my soul.

Kinsey’s nails dig into my neck, and I can feel the drops of her tears. I pull back, licking the wound and then cup her face. In the bond, I only feel the overwhelming joy, but she’s crying.

“You okay?”

She tries to nod. “I can feel all three of you here.” She places a hand on her heart. “I never realized how alone I was until now, and then I realized I’ll never feel that way again, that I’ll always have you all.”

Tears blur my vision and I kiss her. “Always, baby,” I whisper against her lips.

“Can we invite them home? I want you all in the nest.”

I chuckle, no jealousy over the statement. “Of course.”