Chapter 259: Secrets Of Our Past

I pried his hand away from my mouth, but I didn’t pull away. I held his trembling wrist tight in my grip, leaning in until there wasn’t a breath of air left between us.

"I’m not messing with you, Reid," I whispered, my voice thick and raw, my own tears spilling over as I held his wide, terrified, utterly wrecked gaze. "Who else could tell you how terrible you were to me back then? Who else knows how you loved every second when you made me beg you to fuck me, knot me, and then fuck me all over again? And then you fucked me against the door when Gerald brought me cold medicine; who else knows how much you love it when you bottom out inside me?"

Reid choked on a sharp, ragged breath. A harsh, broken sound ripped from his chest, and all the rigid, protective posture he had held for eight grueling months completely dissolved.

"Kain..." he rasped, the name leaving his lips like a prayer he had been terrified to speak aloud.

"It’s me, Reid," I sobbed, cupping both sides of his face with my hands, my thumbs wiping away the hot tears streaming down his cheeks. "I’m right here. I came back to you. I swear to God, it’s really me."

The last shred of his denial shattered into dust.

With a desperate, choked roar, Reid lunged forward, slamming his arms around my waist and pulling me into his chest so hard it knocked the air completely out of my lungs. He buried his face into the crook of my neck, his broad shoulders shaking violently as he broke down, sobbing with a raw, agonizing relief that rattled his entire massive frame.

His rich frozen pine scent, once jagged and sharp with protective rage, suddenly exploded around us—thick, sweet, overwhelming, and completely wrapping around me like a tidal wave.

"You’re alive..." Reid wept, his hands clutching desperately at the back of my dark suit jacket, pulling me so close I could feel the violent, chaotic hammering of his heart against my ribs. "Oh God... you’re alive... how... how are you here?"

"I couldn’t leave you," I sobbed, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck and pulling him as flush against me as humanly possible. I tangled my fingers in his soft blonde hair, burying my face in the curve of his shoulder to breathe in every drop of his overwhelming, pine-scented warmth. "And... I was given a second chance."

Reid pulled back just an inch, his broad hands framing my cheeks with a trembling, desperate grip. His dark grey eyes scanned every inch of my unfamiliar face—the silver hair, the refined jawline, the flawless skin—no longer seeing a stranger, but recognizing the exact, unbroken soul of his husband blazing right back at him.

"Your face..."

"Ah, she said there was no way to get back into my old body," I said, a faint, melancholic smile gracing my lips.

Reid blinked, his brow furrowing slightly. "She?"

Where do I even begin to explain that our creator was just an overworked author? And that my death was a mistake to begin with. I thought, deciding it was a truth far too absurd for tonight.

"It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about the face," Reid said, his voice breaking down the middle as he pressed his forehead hard against mine, his hot, ragged breaths brushing my lips. "I don’t care about the name, or that you’re a Samson now, or anything else. It’s you. My Captain. My Kain. And that’s all that matters."

"It really doesn’t matter... as long as I can be with you again, Reid," I breathed back, a watery laugh spilling past my lips through my tears. "I was so heartbroken thinking it was goodbye back then. I thought I would never see you again. But I was given a chance... and now, I can finally be with you again. I..."

Before the words could even fully leave my mouth, Reid captured my lips in a deep, bruising, desperate kiss. It was raw and overwhelming, tasting of salt, tears, and eight agonizing months of suffocating grief finally shattering into dust.

His arms locked around my waist with absolute, terrifying strength, lifting me slightly off my feet as if to anchor me to the physical world—terrified that if he loosened his grip for even a second, I would vanish back into thin air.

I kissed him back with everything I had, my hands clutching his shoulders, letting the solid, thunderous beat of his heart crush against mine.

A soft, tentative rustle from the corner of the room gently broke through the storm of our reunion.

Reid instantly broke the kiss, though he refused to let go of my waist. We both turned our heads toward the wooden crib resting in the pale moonlight.

Inside, a tiny pair of bright, familiar eyes blinked open. Little Sarah squirmed beneath her soft blanket, letting out a small, sleepy coo as she felt the sudden, massive shift in her father’s scent—from bitter, jagged grief to pure, radiant warmth.

Reid let out a wet, breathless chuckle, fresh tears tracking down his flushed cheeks. Keeping one broad arm wrapped firmly around my lower back, he guided me over to the crib, reaching down to carefully scoop our daughter into his broad chest.

He settled her snugly against his shoulder, then immediately turned, using his body to press her warm, blanket-wrapped frame flush between us, enveloping all three of us in his massive embrace.

Sarah looked up, her dark, curious eyes locking straight onto mine. She reached out a microscopic, chubby hand, her tiny fingers brushing blindly against the silk lapel of my dark suit jacket before curling tightly around my index finger.

My chest swelled with a pain so sweet and overwhelming my knees nearly buckled all over again.

"See, Sarah?" Reid whispered, his voice thick with an unshakeable, profound devotion as he buried his face into the side of my neck, kissing my skin over and over again. "I told you... I told you Papa would come home."

I pressed my face into Sarah’s soft blanket, breathing in her sweet baby scent, and slid my arm securely around Reid’s back, holding my family close in the quiet moonlight.

We were finally whole again.

Reid looked up from Sarah, his eyes shining with an intensity so fierce and consuming it made my breath hitch. Without a word, he leaned in and captured my lips once again—gentler this time, but weighted with a deep, reverent hunger that made my heart race wildly against my ribs.

Under the overwhelming warmth of his touch, the solid heat of his chest, and the sheer safety of being held by my husband again, something deep within my new body instinctively unlocked.

A soft, sweet wave of scent suddenly bloomed into the quiet room, clinging to the cool night air and wrapping around Reid’s frozen pine.

Reid froze mid-kiss, his pupils dilating as he drew in a deep, sharp breath. His hand tightened around my waist, his head tilting slightly as he inhaled the unfamiliar, intoxicating fragrance swirling around us.

"Kain..." Reid rasped, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly vibration that sent a shiver straight down my spine. "Your pheromones..."

I flinched, the sudden realization hitting me like a splash of cold water.

My face flushed a deep, burning crimson, and I quickly turned my head away, breaking his gaze as a wave of intense embarrassment crashed over me. The rich, elegant orchid scent that had belonged to Kain Evans was completely gone, replaced entirely by the unfamiliar, delicate fragrance of this new body.

"Sorry, Reid," I muttered, my voice tight as I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately fighting to pull the stray scent back under control. "This body is... it’s very different from my old one. You probably don’t like it... so I’ll try to keep it under control from now on."

Reid’s hand shot out, catching my wrist just as I raised my hand to cover the exposed skin of my neck. His grip was firm yet infinitely gentle, pulling my arm down until there was nothing standing between us.

"Kain, don’t," he murmured softly.

His thumb brushed over the inner pulse point of my wrist before his hand moved up to cup the side of my face, angling my head back toward him. He leaned down, burying his nose against the sensitive curve of my collarbone, taking a deep, slow breath that made his chest expand against mine.

"It’s night-blooming jasmine," Reid rasped, his voice thick and low, carrying a warmth that melted the cold knot of anxiety in my chest. "It smells... incredible, Kain. It’s sweet, soft, and honestly... It reminds me so much of your orchid. Don’t try to hide it from me."

"Reid...?" I whispered, my breath catching in my throat as my eyes searched his. "Your body is already used to my orchid, you can’t possibly be okay with this." I said, my voice breaking in the process.

I knew how a bond mark worked—even if it wasn’t a permanent bond mark—and he depended on my orchid as much as I depended on his frozen pine. Trying to get used to my new pheromones would simply be torture to him.

Reid looked directly into my eyes, his grey gaze burning with an fierce, unshakeable devotion that made my heart hammer violently.

"You’ve spent your entire life trying so hard, always hiding who you were, swallowing suppressants, and keeping your scent locked away," Reid said softly, his thumbs gently wiping the flush on my cheeks. "I won’t let you hide in this new life, too. Not from the world, and definitely not from me."