“Good morning, Benjamin Jonah Lucas,” Lyla cooed over the cradle in her son’s tiny bedroom. “It’s a beautiful day to celebrate your half-birthday.”
Ben had been born exactly six months ago…which meant it had been about a year since she had seen Jonah last. The thought nearly made her cry.
She lifted her son carefully and cradled him to her chest, smiling down into his face. He was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. He had his father’s dark features, but with her clear blue-green eyes. Never had a person ever looked so perfect. Except for his father.
“Let’s go to the park today,” Lyla decided, taking Ben into the kitchen to feed him. After they were both fed and dressed, she pulled a tiny jacket over Benjamin’s little arms and unfolded the stroller.
“Have a good walk!” Mrs. Nelson called from across the street.
“Thank you! It’s Ben’s first half-birthday!”
“Oh, the precious little dear,” Mrs. Nelson cried.
Lyla laughed and continued on her way. Mrs. Nelson was a warm-hearted young woman, and, just as Lyla had suspected, she was a wolf through and through. She had been there to coach her throughout her son’s difficult birth, about two and a half months earlier than she had expected to have him, and had done everything in her power to make sure the two were well provided for; even taking over the cost of utilities in the apartment just so she could sleep better at night knowing they were all right.
Ben gurgled in pleasure when they reached the park and she lifted him out of his stroller to sit him in the baby swing. He laughed so hard that Lyla couldn’t help but laugh along with him. He was everything she had ever wanted. Her life would be perfect, if only…
“Lyla!”
Lyla’s heart lurched at the familiar sound of Jonah’s deep voice. “You’re kidding…” she whispered, whipping around.
Although she had thought she’d heard Jonah’s voice many times before, this time, it was unmistakably real. Jonah was standing in front of her, his dark eyes flashing at her.
“Jonah, I can explain…I’m so sorry! Please, don’t blame Benny…”
But to her surprise, the first thing Jonah did, instead of yelling or demanding to take his child, was embrace her tightly. His soft lips were suddenly on hers, and the wolf’s claim became unmistakable. No matter what, they had been fated to be together.
“Come meet your son,” Lyla said, dazed, pulling Jonah by the hand to the swing, where Ben was watching them curiously.
Jonah stood in front of the swing, staring intently at the child. Lyla’s stomach knotted. If Jonah rejected her son, it would be devastating. Finally, after several moments of silence, as Jonah and her son stared at one another, he walked forward and picked Ben up.
Lyla rushed forward–Ben always burst into tears when any stranger approached him, let alone picked him up–but stopped short. A surge of warmth coursed through her body. Ben wasn’t screaming. He wasn’t even nervous. He was smiling widely at Jonah, and Jonah was smiling at him.
“He’s perfect,” Jonah whispered.
***
Lyla and Jonah spent the rest of the afternoon at the park together, playing with Ben. Nothing in the world made her feel as full of love as seeing her son bonding with his father, and when Jonah asked if she was ready to go home, she took his arm and smiled.
They walked together arm in arm until they reached her small apartment, and she hesitated, checking for Mrs. Nelson before inviting him inside.
“Wow,” Jonah said with a low whistle. “This is tiny.”
Lyla blushed and turned away as she pulled Benny’s coat off. “I know. We don’t need much space.”
“It’s still better than that rundown little bungalow of yours,” Jonah said.
“Yeah,” Lyla agreed, carrying Ben to his room. He was yawning deeply, and had been dozing blissfully in the stroller on the way home. “That place was a dump. I’m still waiting for it to sell.”
Jonah nodded and stayed quiet until she returned from their son’s bedroom.
“I missed you,” Jonah said, his dark eyes boring into hers. She was electrified by his presence, and shocked by the liberating realization that there was no longer anything that they had to keep from each other. They could be honest.
“I missed you,” Lyla said, tears welling in her eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me if I tried to tell you how much.”
“I just might,” Jonah said, suddenly closing the space between them and holding her tightly in his arms. She had longed for him to hold her for so long that it almost didn’t feel real.
“I can’t believe you aren’t angry,” Lyla said, pulling away. She couldn’t forgive herself so easily. “You can tell me if you are, you know. It’s not good to hide that kind of thing.”
Jonah stared at her incredulously. “Why would I be angry?! I know why you did it. You were scared. For me, for yourself…for the baby…why would I be angry at you for just trying to do the right thing?”
Lyla collapsed against him in tears and Jonah caught her, holding her tenderly until she was done crying.
“I love you, Lyla. I always will. Nothing could ever change that, because I love you for a reason.”
Lyla squealed in surprise when her body suddenly became weightless and Jonah pressed her against his body, his need for her apparent through his clothes. She gasped in surprise and pleasure as he buried his face in the nape of her neck and slammed her against the wall, tearing her shirt off and taking her breast into his mouth. She shuddered in ecstasy as he continued to strip her as she was suspended in the air by his powerful arms, and ran her hand down his broad chest, urging him to take his own clothes off as well.
He obliged, and soon, his naked body was pressed sweetly against her. Lyla closed her eyes; she could feel every inch of his member pressing against her, and, with a swift and sudden thrust, he was inside her.
Her body was electrified as Jonah unleashed the ferocity of his desire upon her, assaulting her again and again with slow, sensual strokes of her nipples and the deep, gratifying rhythm of his hips. It felt so good; so right, and she held him close, almost afraid that if she let go, Jonah would be gone.
When she opened her eyes, however, Jonah was looking at her hard, present and reliable; her rock in a tumultuous ocean of pain and loneliness.
He loved her fiercely, with the same tenderness that she felt for him, and as they made love, she nearly cried from the weight of emotion she had been holding back all this time.
But before even a single tear could fall, she cried out in bliss as Jonah quickened his pace, pleasuring her body fervently as they sampled each other’s sweet lips again and again, each of them coming closer to the height of their desire. Jonah let out a deep growl in her ear which made her tremble in his arms, and suddenly, she saw the flash of the wolf in his eyes. Tender time was over. Now, it was time to truly feel.
Jonah’s strong body took over and before she knew what was happening, she was on her back on the small living room couch and Jonah was on top of her, his entire body pressed against hers. He parted her legs with his hands and was suddenly inside her again, prying her open and entering her again and again, until, with a power unlike anything she had ever felt before, she could feel the build of her climax reach its breaking point.
Jonah seemed to sense her resistance fading, and the powerful contraction of her orgasm pulled him closer to her. They gazed at each other, need–and love–creating a thrall that somehow gave her more pleasure than the sex itself ever could. Finally, with a passionate, languid kiss and a rapid thrust, Jonah plunged into her one last time and together, they reached an earth-shattering climax. He emptied himself into her as she cried out in bliss, their bodies entwined in a sacred dance that nearly took everything she had out of her.
When they were finished, Jonah pulled her up and held her close to his chest, caressing her hair and kissing her forehead gently.
“You know, you can move back to Stonybrooke if you’d like,” he said softly. “Betsy would be really happy to see you.”
“But what about your job? Isn’t it too dangerous?” Lyla asked, quickly pulling away. “And Ben…”
“Actually,” Jonah said carefully. “I talked to my commanding officer, and he said it would be better for Stonybrooke if the team and I stayed put to keep an eye on things. So…I’m moving back home.”
Lyla’s heart thudded powerfully and she threw her arms around Jonah.
“You mean it?”
“I mean it,” Jonah said, kissing her deeply. “And I think Betsy’s sick of minding that old house herself anyway. It would do her some good to get out a bit and see that boyfriend of hers.”
“Boyfriend?!” Lyla exclaimed.
Jonah grinned. “You and the baby come back to Stonybrooke with me, and I’ll explain everything.”
Jonah touched her lips gently, a tender smile creasing his face, and Lyla sighed. All was right in the world again. And now, finally, she could go back home.
THE END