Page 162 of The Case of the Missing Love Stone

Roman kisses her temple. “You never have to earn softness here.”

Scarlet closes her eyes. Her next breath shudders, but it reaches deeper. “I love you,” she whispers.

Neither of us move.

The words are quiet enough that I could pretend I misheard them. My alpha knows better.

Scarlet opens her eyes again, frightened by what she said and too exhausted to take it back. “I love both of you.” Her fingers tighten over Roman’s heart. “You keep showing up beside me no matter how badly I show up.”

“I’ve loved you since you let me see you at the dock.” Roman’s eyes shine. He bends and kisses her with tenderness that makes her cry again, though these tears fall more slowly. When he releases her, she turns toward me.

I hold her face between my hands. “You could never show up wrong for us, sweetheart. I’ve fallen in love with every version.”

Her mouth meets mine, and salt touches my tongue. She kisses me gently, with tears cooling on her skin and her body held securely across my lap. Roman keeps one hand in her hair and the other against my shoulder, connecting all three of us.

I kiss her until her trembling eases.

Then I stand with her in my arms. “You need a nice long bath.”

“I already had one.”

“You cried through my shirt,” Roman says.

“That sounds like your problem.” The smallest trace of warmth returns to her voice.

“It is. I plan to solve it upstairs.”

Roman gathers the quilt around her while I carry her out of the nest and up the stairs.

The bathroom fills with steam.

Roman climbs into the deep tub first and settles against the sloped back before opening his arms. I lower Scarlet between his legs. She leans against his chest while hot water rises over her stomach.

Roman washes the tears from her face with a soft cloth. I sit on the edge of the tub and work shampoo through her hair. Scarlet’s eyes drift closed as I massage her scalp. Her body rests heavily against Roman’s.

He kisses her shoulder.

She catches his hand beneath the water and brings it to her stomach. “Thank you,” she says.

“For the bath?” he asks.

“For knowing I needed to be held before I knew how to ask.”

Roman presses his mouth below her ear. “Always, my sweet little menace.”

I rinse the shampoo from her hair and smooth it down her back.

Scarlet turns her head toward me. “And thank you for always trying to protect me in your alpha way. It’s endearing.”

My hand pauses against her neck, and my scent answers with a possessive swell that thickens the cedar in the steam.

Scarlet breathes it in. Her thighs shift beneath the water, and her omega perfume answers. Roman’s hand travels lower across her stomach but stops before sliding between her legs.

“Still sore?” he asks.

“Yes.” Scarlet looks at me. “But I want one good thing that belongs to today.”

I lean over the tub and kiss her.