Chapter 89

[James’ POV]

James was on edge. He had been since Mia first walked out of the house to stay with Emily. But now...Now things have become progressively worse. At first, he couldn’t understand why.

Mia was back at the house, she and the babies were safe, and all was meant to be well. But something was horribly bothering James. Something he just couldn’t put his finger on.

He knew he needed to allow Mia her space and alone time because they were still trying to take things slow. James was afraid of pushing her too soon, but part of him couldn’t help it. He needed to keep her close.

Seeing David hold that gun to her chest, ready and willing to pull that trigger, had struck a violent cord within him. Apart from mind-numbing fear, it brought on an awakening—a harsh realization.

‘I could have lost everything within seconds,’ he thought. ‘Whether she’s ready to acknowledge it or not, Mia is my other half. She’s my sole reason for functioning every day. Without her...My life would fall to pieces.’

This eye-opening revelation had occurred to him within the past two days and now he’s not sure what to do with himself. James felt like he was in the middle of an internal tug-of-war.

‘I know I should be giving Mia her space and time to reacclimate herself...but, at the same time, I can’t go without being around her for more than an hour.’

It was like someone had turned on some kind of emotional switch within him. Because everything James’ felt for Mia had tripled in the past forty-eight hours. It made it difficult to ignore and damn near impossible to concentrate.

It was as though he’d lost part of himself to his wolf, and all he could bear to think about and focus on was her. He found himself losing interest in whatever project was coming up in work, all that mattered now was Mia.

It was becoming maddening...In the sweetest way possible.

There was no questioning his feelings when it came to her anymore. He loved her. Every smile, every laugh, and every glimmer in her eyes he wanted to wrap her up in his arms, hold her close and never let her go.

The best thing he could have done was come clean to Mia. Going forward, he doesn’t want to hold anything back from their relationship. He doesn’t want to hide or suppress anything that he’s thinking or feeling.

James knew he needed to be mindful of his passion and desire in order to not overwhelm her. At the very least, he felt grateful for the chance to basically start over.

When James wasn’t with Mia, he consistently found himself recalling their talk. Parts of what she said to him still left him baffled and shaking his head.

“...And here I thought you were the one disappointed in me...I thought it was the reason why you didn’t tell me about us being mates...”

All that time, he had unconsciously made her believe that he was ashamed of her for being paired with him. The mere notion of that made James feel revolted with himself. The amount of miscommunication that went on between them was astounding and he never wants to go through that again.

What also tended to stick around in his head was what David Durant had told him, as well.

“Exactly how much do you love her?... With that contract no longer valid, I could easily have set Mia up with a respectable man who would never turn against her...”

James snarled at the fact that David was ready to set Mia up with Michael. The fucking audacity!

But aside from the cutting remarks and deadly threat, David had managed to unknowingly point something out to him. That marriage contract he and Mia signed was far too deficient. How easy it would be to destroy the only form of legal connection between them—James did not like that.

‘Our mate deserves a real marriage,’ his wolf said.

“A real proposal and a real wedding,” he said under his breath.

The very thought made him smile with possibility. He understood that nothing between them, since the beginning, had ever been conventional. James wanted to do right by her and give her the real wedding she deserved.

Without so much as a second thought, James got up from his chair and rounded his desk to find where his mate was. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he overheard the melodic sounds of her voice and followed them to the new nursery he’d presented to her.

Seconds later, he found her sitting in one of the soft rocking chairs with a large book of room designs in her lap. Lily sat next to her with a pad and pen.

Good God. Simply looking at her made him fill up with a happiness he never thought he’d experience.

“Hey,” Mia called him over. “Is everything alright?”

James nodded his head. “Wonderful, actually. Ellison gave me a call earlier today and told me that inlight of all that’s happened, he thinks that I—we deserve some proper times to ourselves.”

She raised her brows. “You’re saying that the board of directors gave you time off?”

He nodded his head once more and smiled. “Get ready, you’re going to be seeing a whole lot more of me for a while.”

Mia laughed and grinned with excitement. “I can’t wait.”

Something strangely devious flickered across Mia’s eyes. James’ whole body froze on the spot and caused a spark of heat to rush through him. A low growl rumbled from his chest.

Mia took her lower lip between her teeth and gently bit down—James thought his knees were going to give out beneath him. He subtly crooked his finger, summoning her to step out of the room.

Once Mia and him were alone in the hallway, he gently pressed back into the wall and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. He felt her gasp and shiver against him. James captured both her wrists and pinned them above her head while the other hand started to travel below the hem of her dress.

“Do you have any idea how lucky I am to have you in my life?” he asked. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited to be able to touch you like this again?”