?Chapter 0580


    My breath caught. I braced myself. I didn''t know what would happen next.


    Nichs had gone very still beside me. His arm around my waist tightened slightly. Then he removed it and stood.


    "Nichs," I said.


    He didn''t acknowledge me. He puffed out his chest and faced down his brother. He didn''t growl, didn''t make any sound, but his posture alone screamed Alpha.


    Julian, meanwhile, just sighed. "You don''t have to do that. I know all about your feelings for Piper and hers for you, even if you two don''t recognize it yourselves. I know I will never be anything more than Piper''s friend. I''m no threat to you or your rtionship."


    Nichs marginally rxed. His shoulders released some of their tension.


    "You don''t have to worry about Piper, Nichs," Julian said. "She''s head over heels for you. My feelings are entirely one-sided."


    Nichs lowered his head. He was quiet for a long moment, and Julian didn''t say anything else. Eventually, Nichs lifted his head back up and said, "Thank you for telling me."


    Julian nodded. "Bridget wants us to fight."


    "We won''t," Nichs said. "I know better than anyone how wonderful Piper is. What kind of hypocrite would I be for ming you for seeing those same traits in her that I do?"


    "Thank you," Julian said. He seemed genuinely relieved a moment, but then his gaze turned mischievous. "Don''t think you can rx, though. You better watch yourself and stay in line. If you mess anything up with Piper, I''ll be waiting in the wings, ready to swoop in and steal her."


    I blinked, startled speechless.


    "I won''t forget," Nichs said, though he didn''t sound particrly angry about it.


    "Good." Julian nced at me, then quickly darted his gaze away. "I''ll see you both ashore." With that, Julian left us and headed for the dock.


    Once Julian had left from earshot, Nichs turned back to me. He held out his hand for me and then helped me stand up. When I was steady on my feet, he did not release my hand. Instead, he squeezed it tighter.


    "You knew, didn''t you?" he asked.


    "I did," I said. "I''m sorry that I kept it from you."


    "No," Nichs said. He shook his head. "I haven''t given you reason enough to think I wouldn''t rip his head off. In fact, I''ve given you plenty of evidence to believe otherwise. I haven''t been kind to him or to you. I should have trusted that he wasn''t a threat to us."


    "Nichs -*


    "No, I was wrong, and I won''t hear otherwise. When ites to you, sometimes, I feel like my emotions are too strong to control. My rage, my hope, my happiness.... they all be tangled."


    I didn''t exactly like the sound of that. Did that mean that he wanted to back out of what we had? To reevaluate somehow?


    He must have seen the sudden abject terror on my face. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against the brick wall of his muscled chest.


    "Stop whatever it is you are thinking." Nichs said. "I would never trade any of these feelings, no matter how much of an ass they sometimes make me appear. For all the anger, I also now feel deep passion and happiness too."


    "Nick..."


    "When I didn''t have you, Piper, it felt like the world was ck and white. I was missing something so crucial from my life. I was just going along with the motions, not really living."


    He leaned down and kissed me softly on theer of my mouth.


    "When you came back into my life, you brought me back to life," he said.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.


    Nichs dragged his lips over to more fully center on mine and then he kissed me. The kiss started sweet, but quickly added more heat as his tongue swept over my bottom lip. I opened my mouth, allowing him ess into my mouth.