“It means we can see you’re scared. Someone did a number on you, sweetheart. You’re terrified you’ll do one thing and suddenly we’re not going to want you. That’s not going to happen.”

The terror he spoke about flowed through me, and I tried to pull away, but he held me fast. “You don’t know that.”

“I do, actually,” he said. “Because if our courting doesn’t work, it’s because everyone agrees it doesn’t work. Not because you did something we didn’t like, made a bad impression, or fell asleep on one of us.”

“He told you that?” Mortification crawled up my spine.

“We don’t have secrets in our pack,” Luke said gently. “Not like that. We all have our own space, and we’re free to keep things to ourselves, but we trust each other enough not to need to.”

I stared straight ahead through his chest, allowing all of that to sink in. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly, raising my hands as much as I could the way he was holding me and clinging to his belt. “Because it won’t be easy right away for me. But I do—” my breath hiccuped. “I do want to try. I like all of you, and for me? That’s terrifying.”

He smiled and released me just enough to slip a hand behind my neck and kiss me senseless. I was overwhelmed by the scent of the sea and the steadiness of his purr and god, I never wanted to leave this moment.

“It doesn’t have to be easy. Good things usually aren’t easy. Just promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If you’re scared, talk to us. Don’t run. You don’t ever have to be afraid of us.”

“Damn right.” Kade stood in the doorway with the suitcase. He set it on the bed and opened it. “Let’s get you out of here, all right?”

I nodded and pulled away from Luke. He let me go this time, and I already missed the feeling of him. I was so fucking screwed.

Kade caught me and whispered in my ear. “I heard what you said. Thank you for being brave, baby.”

I smiled at him. “You realize you don’t look like you should be saying things like that, right?”

He laughed. “I’m aware.”

The man was covered in tattoos. I couldn’t see much of his skin right now, but there were some climbing up his neck, and on his arms all the way down to his fingers. If he had that many, I guessed his chest was covered as well.

I guessed I was about to find out all about that very soon.