you.”
“You can still protect me.I can protect me thanks to you.”
A turbulent look slid across his handsome face. “We still can’t be, Carmen. The council, the Guard, your father, will assume we started something before my departure.”
She’d come this far, dared to push him this boldly and she wasn’t stopping now. “And when I reach twenty-three next year? When I hit ‘The Day of the Wolf’?” It was when a female of their race stopped aging for fifty years, but more importantly, when she became fertile with her mate, if she was lucky enough to find that rare match. But she was that lucky, because she knew in her heart, this man was her mate.
His eyes heated, and the green took on an amber glow. He felt it, too. He knew what she did. She was his mate. It was the only explanation for how intensely they wanted each other.“Then,” he said, a deep rasp to his voice,“no one can keep you from your mate.”
Her chest tightened, throat went dry. Carmen wet her lips.“In all these years, you’ve never found your-”
“I did. Yes.”
This shocked her and ripped at her in a way that neared physical pain. It didn’t matter. There could be more than one match until a bond was complete unless he loved her...unless... “But you aren’t mated.” Otherwise, he wouldn’t want her. He’d only want his mate.
“She was a Rebel who tried to kill me.” His jaw tightened. “Instead, I killed her.”
She was appalled, and not because he’d killed her. Rebels were vicious monsters who fed on flesh and death. Good Lord, his life had been filled with horrific pain. “Did you...think you cared for her before....it happened?”
“I didn’t even know her. I didn’t want to know her. I damn sure didn’t want a mate who was a Rebel.”
“Of course not. Who would? That would be a curse.”
“Even if she hadn’t been a Rebel, I didn’t want to care about anyone enough to feel their loss ever again.”
She wet her lips, and his gaze followed the movement. “After what I’ve been through, I can’t say I blame you.” She hesitated. “But it happened to me anyway.” Her chest tightened. “You have come to mean so much to me, Shi.”
They stared at one another, and she could feel him everywhere, inside and out. Her skin was on fire. Her heart was thundering. Suddenly, he growled low in his throat and she was whirled around and pressed to the wall. “I didn’t want to give a damn.”
“But you do,” she whispered. “Tell me you do. I really need to hear you say it.”
“Too damn much.” And then, he was kissing her, his mouth slanting over hers, his tongue pressed between her lips.
Carmen moaned with the sweet bliss of it, her arms wrapping around his neck. She pressed into him, unable to get close enough, incapable of getting enough of him. This was what she needed. He was what she needed. She was lost in this man and she wanted to be lost in him forever. Here she was safe. Here she belonged. Here she felt no pain. Suddenly though, Shi pulled away. Shoved back from her and put space between them. Carmen was panting, trying to breathe when the door of the training room opened and her father walked in.
A gasp slid from her lips as the rush of her father’s anger washed over her. Alexander Neal was six feet five, with long blond hair, and though he looked not a day over thirty-five, was two hundred years old. His presence, even in his current state of barely normal, was intense, but add anger to the mix, and it was suffocating.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Carmen didn’t look at Shi. She just acted, knowing that though Shi could mask the scent of his desire, she could not. Her father would know she wanted Shi and in his unstable condition, barely out of the hospital, she wasn’t sure how he’d react.
“Training, father,” Carmen said quickly, noting the odd blue hue of his eyes that said the magic they swore was out of his system wasn’t and it scared her. “We
“You can still protect me.I can protect me thanks to you.”
A turbulent look slid across his handsome face. “We still can’t be, Carmen. The council, the Guard, your father, will assume we started something before my departure.”
She’d come this far, dared to push him this boldly and she wasn’t stopping now. “And when I reach twenty-three next year? When I hit ‘The Day of the Wolf’?” It was when a female of their race stopped aging for fifty years, but more importantly, when she became fertile with her mate, if she was lucky enough to find that rare match. But she was that lucky, because she knew in her heart, this man was her mate.
His eyes heated, and the green took on an amber glow. He felt it, too. He knew what she did. She was his mate. It was the only explanation for how intensely they wanted each other.“Then,” he said, a deep rasp to his voice,“no one can keep you from your mate.”
Her chest tightened, throat went dry. Carmen wet her lips.“In all these years, you’ve never found your-”
“I did. Yes.”
This shocked her and ripped at her in a way that neared physical pain. It didn’t matter. There could be more than one match until a bond was complete unless he loved her...unless... “But you aren’t mated.” Otherwise, he wouldn’t want her. He’d only want his mate.
“She was a Rebel who tried to kill me.” His jaw tightened. “Instead, I killed her.”
She was appalled, and not because he’d killed her. Rebels were vicious monsters who fed on flesh and death. Good Lord, his life had been filled with horrific pain. “Did you...think you cared for her before....it happened?”
“I didn’t even know her. I didn’t want to know her. I damn sure didn’t want a mate who was a Rebel.”
“Of course not. Who would? That would be a curse.”
“Even if she hadn’t been a Rebel, I didn’t want to care about anyone enough to feel their loss ever again.”
She wet her lips, and his gaze followed the movement. “After what I’ve been through, I can’t say I blame you.” She hesitated. “But it happened to me anyway.” Her chest tightened. “You have come to mean so much to me, Shi.”
They stared at one another, and she could feel him everywhere, inside and out. Her skin was on fire. Her heart was thundering. Suddenly, he growled low in his throat and she was whirled around and pressed to the wall. “I didn’t want to give a damn.”
“But you do,” she whispered. “Tell me you do. I really need to hear you say it.”
“Too damn much.” And then, he was kissing her, his mouth slanting over hers, his tongue pressed between her lips.
Carmen moaned with the sweet bliss of it, her arms wrapping around his neck. She pressed into him, unable to get close enough, incapable of getting enough of him. This was what she needed. He was what she needed. She was lost in this man and she wanted to be lost in him forever. Here she was safe. Here she belonged. Here she felt no pain. Suddenly though, Shi pulled away. Shoved back from her and put space between them. Carmen was panting, trying to breathe when the door of the training room opened and her father walked in.
A gasp slid from her lips as the rush of her father’s anger washed over her. Alexander Neal was six feet five, with long blond hair, and though he looked not a day over thirty-five, was two hundred years old. His presence, even in his current state of barely normal, was intense, but add anger to the mix, and it was suffocating.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Carmen didn’t look at Shi. She just acted, knowing that though Shi could mask the scent of his desire, she could not. Her father would know she wanted Shi and in his unstable condition, barely out of the hospital, she wasn’t sure how he’d react.
“Training, father,” Carmen said quickly, noting the odd blue hue of his eyes that said the magic they swore was out of his system wasn’t and it scared her. “We
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