Or a noose.
As Zarren had done, I reached for the collar and ran my fingertips along its smooth surface. I felt nothing. There was no psychic connection, no intense blast of desire. No power. Just me.
I was still alone in my head. Which was what I wanted. Wasn’t it?
I turned around to face Oberon and discovered him staring at me with a look I could not decipher. “Thank you.”
His gaze locked with mine. “I will always protect you, Willow. It is my honor to do so.”
Why was his voice strained and unhappy? Perhaps he regretted his wholeI-owe-you-a-life-debtvow. So why did I want to crawl into his lap and ask him to hold me? Worse, why was I disappointed that I could not? Why was I thinking such things when I knew I could not possibly be what he would want in a female? Oberon was from a powerful and influential family. He did not need to settle for a sad Earth girl who was already in love with someone else.
God damn it. I didn’t want to love Zarren, but I did. What a disaster. All of it.
“I release you from your vow, Oberon. I don’t want you to be stuck with me for life just because I gave you some clothes and a transport beacon. That hardly seems fair and wasn’t my intent.”
“I do not accept your offer. I will honor my vow.”
Before I could protest, Oberon changed the subject completely. “I saw the longing in your eyes when you were watching the Atlans.”
“What?” What was he talking about?
“You have trained with a weapon, have you not?”
What the—? “How do you know that?”
He lifted one hand to cup my cheek. “I do not need a mating collar to see you, my lady.”
He made the title—my lady—something intimate. Special. My heart raced like a hummingbird’s as his thumb moved back and forth across my cheek. I didn’t realize I’d started to cry until he wiped a tear from my cheek.
I sat, glued to the seat, to him. Somehow, his touch had become an anchor. I couldn’t move away, didn’t want to. How did he know something I’d never told a soul who wasn’t back on Earth? Was I that transparent? Was he truly interested in me? In who I was? What I wanted? The thought was both sobering and scary. If he saw me this clearly without a mating collar, what would it be like to share that bond with him as well?
What did he feel like? Zarren had been power and rage. Dominant and demanding.Hungry.What would Oberon’s emotions feel like inside me?
“How long has it been?”
I knew what he meant. “Since before—”
He knew exactly what I referred to. “Ahh.” His gaze broke away as he looked over to the firing lanes.
Reluctant to look anywhere but at him—how embarrassing, crying in front of all these warriors and beasts—I finally turned my head to find the entire training room was now empty.
One little-bitty collar around my neck and, suddenly, no one needed any more practice? God, they really had been here to try to impress me. All of them. Even the Atlans.
I’d been so wrapped up in Oberon, I hadn’t noticed them leaving.
Terrifying.
“Were you any good?” Oberon stood slowly, one hand wrapped around mine so he could coax me to my feet.
“Yes. I was. I’m a country girl.” Not lying. I’d competed in shooting competitions since high school, and visited both the indoor and outdoor range at least once a week the entire time I’d been a cop. Ten years. I was damn good.
He looked confused for a moment, then dismissed the thought and raised one brow. “Do you think you can beat me, Willow Baylor, country girl from Earth?”
Sassy me, the old me I’d tried to bury deep down in my soul, shot up out of her seat, and whooped with joy.
I was tired of fighting her. She was stronger now.
Iwas stronger.
