Zarren turned away from me to address Chloe, who had covered the distance and stood with one eyebrow raised, her hands crossed over her chest. “Commander, why are you here?”
“I’m here for my mate.”
Chloe’s gaze darted to me, then back to Zarren so quickly I thought I might have imagined it. “She’s not your mate, Commander.”
Zarren turned his head to the side to address me. “That is for her to decide. My lady, may I please have a word?”
Oh, shit.
You keep saying that. Stop saying that.
Zarren held out his hand, palm up, and waited for me to decide what to do.
“Do not, Willow. He will only hurt you.” Oberon’s voice was quiet. I doubted anyone but myself and Zarren heard his plea.
I looked up at Zarren and studied him. I’d worn his mating collar. I knew his moods, the emotions he claimed not to possess. Right now, he looked… sad.
I took Oberon’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I need to talk to him.”
Oberon closed his eyes as if in pain but did not protest when I released his hand and walked to Zarren. I did not place my hand in his. I did look him squarely in the eye. “Okay. Let’s talk.”
* * *
There weren’tmany places on a ship this small that had any privacy. I wasn’t going to take him to the tiny box Oberon and I slept in—and did more than sleep. No way.
I was relieved when Chloe led us to a tiny meeting room—four chairs bolted to the floor, no table, a vid screen on one wall, and literally nothing else.
“You okay?” She looked at me to let me know I didn’t have to be in here, talking to Zarren, if I didn’t want to. She had my back. Which I appreciated. But if there was one thing I was certain of, it was that Zarren would never physically harm me. Never.
Break my heart? Well, he’d already done that.
“I’m good. It’s okay.”
Chloe nodded and closed the door. I didn’t realize how nervous I was until my entire body jumped at the sound of the door locking into place.
I expected Zarren to start talking right away, scream at me for taking his prisoner and leaving his ship, yell at me for breaking our match and so obviously being intimate with Oberon, demand I never touch Oberon again, try to convince me to give him another chance, tell me anything and everything I wanted to hear to win me back.
He did none of those things.
He didn’t make a sound, simply closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms. He held me. Close. Stroked my back. My hair. He said nothing for a long time, long enough that all the chaos and pain of the last few days welled up inside me and slipped from the corners of my eyes. Tears.
Why was I crying?
Because you still love him, woman. It’s obvious.
I can’t. It won’t work.
And yet…
He was here.So strong and mean and sure of himself. I considered pulling away, resisting, but he felt too damn good. Oberon adored me. He was fierce, and fun, and would never hurt me, never lie to me. He listened. He was honorable.
I loved so many things about Oberon. But he wasn’t likethis.
Unbreakable. Unyielding. So fucking strong. Mentally. Physically. Everything about Zarren made me feel invincible. Including his devotion to me. He had warned me he would not love me. I had told him I didn’t need love.
What a little liar I turned out to be.
I clung, soaked him in. God, I’d missed him.
