“I forgive you.” Jen slipped a hand up through his raised arms and let her finger trace the letters on his chest. “I will always forgive you. But can you forgive me? Because my actions and words can be quite harsh. I don’t mean to be. I’m like a walking natural disaster when I lose control, and when I’ve calmed down, I’ve left destruction in my wake. I’m so sorry, Dec.”
He leaned forward, pressed his lips to her forehead, and then whispered, “I forgive you. Of course, I forgive you. I’m in this for life, baby. You’re stuck with me. Please don’t ever entertain the idea that we could be apart. If anything hurts me more, it’s the idea that you think I would ever walk away from you. That I would abandon you and our daughter. It is a promise I will never break.”
Jen wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his chest. “Thank you.”
Decebel picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her to their bed and carefully laid her down. Then he climbed in next to her, stretching his body beside her, so close that they touched from shoulder to foot. He rested his upper body on his bent elbow, his head held up by a hand. Decebel’s other hand slipped under her shirt and pressed against the flesh of her stomach. “Now, regarding tomorrow—”
Jen shook her head. “I’ll stay. I get it. I just let—”
“Hush, female,” he said, though his tone wasn’t harsh. “Let me speak before you make any decisions, okay?” He stared at her, clearly waiting for a response.
She nodded at him and kept her mouth closed.
“I would like to compromise with you,” he continued. “If I hadn’t let my own needs get in the way of considering your own, I could have prevented tonight.” The hand on her stomach began to move, his fingertips brushing back and forth, causing a different kind of heat than her anger. “You know I always want you by my side. If you come, will you promise that if things get out of control, you will leave with a fae and come back here? If there’s a point when we’re overwhelmed or outnumbered, can you please return to safety?”
Jen bit the inside of her cheek as she considered his request. It was indeed a compromise, and a good one at that. “I do understand your need to protect me, Dec. I feel the same way.”
He squeezed her hip. “I know, Jennifer. I feel it. But my instincts will always be to protect you first. I can work on being willing to compromise, but we both know I will screw up again.”
She chuckled. “Well, I won’t. I’ve completely learned my lesson today. I’m sure I will never struggle with this particular problem again.”
He leaned down and nipped her bottom lip. “You’re trouble.” Then he kissed the place he’d bitten. “The best kind of trouble.”
Jen angled her body toward his and laid her head on her arm. “I can agree to that compromise. I don’t like being away from you, Decebel. And it’s annoying to me that I’ve turned into one of those women whohasto be with her man all the time.”
“We’re not human,” he pointed out. “Our emotions toward one another are on a different level. Cut yourself some slack. And besides”—he smiled a crooked, wicked smile—“I like that you want to be with me all the time, especially since you have a penchant for getting yourself into interesting situations.”
She laughed, and it felt good, considering less than half an hour ago she was convinced she was losing her mind. Though she still wasn’t sure that she hadn’t been. Something still felt off.
Decebel’s brow lowered to a deepV. “What do you mean ‘off?’”
Jen took a deep breath and released it slowly as she considered how she could explain it. “It feels like chaos inside my mind. My emotions are a mess.” She shook her head, frustrated that she couldn’t explain it better.
“It’s okay.” He pulled her closer to his body. “Whatever it is, we’ll work through it together.”
Jen wrapped an arm over his waist and buried her face in his neck. “I love you, B.” She used the nickname she’d given him when they’d first met. “I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“And I love you. Always.”He pressed lips to her temple and laid his head down. “Sleep. Tomorrow will be—”
“A crapshoot?”
She felt his body shake with laughter. “I don’t even know what that means.”
“It’s like saying shooting in the dark. The chance of hitting your target is questionable,.
“Hmm, okay. Then yes, tomorrow will be a crapshoot.”
She closed her eyes and burrowed even closer. If she could climb inside her mate, she would. Jen hadn’t felt so vulnerable and lost since Thia’s birth. And that had shaken her pretty good. To the point that she was sure she’d shatter and not be able to be put back together again.
“I will always be there to hold you together, baby,” he murmured. “Just don’t shut me out.”
Jen sighed. “Okay, Dec. Okay.” She closed her eyes and let the safety of her mate’s arms lull her to sleep.
* * *
“We were attacked, and they took three of ours captive.”
“How many were killed?” Alston glared at the fae male before him. He had a name, but Alston couldn’t remember it. And he didn’t care to. The idiot hadn’t done his job. But he had managed not to die or get captured, so maybe Alston was being a little hard on him.
