"Then explain it to me!"
"I can't!"
"Why not?"
"Because if I tell you, you'll do something stupid!" The words explode out of him, raw and desperate. "You'll try to help, or investigate, or put yourself in danger to prove you're not afraid. And I can't—" His voice breaks. "I can't lose you, Dalla. I won't survive it."
The admission hangs between us, heavy and fragile.
"You're not going to lose me," I say quietly.
"You don't know that."
"Neither do you." I close the distance between us, reaching up to cup his face. "But pushing me away isn't going to keep me safe. It's just going to keep me alone. And I'd rather face whatever's coming with you than be protected from it without you."
His hands find my waist, grip tightening like he's afraid I'll slip away. "You're impossible."
"So I've been told."
"And stubborn."
"Family trait."
"And I am so fucking in love with you that it terrifies me."
The words steal my breath. He's never said it before. Neither of us has—not really.
I told him I could see myself falling for him, and he's shown me in a hundred different ways how he feels, but the actual words...
"Say it again," I whisper.
"I love you." He leans his forehead against mine. "I love you, and I'm terrified, and I don't know how to do this without breaking both of us."
"Then let me help you figure it out."
He kisses me.
It's not soft. Not gentle. It's desperate and hungry, all the fear and frustration and jealousy pouring out of him and into me. His hands slide into my hair, tilting my head back, and I gasp against his mouth as his tongue sweeps against mine.
"Mine," he growls against my lips. "Not his. Not anyone's.Mine."
"Yours," I agree, breathless. "Always."
Something snaps in him.
He spins me around, pressing my front against the back of the couch.
One hand tangles in my hair, pulling my head back until my throat is exposed.
The other slides around my waist, fingers slipping under my shirt to splay across my stomach.
"I'm going to mark you," he murmurs against my ear. "So everyone knows who you belong to. Soheknows."
A shiver runs through me. "Yes."
His mouth finds my neck, and he bites down.
Not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to bruise.
