“Then your instincts are better than you think. You are so much more than an executioner. You carry people when they can’t get up. When the world goes to hell, you push us forward.”
A faint smile tugged at his mouth. “One day, I’d like to believe the things you see in me.”
My hands lifted to his face, and his breathing shallowed as if he had to swallow a sound.
“I see a male who’s been strong for everyone else his entire life. Who carried the weight of a kingdom, a century of chains, a thousand horrors, and never once asked anyone to help him.” My thumb traced his cheekbone. “And nowyou’re scared because you have someone who makes you feel weak.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. He looked hungry and desperate, like he held himself back by a thread. My heart hammered, hyperaware of this strange current between us as a reckless warmth curled through me.
“After your sister is safe…what happens to us?”
“What do you want to happen?”
“For you to stay,” he said in a raw voice. “I want to wake with you in my bed and hear your steps in my halls. I want to know that you chose me.”
Tears burned my eyes. “I want to choose you without feeling like it’s dangerous. I’m…still figuring out how.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Sometimes I’ll look at you and feel something so big it scares me. I don’t know what it means or why it’s happening.” A warm flush claimed my cheeks. “If this goes any further, I know I’ll be too attached.”
“There’s no such thing.”
A tremor rolled through me. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve beensuresince you broke my chains, my princess.”
Heat pooled low in my stomach.
“I want you scared of how badly you want me.”
“I am.” My breath shivered out of me.
His thumb dragged along my jaw. “Then say you’ll stay with me.”
My throat tightened. “I will.”
His hand dropped to my waist, pulling me closer. “And you’ll sleep in my bed every night. You’ll be mine.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
His expression darkened. “Do you understand what that means?”
My heart stuttered. “Tell me.”
“You don’t share your body with another male.”
“Of course not.”
His fingers slid lower on my waist. “When you need warmth, you reach for me. When you’re hurt. When you’re angry. When you can’t sleep or can’t stand another second alone.” His forehead dropped to mine. “You come to me.”
“I-I will.”
“And if someone touches you with anything more than courtesy, I will put him in the ground.”
A shiver ran through me.
He cupped my face with both hands, his thumbs stroking my cheeks. “But it also means I’m yours. No one else.”
