“I know,” she choked.
Sloane’s dark purple eyes looked like cut amethyst in the harsh light of the interrogation room. They were so bright that she could clearly make out the way his slit pupils expanded to swallow all that rich color.
His breathing stopped, so he didn’t say anything more. Instead, he shook his head vehemently and jerked his chin toward the door.
Please,his expression pleaded.Please go.
Her hands trembled violently by her sides. For a moment, she worried that she’d made an awful mistake. But that moment was fleeting.
Meeting his frantic gaze, she calmly informed him, “I’m not going anywhere, baby.”
She took a step. Then she took another one.
Sloane watched her like he couldn’t decide whether she was a calamity or a savior. The cords of his neck strained against hishigh collar, and despite the way he’d shifted as far back as he could, his shoulders curved toward her like something in him was desperate to reach her.
“It’s okay,” she soothed, coming to stand beside his chair. Her heart broke when he stared up at her with a look of defeat in that proud face.
Gently stroking an undamaged part of his cheek, she leaned down to whisper, “I chose this the minute I decided to run away with you, Sloane. And I’m choosing you again now.”
“Because you have to,” he gritted out.
Gripping his chin, she growled, “Because you’re my mate, and I’m gonna fight for you. Understood?”
Dark, glossy eyes stared up at her. Long, pale eyelashes turned spiky with tears she wondered if he’d ever been allowed to shed before. “Doe…”
She leaned down to press feather-soft kisses to his brow, cheeks, eyelids, and nose. “You chose me. I choose you.”
Cecilia didn’t think he had much room to move, but she was wrong. Or at least, she was wrong about his motivation. The sound of chains straining and metal creaking accompanied his sudden lunge upward.
She gasped, hands curling into his shoulders, as he slammed his split lips into hers. He kissed her with everything he had — lips, teeth, tongue, and soul.
Cecilia dug her nails into his dirty shirt, clinging to him as she gave as good as she got. His tongue swept past her lips. He tasted her without reservation, like it was the first and last time he’d get the chance.
It’s just the beginning,she silently promised him, one kiss at a time.
His shoulders vibrated under her hands with an almost violent purr. A bubble of laughter left her and pressed itself into him, slowing his frenzied pace down bit by bit.
“Breathe, baby,” she whispered between kisses, a grin pulling at the corners of her lips. “Breathe for me now.”
Sloane nudged her cheek with the tip of his nose. Pulling back a little, she found him looking up at her with an expression so fierce, it made her danger sense tingle. She watched closely as he took one deep breath. Then another. And another.
In a rough voice, he said, “My gloves. Take them off. Please.”
Cecilia let out a soft noise of understanding. Kneeling quickly, she reached around the back of his chair to where his bound hands stuck out the back. There was no chance of picking the evil-looking, super advanced lock on his cuffs, but she was able to wiggle and slide and pick at his gloves until they peeled away from the tips of his claws.
And before her eyes, the deadly tips retracted.
“It happened!” she cried, crouching low to press kisses to those strange claws.
Popping back up, she was astonished to find Sloane wassmiling.A true, huge, fanged grin made his cheeks round and his eyes sparkle. He lookedyoung.So much younger than the hardened soldier she’d only gotten to see once.
He looked happy. Truly, really happy.
“Oh,” she breathed, nose stinging. Cecilia squeezed herself between the table and the chair to plant herself on his lap. Cupping his jaw with both hands, she told him, “Yeah, you make loving you easy, Sloane. All you have to do is keep looking at me like that.”
Unable to wrap his arms around her, he seemed to settle for burying his face in her throat. The feeling of razor-sharp fangs gently pressing into the fragile skin of her neck was a shock that made her shiver. He held her there for several seconds, that earth-shaking purr rattling his chest against hers, before he dragged those fangs over her skin in a deadly caress.
Whispering into her pounding pulse, he asked, “How did you get in here?”
