I didn't think he could.I was pretty sure that wasn't part of the bond.
He must've just been sleeping lightly.
We spent the third day on the couch, bingeing that baking show I was still so behind on. He touched me constantly, but it wasn't like before, where he just set his hand on me to ease his pain. Callum held me tightly to his chest. Stroked my skin lightly, his fingers or hands moving constantly, as if to remind him that I was real.
I hadn't realized exactly how horrible spending heat alone would be, and he hadn't either.I might've made a different choice if I had understood, but there was no going back now.
When I felt mostly recovered, I rolled over in his arms, so our eyes could meet.
Our mouths were only inches apart. Our noses nearly brushed.
"Hi," I said.
"Hey."
"We need to talk."
He bobbed his head once, the motion a little awkward with the couch beneath the side of his face.
"I love you too," he said quietly, as if resuming a conversation we had never started. "I must. I don't know what else these feelings I have for you could be. I know I let you down, and it won't happen again. I will doanythingto make sure it doesn't happen again. Please don't ask me to leave, Kat. I'm incapable of handling life without you anymore. Even if I was capable of it, I wouldn't want to."
I blinked.
What?
"He thinks the pain was his fault, remember?"Sable yawned, stretching out within me."You should shift. He needs to snuggle me. It's my turn."
"I need to talk to him. I can shift afterward."
He loved me.
He was admitting it.
He wasn't telling me I had to stay, he wasaskingme not to make him leave.
"You didn't let me down, Callum. I was trying to do the right thing by protecting you from me during heat. I was the one who asked your family to abduct you, remember?"
"It's my fault that you felt the need to do that."
"I made that choice. Now that it's over, I realize that I should've just asked you to get over your fear and fuck me, but it's a little late."
"If I had known you would hurt that much..." He clenched his jaw. "If I had been here, I would've done it as soon as you asked me to. As soon as your pain was too much."
"I know. That's why I asked them to take you."
"In trying not to hurt you, I caused you more pain than I can fathom."
"That was heat's fault. Not yours." I lifted a hand to his hair, burying my fingers in the wild strands. His eyes closed, his emotions swelling between us. I didn't have words for the mix of them, but they were intense, More intense than I would ever have expected. "Thanks for helping me recover."
"Don't thank me. I don't deserve it."
"You do. Thank you," I repeated, tugging his hair lightly. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
"Stop, Kitten." His words were quiet. Desperate, almost. His eyes were, too, when they met mine again. "I felt your pain. Iheard every plea. That was a worse hell than anything my magic has ever put me through."
I pressed my lips to his, and kissed him slowly.
He didn't respond at first, but when I draped a leg over his hip, he pulled me closer and kissed me back.
