“And I’ll love you until I die.” I pressed a vine beneath her chin and directed her gaze to mine. “How many times do I have to say it? That you were chosen for me?”
“But how do you know?!” she demanded, pressing her hands against my chest. “How can you be certain?”
“Myblavhas never bloomed for anyone but you,” I growled, grabbing her hand and placing it between my racing hearts. “Whenever you’re close, it’s as if all of my senses pursue you until everything else melts away.”
“I couldn’t leave the room for fear of losing you. I was afraid that if I hadn’t been there when you awoke, you’d think I didn’t exist—or that I didn’t care about you. Or perhaps you would think that I wasdisappointed in what happened between us.
“So instead, I cleaned you, using the moss from your bedroom poolside to wash off everything from your skin,” I muttered, dragging the back of my fingers against her bare skin where her neck met her shoulder, causing her to suck in a quick breath and shiver as she exhaled. “I sorted your new clothes and weapons and put them in your new closet, which is attached to your new bathroom where you wanted it, for you to find when you wake up.”
I wrapped the freshly made blanket around her shoulders, hoping it would keep her warm and take away the chill that had descended on her.
“Because I shredded your bedding, I had our hometree make some new ones to replace what was destroyed and to have some spares in case they were needed urgently in the future.” I grabbed one of my feeders and offered it to her, hoping she’d accept. “The only thing I didn’t want to do was feed you because I didn’t know how frequently you needed nutrition or how your body reacted to my nectar.”
“You did this all for me?” She smiled softly as she took my feeder and placed it to her lips. “All because you were afraid I’d reject you when I awoke?”
“I wanted to do it because it’s the right thing to do,” I clarified. “You deserve to be cherished and worshiped for who you are as a female. You’ve given up so much to stay here, and I hope that one day your desire for me will become instinctual, signaling to you that I’m yours—”
“Actions speak louder than words.” She lowered the feeder from her mouth. “And you keep doing and saying all the right things.”
“So, what’s the issue?” As her gaze shifted to my lips, I inquired, “Do I have to rip my hearts from my chest and throw them on the bed to demonstrate that they only beat for you?”
“No,” she mumbled as she shook her head. “But I’m afraid of becoming accustomed to it, of it turning out to be another lie—another broken promise to add to the list of others in my life—”
“Who harmed you?” I growled, palming her cheek, staring deep into those lost dark eyes, begging someone—me—to save her. “Who made you feel unworthy of being loved as you deserve?”
“Everyone!” Her voice broke as tears stung the corners of her eyes. “As soon as I start to believe that things are getting better, that I matter, it all comes crashing down around me.”
“Then why do you want to abandon everything I have to offer and return to that?”
“I don’t know…”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
VIOLA - VIOLENTVIOLET
“Can I kiss you?”
My heart skipped a beat. “I wouldn’t stop you—”
A possessive growl ripped through his throat as his lips slammed onto mine.
I pressed my chest against his, needing to feel closer to him, and my hands found his hair.
He abruptly stood up, forcing me to my feet, breaking our kiss to spin me around, and leading me to the bedroom’s pool and waterfall.
His hand pressed against my stomach, while another held my breast gently, keeping me in place as he pressed his nose against my hair.
“What do I have to do to make you realize how much you mean to me?” he whispered against my skin as his vines snaked up my legs, rooting me in place. “Do I have to show you what you do to me? How do I want you?”
“I’m not sure,” I mumbled as I stared at our reflection in the lavender-colored water.
“Do I need to demonstrate how you make me feel?” One of his feeder vines drew my hair back, exposing my neck to him, as he leaned forward and huskily whispered into my ear, “Do I have to prove that I can take care of you? Can I please you like a partner should?”
I looked down at the hand massaging my breast as he dragged the other to my bare one, mirroring its action. My nipples hardened, and I could feel the familiar warm tingle of arousal brewing.
All I could do was stare at him as his suckers snaked up to my breasts, lazily wrapping themselves once around like the frame of a bra before suctioning to my hardened brown nipples.
I was hypnotized by the way he moved and how much he had improved, as if it was some lingering effect of his sap and aroma that radiated from hisblav.
