Wolfe shuffled behind me. “Still hate me?”
I turned to face him, slowly.
He looked me over when our eyes met like he was trying to figure out his next steps.
Hate him?
No.
I never hated him. I was just afraid. Afraid ofeverything.
“It’s less.” I decided to go for a lighthearted approach.
It worked. He smiled. Dimples appeared in his cheeks and a spark brightened his eyes.
“Lessthan what, Ziyka?”
A little smile made its way across my lips. “I hate you less than when you decided to keep me here. And much less than when you decided to send me back.”
He blinked once, looking like he was actually trying to decipher my answer. “Okay, looks like we’re making progress. What else do I have to do?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.Nothing at all, Wolfe Nightblade,” I replied in a heartfelt tone that said I knew he’d already done everything for me and so much more.
“That’s great. Because we have five days to consummate our marriage. It helps if you don’t hate me.”
Heat flared in my cheeks, spreading down my neck.Five days.
I stilled, and the swooping sensation in my stomach made me giddy. How silly of me not to have thought of…consummation. Wolfe was my husband now.
“Five… days?”
He nodded. “Veil Law. Unions must be sealed with a bond. If not, it becomes void.”
Void?No. Neither of us was going to let that happen. So…that begged the other question.
I held his gaze. “Is… that what we’re doing tonight.”
He walked toward me, taking slow steps. When he reached me, he leaned in close, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from his skin and the scent of him.
If he said yes, I wouldn’t pretend I didn’t want him.
This was the guy I’d given my innocence, my body already remembered him. My mind would just have to catch up.
“No,” he muttered, surprising me. Then he caught my chin and angled my face so that my bruised cheek caught the light.
Emabelle’s cosmetic coverage had done its job well today, too. I’d woken to find the bruise worse than it had been yesterday.
“Why?” I breathed.
“He hurt you.” His fingers ran down to my neck where Thayden’s finger marks were hidden.
“You can see it?”
“Yes. Remember the Fae have impeccable sight. But… with you, I can see beyond the bruises, to the pain.” Sorrow filled his eyes. “The air in the realm will soon heal you. By morning you won’t even have to hide the marks. But you won’t forget him tonight. When you’rewithme, I only want you to be thinking of me. Nothim. Not even about his cruelty.”
He was right. Thayden still lingered in the back of my mind like a shadow I couldn’t shake. And… the idea that he wanted every piece of my attention stirred something fierce in my chest. Something in the way he claimed that space—claimed me—didn’t feel like control. It felt like protection.
I didn’t just understand what he meant. I wanted it.
