Her lower lip quivers, and a few more tears spill over, but I sense her relief growing through the bond. Just by holding her and listening, just by trying to understand her, I’ve helped soothe the ache of loneliness she has endured for too many years.
As I continue wiping away her tears, a strange sort of peace settles over me. For all my years as a commander, and for all the battles I have fought and the lives I have taken, this feels like the sweetest victory of all, to stand here with my mate in my arms while offering her the one thing no one else ever has. Comfort. Understanding. Devotion. To know that my mere presence helps calm her… well, that knowledge only strengthens my resolve to always keep her close. And it strengthens my belief that we are truly meant to belong to one another.
Warmth pulses through the bond, and for a long moment we simply remain there by the window, holding on to one another as snow begins to fall outside, soft flurries drifting past the window and blanketing the still forest.
Isabel’s breathing gradually steadies against me. Then, through the bond, I sense another emotion unfurling within her…longing.
Her arms loosen around my center, and she steps back to trail her fingers over the front of my tunic. As she holds my gaze, a pretty blush suffuses her cheeks.
“I thought I wanted to wait…” she begins, though her words soon trail off. She pauses, needing more time to gather her thoughts as well as her courage.
I go very still, though my heart hammers in my chest.
When I take a deep inhale, I’m rewarded with the faintest traces of her budding desire, an enticing pungency that rises above her lilac scent. It makes me ravenous, and my cock instantly thickens in my pants.
But I don’t make a move for her yet. I simply keep watching her, waiting for her to admit what’s on her mind, even though I have no difficulty sensing her desires.
On the day we first came here to this cabin, she says through the bond,everything seemed so sad and bleak. It seemed wrong to consummate our mating bond then, even though… even though it was then that I realized I no longer wanted to run from you, that I no longer wanted to escape our bond.
My fingers tighten around her arms, and I send her a surge of encouragement through the tether that connects us, as well as a wave of understanding.
She lifts her chin slightly, still holding my gaze. A shaky breath leaves her, and her chest starts to rise and fall just a little faster.
Then she says the words I’ve been aching to hear.
“I surrender,” she whispers.
CHAPTER 21
ISABEL
Gideon is still for a moment,then his hands shift to my waist, tugging me closer. He studies my face as though searching for any doubt.
But all my doubts have fled.
I want him. I really do. And I no longer want to wait, not for the battle to pass, not for Frostfall, and not for some distant time when everything is finally safe again.
“Say it again,” he says, his deep voice rumbling through me.
“I surrender,” I whisper.
His eyes flash with pleasure, and as he draws me even closer, I feel his hardness pressing against my stomach. My heart skips a beat, and my breath catches in my throat. Warmth pulses in my core, a deepening ache, a fervent longing that belongs only to my mate.
He lifts a hand to my face and traces my jaw, sending a rush of goosebumps across my skin as he gently tilts my head back. He lowers his lips toward mine, though he doesn’t kiss me justyet. Instead, he holds my gaze as his cool peppermint breath brushes my face.
“You are mine, my little moth.”
“Yes,” I agree. I’m his. And he is mine.
For as long as we both shall live…
Then something shifts through the bond, and he sends me a rush of information, knowledge he has been waiting to share but has not found the right moment for until now.
After we physically consummate our mating bond, he says,as long as we remain together, you will live as long as I do. In fact, you will likely outlive me. Because you will continually absorb my winter magic, little moth, and it will allow you to live for thousands of years.
I gasp and pull back slightly. I search his face and reach for the truth in him, only to find he is being entirely honest.
Oh, my gods.
