“Even knowing all you do now about my world? That you have no choice in being my mate because of a council of fae who require it?”
“Or that you apparently chose me, thereby ensuring I had no choice in the matter,” I added. “A fact, by the way, that you withheld from me this last month.”
He had the good grace to grimace. “Yeah, that, too.”
I hummed, swallowing more of the water before setting it on a glass table near the seating area. “There are worse things in life,” I murmured, running my fingers along the back of the leather couch. “Losing my parents. Putting up with Clarissa, Ryan, and Carmen for five years. Dash and Charlie’s games.”
I supposed it all seemed rather trivial now when compared to the details Tray had disclosed. Yet somehow, all those experiences had numbed my reactions to his revelations about the fae world.
I should be running from here screaming.
Instead, I found myself turning toward the guy intended to be mine.
And not necessarily disliking what I saw.
He didn’t bite me tonight because he cared about my choice. Even though I technically didn’t have one, he still desired my willingness.
“What would you do if I denied our mating?” I wondered out loud.
A swirl of embers lit his dark irises. “I would work even harder to change your mind.”
“And if that didn’t work?”
He studied me for a long moment, then smiled. “It would. Eventually.”
“How can you be so sure?” I pressed. “Maybe I’ll choose to stay in my world, go to college, find a nice guy to marry, and make human babies.”
His expression told me he disliked that vision, but his tone remained calm as he said, “Then I’ll wait until your time with him is through and try again later in our lives.”
“And do what in the interim?”
He stepped forward. “Why do you really want to have this hypothetical conversation, Ella? Just to test me? To be cruel?”
I flinched at the unveiled accusation. I hadn’t meant that at all, had only—
He pinched my jaw between his thumb and finger, the grasp not necessarily painful, but not gentle either.
“What do you want me to say to you?” he continued. “What promise do you need to hear? That I’ll never force myself upon you? Because I think my actions have proven that. That I’ll do whatever I can to help you? To train you? To protect you? What more do you need to know me? Time? More kisses? Whatever it is, I’ll give it to you. But I need you to tell me, Ella. Even if that means watching you marry a mortal, as you so callously suggested.”
Okay, wow, I’d obviously struck a nerve.
Which, yeah. It’d been a bitchy thing to say.
In truth, I wasn’t even that upset. There were worse fates than finding out I was betrothed to Trayton Nacht.
I mean, he was right. Despite our rocky beginning, he’d proven to mostly have my best interests at heart. Heck, he’d enrolled in Darlington Academy—the epitome of hell—just to get to know me.
No, not even that.
To help me.
To protect me.
To educate me.
I couldn’t deny the pul
l I felt toward him, the way my body seemed to cave to his every touch. There was a connection between us. A magical thread of electricity that hummed deep inside me each time our eyes locked, like right now.