Everyone thought I only cared about my personal satisfaction. Little did they realize how much I’d sacrificed to be where I was today.
Yes, I took Aflora.
However, it was done with a purpose—to protect those I loved. Including her. An impossible claim, but I’d known about her for years, been aware of our intertwined fates, and had fallen for her after seeing dozens of prophecies all revolving around her fate. Our fate.
I couldn’t even begin to explain that to her.
All I could do was continue to guide her and allow her to make her own decisions. Like she did tonight when she bit me.
I drew my mouth to hers once more, kissing her thoroughly and thanking her with my tongue for the gift of her bond. She would never know how much it meant to me. Or maybe she’d sense it.
Regardless, it was done.
We belonged to each other.
And I intended to spend the rest of the evening thanking her for accepting me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Aflora
Shade’s mouth mesmerized me. I could kiss him for hours, and I did. We lost time in the seclusion of his cabin. He brought me berries and the cookies he’d mentioned. He gave me a fruity drink to quench my thirst. He introduced his mouth to every inch of my body. And then he took me again and again.
If this was all a dream, I no longer cared, because it was perfect. A fantasy come to life, with the most unlikely of males at my side.
Yet I felt the bruises of his past echoing in his spirit. So much agony. Selflessness. A caring man hidden beneath a perpetual shadow.
No one knew him.
And for a few brief moments of time, he allowed me to truly see the real Shade—a strong, intelligent, conniving male who put everyone above himself.
Including me.
I couldn’t see everything, mostly because that wasn’t how our bond worked, but I sensed his sacrifice. “Do you regret biting me?” I asked him, my palm resting against his sculpted abdomen as I snuggled into his side.
He drew his fingers through my hair, tucking the strands behind my ear. “No.”
The bond confirmed he meant that. Yet… “I sense so much sadness in you.”
He said nothing for a while, his fingers drifting through my hair as he studied the wood beams on the ceiling. “I’m not sad,” he finally replied. “I’m just tired. There’s so much I want to share and can’t, not without initiating substantial risk. And if I have to choose between your safety and my comfort, I’ll pick you every time.”
I shifted upward to rest my head on the pillow beside him. “Is that why you won’t tell me why y
ou bit me?”
“Yes.” He rotated toward me, so he lay on his side rather than his back, his icy blue eyes holding mine. “Do you hate me for it?”
“Yes,” I said. “And no.”
He seemed to understand that, not needing me to voice anything more. “One day you’ll understand. One day soon.”
“And will I hate you when the truth is revealed?” I wondered out loud.
“Possibly, yes.”
I was afraid he would say that. “I don’t want to hate you.”
“I don’t want you to hate me either,” he whispered. “But I’ll accept your disdain, as is my due.”