Sitting in a quiet area of the yacht,Kate hadn’t been trying to hurt his feelings, but she needed to get the truth out before things got too serious. All of the gift-giving had rubbed her the wrong way, plus trying to pretend she belonged in a place where people had probably never struggled for a second made her feel phony and a bit lost.
She had spent most of her life feeling like she did as a child. She was bounced from house to house between two parents, both of whom had found new partners and had new children. She felt like the figurine in a set that was broken, crumbling, and only put on display for aesthetic purposes.
Devlin, of course, knew none of that. It had wounded her so deeply that she didn’t allow anyone to get too close to her. It was because she thought that she didn’t deserve such attention, in the same sense that she felt she didn’t deserve attention from her parents … because it was something neither of them had made an extra, or any, effort to give her.
They had fought loudly and mercilessly when she was a child, even when she was in the room. They would then not talk for days on end, only when entirely necessary, with her in the middle of it, ravaging her mind to find a way to bring them back together again. It made her feel more adult than she actually was, trying to mend a broken relationship with complications that she was too young to understand.
So she expected something similar from Devlin, like an expression of rage or a few nasty words exchanged. She wasn’t good at arguments, and that was because of her parents.
They sat on the yacht in silence for a moment, the people around them laughing, chatting, and splashing in the ocean. She waited for him to become angry, to show some of that intensity that Gerri had been talking about. She held her breath for it, but it never came.
Instead, he sat there, looking at her thoughtfully. “Let me explain what I mean when I say shifters have mates. Do you know what a fated mate is?” he said.
Kate proceeded to shake her head again, the term sounding even more frightening than the first time he’d said it.
Devlin looked off the edge of the yacht and spoke like a poet. He looked devilishly handsome in the glow of the sunlight, outlining his face in a soft, cinematic silhouette.
“Shifters are different from humans in many ways,” he began. “Not just the shifting itself, but in the way that we relate to romantic relationships. We can love people, even be in love with them, but none of that will ever be like finding your mate.”
Kate listened intently with her hands crossed in her lap. She was picking at her nails, anxiously awaiting his further explanation.
“Finding your mate is like finding the last piece of the puzzle,” Devlin said, struggling to find the right words. “It’s like a completion that isn’t just a flowery word or term; it's literal and very biological.”
Kate frowned at him as he turned back to face her. He held out his hand, expecting an objection.
“I know it sounds strange, but hear me out,” he said. “Basically, what that means is that this joining sensation for me will never go away. Even if you don’t want to be with me, it will remain, and I will never be with anyone else again.”
Her brows shot up into the air, her heart beating in her chest like a drum.
Devlin gulped after mentioning her not being with him, his eyes glistening with the terrible thought.
“It is a natural drive in me, the same way that it is a drive for panthers to hunt. I will do whatever it takes to win you over. I really mean that, whatever it takes.”
Kate sat there for a moment, feeling topsy-turvy with emotions. The concept of a fated mate terrified her. She had just met the man! What made him think he could already be in love with her?
“So that means,” she said, trying to clear her throat. “That you are in love with me and will be forever?”
“Yes,” Devlin said urgently. “If you were a shifter, you would feel it instantly too. And there wouldn’t be anything I would have to do to win you.”
The termwinirked something inside Kate, but she nodded with understanding anyway.
“I see,” she said faintly.
A silence moved between them, filled with sounds of crashing waves and crackles of laughter. Kate had the urge to stand and tell him she’d think it over, but another part of her wanted to hear what else he could have to say.
No one had fought for her in her entire life. Not her parents, not a friend, not ever a romantic partner. It was thrilling in its own strange way to hear from a man that said he would do anything to gain her affection.
Devlin surprised Kate and placed a hand on her leg.
“Kate, please, just tell me what it is you need from me, and I will do it,” he said, his voice clear with confidence. “It is literally in my blood to do whatever it takes.”
His warm hand felt nice on her skin, and she tried not to let that influence her decision. She looked at him, trying not to let him see how affected she was by his touch.
“You sound very confident, Devlin,” she said. “I fear that it might be arrogance talking instead.”
“Try me,” he purred at her. “I know I can make you fall in love with me. Just give me four dates, and your heart will be mine.”
Devlin had grown increasingly intense through their conversation, making Kate feel a bit lightheaded with excitement. He was obviously ready to do whatever it was she asked of him, and that was exciting for Kate, who barely had anyone willing to make her breakfast in the morning.