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Even his voice jets shivers through my system. A mere whisper, and I break out in goose pimples. My nipples bead. My heart jumps. And, no doubt, he knows it.
Pasting on a polite smile, I turn toward the gorgeous wizard. His smoldering gaze threatens to dismantle my polite front.
“A word, love?”
One likely meant to seduce me out of my knickers and leave me brokenhearted again come morning. “I’m closing up. It’ll have to wait.”
I do my best to sail past him, but he stays me with his long, hot fingers around my wrist. My shivers explode into tingles. With one touch, he reduces me to a mass of need, horrifyingly aware of my damp, empty sex clenching hungrily. Of my heart crying out for his devotion.
“Ronan—”
“Please. I know I’ve been awful. Let me explain. Five minutes.”
“Explain what?” Why he left the pub with another woman? Why he acted as if I’m the only woman for him, then, moments after that terrifying attack, whittled me out of his heart with seemingly no effort?
“My behavior. It will sound mad, and you may not believe me, but I swear…every word is the truth.”
He’s pleading—something I never thought he would. I’m still too angry to listen. But if I don’t, I’ll always wonder…what if.
I shoo the other patrons out, lock up behind them, then turn to Ronan with a sigh. “All right, then. Tell me.”
“Thank you.” He may not have his hands on me anymore, but his stare still holds me captive. “I told you not to Bind to me and let you think I shagged that woman because I’m trying to protect you.”
“Is that what you call it?”
“But keeping this to myself is clearly hurting you more.”
“Oh, now it matters?”
“My family is cursed—or I’ve long believed they are. Because of it, no Wolvsey ever takes a mate. As the curse goes, any Wolvsey who takes a mate will be forced to watch her die and is doomed to spend the rest of his life alone. I’ve been terrified that Calling to you would be your death.”
His expression tells me he believes every word. It sounds farfetched, but what do I know about magic?
“When you were attacked, I feared that my need to make you mine had killed you. My only hope was to put distance between us, forbid you to Bind to me, and hope that saved your life.”
“So why the blond tart?”
“You weren’t giving up on me, and I knew that, after the terrible way Edward treated you, you would cut me cold if you thought I’d shagged another woman. But I swear, she kissed me once, and I felt ill. Even if I hadn’t…I had no interest in her. I only want you, love.” Pain twists his frown. “I still don’t know if we can truly be together. The curse may have faded. But…I don’t know that. And I can’t take a chance with your life.”
He looks so sincere that I’m torn. Even if every word he’s uttering is rubbish, he believes it. But that hardly excuses his behavior. “You’re telling me why you ripped out my heart, but not asking me my wishes on the matter?”
Ronan streaks his strong fingers through his midnight hair. “Did you hear me? You could die.”
I slam a glass onto the counter between us. “I could die walking across the street, too. I’d rather take a chance at being happy than spend my life in misery. But since you’ve elected to doom us both, get out. If you come back, I’ll kill you myself.”
Chapter Nine
I storm away from Ronan, hoping to reach the back room before I start ugly crying. Clearly, he believes this curse, since he haunted my pub for the past twelve nights, his watchful gaze never straying. Even Raiden’s lone visit to the Brew didn’t budge Ronan from his protective perch. But the damn wizard thought nothing of condemning us both to hell without even consulting me.
Damn him.
Suddenly, Ronan appears in front of me and grabs my arms. “I merely meant to protect you.”
I glare at him, knowing pain is written all over my face. “If you care for me at all, you?—”
“Would do everything in my power to keep you safe. This curse has afflicted my family for nearly a thousand years. It’s robbed us all of our ability to sense our mates as other wizards do.”
That stuns me. “Y-you never sensed that I’m your mate? But I thought… The fever in your blood…”
