Everything in me wanted to strip her bare, map every inch of her skin with my mouth, taste her until she screamed my name. But the uncertainty in her eyes held me in check.
"Look," I told her. "I could very easily go into your head and find out what this is all about that way, but I'd really rather you tell me yourself." It wasn't a threat, per se, but if that's what I needed to do to figure out what the hell was going on, I'd do it.
She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she inhaled deeply, took off her coat, and hung it on the hook by the door along with mine.
Then she walked into the living room, and I followed her, expecting her to sit down on the couch. But she didn't. Instead, she closed the blinds on the windows and then slowly turned to face me.
"I need to tell you some things."
"Okay…" Gods, I was trying to be patient. But she was less than three feet away, and the distance was driving me insane when I could smell her clean, herbal scent and hear the blood that colored her throat and cheeks rushing through her veins.
"I've never done this before," she admitted quietly. So quietly, there's no way I would've heard her if I were human.
I went completely still, all of my focus on those five words. "Never?" Surely I hadn't understood.
She shook her head. "Never."
Instantly, something swelled and surged inside of me—possession, maybe, or some other kind of male satisfaction—knowing that I'd be the only male who'd ever know her that intimately, or ever would.
She started talking really fast. "I mean, I've kissed people. Had a boyfriend in college for about five minutes." She twisted her fingers together in front of her. "But nothing... nothing serious."
Holy fuck.
She was a virgin.
Now that I thought about it, though, that didn't surprise me as much as it should have. The way she held herself, the layers of clothing she hid beneath, the hesitation.
It all made sense now.
"We don't have to do this tonight," I hurried to reassure her, surprised to find I meant it despite the screaming need in my veins. "There's no rush. We have time. We have lots of time to get to know one another."
"No, we don't." Her laugh was bitter. "Because that's the thing. Marcus could attack again tomorrow. I might die trying to save Alex. Time isn't exactly something we have in abundance, Elias."
She had a point, but I refused to let her reduce this moment to desperation.
"And I want you," she continued. "I want to know what it's like to be that intimate with someone. With you."
My hands fisted at my sides as I fought the war happening between my instincts and my willpower. Gods, this woman was killing me.
"Can I ask you something?" she said before I could react.
"Anything."
"What do you see when you look at me?"
The question caught me off guard, cutting through the lust surging through my body. I frowned down at her. "What do I see?"
"Yes, I need you to tell me." Her voice cracked with emotion. "I need to know what you see."
Closing the distance between us with one step, I took both her hands in mine and held them between us.
"I see strength," I told her honestly. "I see a woman who faced down a djinn and saved my life not knowing if she would win that fight. Someone who terrifies me and steadies me in the same breath." I lifted one of her hands to my lips, kissed her knuckles. "I see a mate I didn't expect, but one I know I'll be so very proud to have once this all sinks in. The most beautiful thing I've encountered in over a hundred years."
New tears welled in her eyes. "Elias?—"
"I'm not finished." I released one of her hands, brushing away the tears that spilled over with the pad of my thumb. "I see someone brave enough to walk into new territory alone. Someone who refuses to give up on family even when they've given up on her. Someone who makes me want to be better than what I am."
"But I'm not those things. I'm broken," she whispered.
