“I won’t hurt you.”
“I know.”
“I haven’t completed the bond because I couldn’t claim you without telling you about this first.”
“And you waited this long because…?”
“Because I didn’t think it was appropriate to dump it on you after I was called back to the Gloaming.”
“But now that you’re about to face the trials, it’s fine.”
The irritation in her voice was unmistakable. Gripping her chin again, he lifted her face to him once more.
“Iamgoing to survive the trials,” he said.
She nodded, but his words didn’t ease the sorrow in her eyes.
“And I won’t claim you before the trials,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Because others cannot know what you are to me until the trials are over and I’m around to protect you. They’ll see you as a weakness to me, and they’ll go after you to get at me. And I willnotlet anything happen to you.
“When the trials are over, the throne is mine, and I can protect you better, I’ll make sure every immortal knows what you are to me and that fucking with you will equate to a swift and brutal death. Until then, only Brokk can know what you are to me.”
Chapter Seventeen
Lexi wasn’tsure what to say. She would give anything for five minutes alone to think and maybe scream a little. Then she would sort this mess out.
She should be happy. He would never cheat on her or forsake her for another. They would be together forever, but she wanted him to love her forherand not because of his lycan biology.
And was eternity somethingshewanted? Yes, she loved him, but she was still young, and he was the only man and the only relationship she’d ever known.
Shouldn’t she experience more?
She tipped her head back to gaze into his striking blue eyes. They pierced straight into her soul and caused her heart to race. Could she ever let another touch her in the same way as him?
Her stomach rolled at the possibility, and bile burned her throat. No. She could never touch another or be with another like she was with him.
She was young and inexperienced when it came to men, and she would always remain that way. Well, maybe not so inexperienced as he was always teaching her something new, but she would never know another man.
She loved him too much for that, and even if he didn’t profess his love in return, he was as muchhersas she was his.
“We can discuss the details of the bond when you survive the trials,” she said.
A small smile curved his mouth, but it didn’t sparkle in his eyes like it normally did.
“What about the Lord?” she whispered.
Cole stiffened against her. “What about him?”
“What….” She glanced nervously around though it was only the two of them here. “He killed your father, Cole. What do you plan to do about that?”
“I plan to kill him.”
Lexi had suspected such a thing, but hearing it confirmed made her gulp.
“I’m not sure how, but that manwilldie,” Cole vowed.
