“In a way I fulfilled your belief when I reviewed contract termination clauses,” I said.
She laughed once. “You did.”
“I did it in my study with the door closed so you couldn’t see what I was doing.” I held her gaze. “We have both conducted ourselves somewhat poorly.”
“Somewhat,” she agreed.
The wind moved across the roof. Pip made a brief sound from her room and then went quiet again.
At some point during our conversation, I moved closer to her, and she had done the same, inching closer to me.
My tail moved and curled around her ankle.
“What’s your tail doing?”
“It’s a Torzi sign of affection.”
“What does it mean?”
“It’s saying, I’m here. I’m staying.” I smiled. “It’s something we do with our potential mates.”
She looked down at it. Then up at me. “Huh. Interesting.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “And I don’t want you to.” I held her gaze. “That’s the answer to the question I was asking. I’d like yours.” I reached out to take her hand in mine. “Dani,” I said, “why have you really been pulling away?”
“Because," she said, “if I let myself love you and then you disappear…I don’t know how I would come back from that.”
I looked at her for a long moment. “Then we don’t let it go,” I said. “We hold on tight to each other.”
“Andrek.” Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears.
My tail still curled around her ankle as I leaned forward to claim her lips.
Chapter 14
Dani
Histailwasstillcurled around my ankle.
“Let’s not let go,” I whispered.
Somewhere in the dark of the estate, Pip slept, and the bond between us hummed its low, familiar warmth, and I sat with Andrek’s tail curled around my ankle and his golden eyes on my face.This is the moment. This is the one you don’t get twice.
I had spent the better part of three months being careful. I had managed distances and maintained professional distance, and I was tired of waiting. I was so tired of being careful.
Now or never, Dani.“I’m in love with you,” I said. “I’ve been,” I kept going because stopping now would mean sitting with what I didn’t want to, “I’ve been falling in love with you for weeks and I couldn’t tell you because I decided you were grieving. And now it turns out you weren’t, and then I didn’t tell you because this whole thing scares me. You terrify me.”
Something moved across his expression. “I terrify you? Do you find me repulsive?”
“Not like that.” I pressed my hands together in my lap. “No, I’m not afraid of you. I stopped being afraid of you so long ago I can’t remember what it felt like. I’m afraid of how much I…” I stopped, the words feeling insufficient, every one coming up short. “I’ve never felt like this. What I feel when I’m near you, I mean.” I reached for his hand. “Every time you touch me,” I said, quieter now, because this part was harder, “even accidentally — in the kitchen, or when you take something from my hand, I feel it for an hour afterward. I dream about you.” I looked at his face and made myself hold eye contact. “I dream about your hands on my body, and your voice in my ear. I love the way you look at Pip when she’s sleeping. Night is hell because you’re in the next room and…” I exhaled. “I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you.”
“Take a breath, Dani,” Andrek murmured.
“And Pip,” I said, because I loved not only Andrek but Pip as well. “I need you to understand that whatever happens between you and me, Pip ismine. She’s mine and I’m hers, and that bond is forever. I would do anything for her. I would stay in this house for the rest of my life for her, in any capacity, regardless of…” I slowed. “What I’m trying to say is that my feelings for you exist separately from the bond I have with her. I…”
“I understand,” Andrek said, claiming my mouth. “You’re both mine.”
I looked at my hands.
