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The almost overwhelming tenderness he keeps hidden beneath all that growling and arrogance.

And beneath everything else is something warm and powerful that flows through the strange connection between us.

Love.

His love.

For me.

A tiny sound escapes my throat. Damian immediately slows. His lips brush mine once.

Twice.

Then he presses his forehead to mine.

We stay that way, breathing the same air. Golden sparks edged in red drift lazily around us.

And I swear I can feel him. Not his thoughts exactly. Nothing so clear as words.

But his emotions?

They're there.

Settling somewhere inside me.

Warm.

Steady.

Certain.

For someone who has spent most of her life wondering whether she is enough, Damian's love doesn't feel like something I have to earn.

It doesn't ask me to change.

Or shrink.

Or give anything away.

It simply...

Is.

My eyes sting.

I don't tell him I love him. Not yet. I'm not ready to give those words away just because he gave them to me first.

And maybe that's another thing I'm finally learning.

I don't have to.

Damian seems to understand.

He brushes his nose against mine and smiles. No demands. No disappointment. No expectation.

Just Damian.

Eventually, he groans.