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He took my face in his hands. “Never again.”

“Never again.”

“Promise,” he demanded.

“I swear.”

Deep sigh then, up from his chest, and he looked, suddenly, at peace. “Good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. You’re going to give me your mark, and all of the abandonment and rejection I felt, the ache and loneliness you felt, will be gone.”

I jolted under him, and his eyes dipped closed a moment, and then opened, holding my gaze. “How do you know I ached for you?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” He sounded more than confident now, utterly certain. “I’m your mate, your true mate. There’s only me for you. You’ll never have another.”

“No, I won’t.”

“We won’t have a bonding, ours will be a mating, because this, us, is fated. It’s not for the weak, and that’s what I was.”

“What’re you⁠—”

“I shouldn’t have listened to you. I shouldn’t have listened to what you said, because even thinking about it now, about your words, there was no power in them. You were saying what you knew would drive an omega away, and I let myself believe that’s all I was.”

“Sasha, I was very adamant, and I’m a powerful alpha, I’m not⁠—”

“It’s not about you, it’s about me. I was stupid, and I didn’t believe in my own power, in the hold I have over you as your mate, and in my worth as an omega. I understand now. The mistake lies with you, but I should have listened to my heart and not my head. Definitely not my bruised ego. It will probably sound dramatic, but even after a year, the yearning for you didn’t go away, and that was my soul trying to let me know that all I needed to do was speak to you, touch you.” He slid his hands back into my hair. “I have as much power over you as you have over me.”

I scowled at him—I couldn’t help it, and I spoke, as usual, without thinking. “I’m the alpha.”

“Yes, you are.” He chuckled, and it was the best sound I’d ever heard, that laugh of his, infectious and warm. When he leaned in to kiss me, my breath caught.

“You’ve never wanted anything as much as you want me,” he whispered, his breath warm on my face before his lips pressed against mine.

I wasn’t proud of the soft keening sound that came out of me as both of his hands fisted in my hair, holding me still as he slipped his tongue into my mouth and devoured me.

Someone was a very quick study, and moments later I had him on his back, under me on his very comfortable couch. When he broke the kiss, pushing against my chest with both hands, it took me a moment to get myself under control. Now I was the one panting. His laughter caught me off guard.

“I’m funny to you?”

He shook his head. “No. I just didn’t know.”

“What’re you talk⁠—”

“You are the most stunning, sexy man I have ever seen in my life, and when I first saw you, I thought, he’s such a powerful alpha, and everyone in that hall is staring at him, and how do I deserve him? How is he mine?”

I scoffed. “You’re deluded. I’m not even the heir to an estate anymore. To keep your status in the jarl, you should probably walk away and never⁠—”

He put his fingers on my lips to shut me up. “That’s why I was so susceptible to your words; because I couldn’t hear your heart, or mine. There you were, the great Deacon Houghton-Crowne, and there I was, all alone.”

“Listen to me—” I rolled off him, forgetting where I was and how much space I didn’t have, and throwing off my own balance. I was suddenly flat on the floor, staring up at him as he laughed at me. “Owwww.”

Instantly, he was worried, and his hand was on my chest. “Are you all right? Did you pull a stitch or⁠—”

“I have no stitches in me.” I lifted my sweater so he could see my chest and abdomen. “Alphas don’t need stitches.”

He bit his bottom lip as his eyes traced over my pecs, then my abs. “God, you’re so beautiful. I want to kiss every inch of your skin.”