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He pulled back the blanket, and she reached to stop him. Gods, his skin felt scorching hot. If possible, her blush blazed brighter. She needed darkness to hide until she got her feelings under control, but her damn magic insisted on glowing nonstop.
His gaze lost some of its teasing, filling with concern instead. “You all right, angel?”
Why would he still call her that after he’d seen the destruction she had created on the ship? She wouldn’t ask or correct him, not when the endearment made her toes curl and her heart flutter with a strange and wonderful ache that only happened around Alexei. Yet she needed to get control of herself and the situation. Perhaps she could think straight if he put on some clothes. “You planning to wear a towel all night?” Her tone came out snippy.
He curved his mouth into a sly grin, not seeming to take offense at her sudden bad temper. “You’re wearing my robe.”
Pulling the fabric tighter, she dug her fingers into the soft cotton. Yes, she’d worn it in her room while he’d been away. No, she wouldn’t tell him that. “I like it.”
“You look better in it. Besides, I can wear whatever I want since it’s my bedroom.”
“How very demon prince of the manor of you.” She folded her arms across her chest, settling in and pretending that he couldn’t haul her up in an instant, that he hadn’t flown—freakin’ flown—her off the ship. Nope, she snuggled into the bedding like she owned the place. “I’m staying.”
“Good. Then I won’t have to chase you and carry you back over my shoulder while smacking your ass to remind you what I said earlier about resting and healing.”
The thought of him spanking her should have made her angry, not shiver with wondering how the burn would feel on her skin, whether or not she would rush to heal it. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.” He straightened to his full imposing height, and she wondered if he might give her a demonstration.What should she do? Probably not wiggle her bottom in the air like the crazy fantasies her mind flashed at her.She swallowed hard, waiting for him to drop the towel since he’d admitted earlier that he didn’t own pajamas. Except he reached for the top of the tall chest of drawers, grabbing folded clothes she hadn’t noticed while she’d been busy having a mini meltdown.
“You’re getting dressed?” she asked. Did he plan to go out? To leave her again?
“Unless you prefer that I stay naked.” A low chuckle ran beneath his words, and she wanted to throw a pillow at him. “I thought putting on pants might help you stop twisting the blanket like you’re afraid I’ll jump you.”
“I’m not.” Damn it, shehadbeen white-knuckling the throw. But she had no idea what to expect between them. Not after he’d healed her, cleaned her, taught her the passwords to every magical and tech security system he owned. She even sat on this side of the bed because he’d insisted she couldn’t take the one nearest a door or the window. He treated her…like a mate. A cherished, treasured mate.
The rustling of cloth had her sneaking a peek. Too late. She’d lost her chance while she’d been figuring out if he meant what he’d said on the ship. How he intended to make her his forever. This sexy beast of a man who had a literal kingdom to rule and who could haveanyone, and he’d chosen her. How could her life have turned upside down in a matter of weeks? “You said you love me.”
“I do.” He sat on the bed, not invading her space but almost as an invitation to cuddle. Oh, how she considered taking him up on that. “We’re mates,” he said. “I just need to prove it to you.”
Curling to face him, she tucked her legs beneath her, hoping that keeping her thighs together instead of straddling him like she wanted to might settle her hormones. “How would mating even work?”
“I almost forget what an innocent you are.” He shot her a wicked look. “How much graphic detail would you like?”
Not helping with her overwhelmed senses andneedfor him. “No, I mean what does it take to go from us and this…” She wiggled her finger back and forth between them, the casual coziness of being in bed together talking. Or how their intimacy would be so comfortable if she didn’t constantly think about kissing him. “To becoming official mates.”
“Come here, and I’ll show you.” The man made sin soaked in temptation look good, and she nearly gave up any hope of thinking through this and went into his arms.
But no, she needed to know. Her whole life she hadn’t had a choice. Mating meant a lifetime commitment, possibly beyond death if she believed the shifters. This decision meant too much for her to jump into it without knowing everything she could. “If you want me to consent to mating, I need to know what I’m agreeing to.”
“Fair enough.”
“Do you just want…” Oh gods, she couldn’t say out loud any of the erotic acts screaming through her mind. “Or are you set on being mates?”
“When I have you, I won’t let you go. I would put you and any children the fates might grant us first in everything, above all else.” His intense gaze and the steel underlying his promise should’ve scared her, but it didn’t.
“Children?” The magnitude of what he said settled over her like a warm weight, not suffocating.No. Wonderful in its possibility. A want, a need she hadn’t allowed herself to acknowledge before unraveled and spun a beautiful dream that she craved as reality. To have a son who looked like Alexei with his father’s strength, or a little girl with his dark hair and courage? She could see a future of love and affection that she’d wanted for so long. “You want kids with me?”
“Whenever you might be ready. Or not if you decide it’s not to be.”
“You’re a prince.” The sole biological child of the king. “You’ll need an heir.”
“If you and the gods will give me one. If not, then I’ll address choosing an heir when the time comes.” As though he hadn’t dropped a verbal bombshell on her, he picked up a comb from the nightstand next to the gun that she’d been trying to ignore. “Come here. If we’re going to talk, I’ll work out the tangles that flying caused. Next time, we’ll have your hair braided first.”
Warmth uncurled in her belly, spreading delicious delight through her. After she’d begged to see his wings and had gotten to enjoy them wrapped around her, soaring them through the sky, he’d promised anext time, and he cared enough about her that he would keep her hair from tangling. Just as he would work out the mess that her time on the ship had made.
A sigh slipped from her, and she scooted between his spread thighs where he’d motioned. Heat surrounded her. Lovely, comforting heat that smelled of smoke, spice, and Alexei.
“This good?” he asked, working the comb gently through the tangles at the end of her long hair as she relaxed against his firm chest.
