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When she finished, the plate clinked onto the coffee table, and she rearranged herself more comfortably in my lap again. We sat in companionable silence. I twirled the soft strands of her hair around my fingers—the gold of her hair and the gold of my skin only shades apart. They were similar yet complimentary. So right.
“I’m glad I’m your soul pair,” she announced to the silence.
My heart soared. “You are?”
She didn’t look at me when she replied, her gaze directed at her hands in her lap. “I’ve always thought you were handsome. Like a fantasy warrior. You’re so big and fierce looking, but you’ve treated me with nothing but adoration and kindness. You’ve defended me, saved me, cared about me, and given me your hair to hold on to. I feel stronger with you.”
I heard the unspoken “but” in her tone and tense body. “There is something you aren’t saying.” I ran my hand down her leg to assure her I wasn’t upset by this. “I always want your honesty, no matter how much it might hurt.”
She sighed and looked up at me. There was fear in her eyes, but also a glimmer of hope. “I have a lot of other emotions, too. I’m scared this is too good to be true, that you will turn out like everyone else who has been bound to me. My parents and Winnie claimed to care for me but ultimately hurt me.”
My poor Little Cat. She wants to trust, to love, so much, but she is so traumatized by her past she can’t believe in her own soul.
“I cannot make promises about our connection when I know so little about it. And I can’t understand the minds of those I don’t know. But, Little Cat, I am a very pious male. A miracle occurred to give me my freedom. I prayed for it every day since I was taken. I don’t take that for granted.
When I couldn’t find my family, Daithi had a vision that gave me another reason to continue searching the realms. A soul pair. You. A chance at a future full of adventure, power, and love. All things every creature should have. Having found you, I know I will never betray you, hurt you, or give you reason to feel you aren’t enough. I want to love you and be loved in return,” I finished in a whisper.
She stared at me, tears filling her eyes, and whispered, “This power is unimportant to you, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t quite the response I was looking for, so I frowned in confusion and shrugged. “I am curious about what we could have been, but family, love, connection are why I want you.”
She bit her lip, and I waited for her to continue with her doubts. “Charlie—” she began.
I cut her off, knowing what she was about to say. “You like Charlie, and you are upset our connection may prevent anything happening with him?” She looked startled but nodded slowly. “Our connection is theoretical. All I know is that I want you with everything in me, but I understand if that is not mutual. More than anything, I want you to be happy. However you chose to do that.”
She spluttered, “I-I—you don’t … He isn’t—and it’s not a—” she huffed, “He doesn’t want me, so it doesn’t even matter. I don’t want to be unfaithful to you. You shouldn’t accept anyone who is.”
The outrage in her voice made me smile. “Unfaithful suggests that we’ve made commitments to each other.”
“You wanted to be … romantic to see if we get our powers back. I’m not romantic with just anyone.” She crossed her arms, looked away, and pouted in a show of anger I found both thrilling and arousing.
I gripped her chin gently and turned her to face me. My lips inches from hers, I whispered, “Let me make this very clear, Little Cat. I don’t want to be romantic because Daithi thinks it’s the way we get our powers. No, I want you because you are beautiful and it’s all I’m able to think about when I’m alone at night. Or in the shower. My desire for you is beyond all reason.”
Her pupils swallowed the whites of her eyes. She blinked, blushed, and then smiled shyly. “You’ve answered all my fears, so I suppose I’m saying that I’m not opposed to you wooing me. Consider us committed.”
“You will not regret this.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead and just sat quietly for a moment. We breathed each other in, memorizing the moment. Her fingers brushed my chest. The purple glow emanating from my scared skin illuminated her hand as she tracked the scars up to my neck.
“Can I ask a question?” she asked softly.
“Of course, Little Cat.”
“Why do your scars glow?”
“Daithi believes it shows that titan blood holds the last remnants of power. I’m inclined to believe him since blood is how I was born.”
“Daithi has a lot of theories about titans.” She raised a curious brow. “How are you born from blood?”
“Since the Fall—the separation of our souls—we could not procreate the normal way. We became impotent. That’s why I knew you were Margaret when you first became human.”
A blush darkened on her cheeks as she remembered that morning in all its glory. “Oh. That … makes sense.”
I chuckled and picked up the hand resting on my chest to kiss it. “I apologize if I startled you.”
She coughed uncomfortably, and I laughed again as she squirmed. “No. No problem.”
I rubbed my thumb over her knuckles as I continued to tell her about my home realm. “Because we couldn’t procreate, our gods created a life pool in which prospective parents only needed to mix their blood with some water of the pool and then drink it to become pregnant.”
She froze. “Your gods are real?”
