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Prue shook her head. "You were lashing out—-"
"Will you please stop making excuses and just look at me?"
But Prue didn't speak this time, and Khadem felt the familiar taste of desperation coat his tongue. "You were right," he said hoarsely. "I should've told you about Alanna, but I didn't...and that's why I ended up comparing you to her. And now, when I saw you again...you just make me feel so damn much it scared me—-"
"Please just stop," Prue said jerkily. "There's no need to feel guilty. I understand that you've gotten over me—-"
"I haven't!"
Prue told herself he was lying and forced herself to continue. "It's fine, okay? I can get over you, too—-"
"Don't fucking say that," Khadem snarled.
"If you t-think I'm lying—-"
"It's because I know you're not lying that I don't want to fucking hear it! I've seen how brave and strong you are, Prue. Those drugs should've turned you mindless, but you fought it off every time, and that's why I know if you put your mind to it, youcanget over me—-"
Prue swallowed hard. "Then it's all good, isn't it? We can all move on—-"
"Stop it!" Khadem could barely breathe now. "I can already feel you starting to move on, and Idon'twant you to move on." He cupped her face and forced her to look into his eyes. "I love you, Prue. I loved you the first time I saw you, and I never stopped—-"
Prue wished she could believe him, but he had hurt her so much with his coldness.
"Please, Prue. I love you. I'm sorry I was an ass earlier, but I love you—-"
Prue could no longer stop her tears from falling. "Khadem—-"
"Don't say my name if you're going to make it sound like you're leaving me," Khadem said rawly. "I can change, Prue. Iwillchange. Just tell me what you want, and I'll do it. I'll be the kind of man you can be proud of. I can even change my fucking name so you won't have to worry that you'll be the wife of a bas—-"
"Stop."
Prue's cry killed whatever hope Khadem had left at holding on to her.It was truly over, he thought dully, and it was all his fault.
Prue was finding it so hard to stop herself from crying. She knew from what Saif had told her that the one thing Khadem refused to do for Alanna was to change his name in order to be legitimate. Being an Al-Masri had been a matter of pride, honor, and principle to Khadem, and for him to be willing to turn his back on his heritage just to be with her—-
Khadem sucked his breath when Prue suddenly curled her arms around his neck.
"Will you promise me something?"
His arms closed around her in a fierce embrace. "Anything, Prue. Anything."
"I don't want you to change, Khadem. I would never want you to change because I love you as you are, but..."
Prue felt a shudder rock Khadem's powerful frame at her words, and her own body trembled violently at the strength of her emotions.
She slowly leaned back until she could look into his eyes. "Can you promise to wait?" A smile wobbled over her lips. "I honestly don't know how long it would take, but I just want you to wait for me to be strong enough so that I can defend myself, and you'll never need to go to such lengths to protect me."
Ah, fuck.
Khadem could feel his own eyes start to burn.
She could've asked him to stop protecting her, but she hadn't. Because Prue had meant it when she said that she didn't want him to change, and she knew that asking him to do nothing if she was hurt was no different from asking him to stop being himself.
Prue was that one woman he had thought was impossible to find.
Prue was truly his angel, the one woman in this world who loved him as he was, sheikh, bastard, and monster all rolled into one—-
Prue reached up to touch his cheek. "Are you crying?"
