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“Kari?”
Ronan"s voice. It sent shivers racing through her body. She broke out in goose pimples.
Her nipples beaded. And, no doubt, he saw it all.
She did her best to turn toward the long bar and the gorgeous wizard with a polite smile.
His smoldering gaze wiped it from her face.
“A word?”
The kind that would seduce her out of her knickers and leave her broken-hearted again, no doubt. “I"m closing up. It"ll have to wait. ”
She did her best to sail past him, but Ronan grabbed her arm. The shivers exploded into tingles. With one touch, she was a mass of need, completely aware of her damp, empty sex clenching hungrily. Of her heart crying out for his tenderness.
“Please. I know I"ve been a shit lately. Let me explain. ”
“Explain?” Why he"d hurt her? Why he"d left the pub with another woman? Why he had acted like she was the only woman for him, then moments after that terrifying attack seemed to wh
ittle her out of his heart with seemingly little effort?
“It will sound mad, and you may not believe me, but I swear…it"s the truth. ”
Something pleading and honest crossed his face. Did she dare believe him?
Thrusting her hand on her hip, she sent him an expectant glance. “Go on. ”
“The reason I told you not to speak the Binding and I"ve behaved so badly…I"m trying to protect you. I kept this to myself, fearing that telling all would only put you in more danger. But it"s also made you miserable. And me, as well. ”
She tugged her arm free and leaned against a stool she kept behind the bar. “Tell me what?”
“My family is cursed—or I"ve long believed they are. Because of it, no Wolvesey ever takes a mate. ”
Raiden had warned her that Ronan would never mate. Because of this curse? “I don"t understand. ”
Ronan swallowed, his face imploring. “As the curse goes, any Wolvesey who takes a mate will be forced to watch her die and is doomed to be alone for the rest of his life. I"ve been terrified that mating you would be your death. ”
Kari hesitated. It sounded farfetched, but what did she know of magic?
“When you were attacked so soon after I Called to you,” Ronan went on, “I was terrified that my need for you had killed you. My only hope was to put distance between us, forbid you to Bind to me…and hope it saved your life. ”
“And the blonde tart?”
“You weren"t giving up on me, and I knew that after the terrible way Edward treated you that you would be both furious and disgusted with me if I appeared to bed another woman. But it"s God"s truth that I kissed her once and felt ill. Even if I hadn"t…I had no interest. I want you.
Only you. ” He swallowed, frowned in pain. “I don"t know if we can be together. The curse may have faded. But…I can"t take a chance with your life. ”
He looked so sincere that, despite his bizarre assertion, Kari was torn. Even if it was rubbish, he appeared to believe it. But one fact flared her temper immediately. “You came to tell me why you"ve chosen to tear my heart out but not ask me my wishes on the matter?”
Ronan streaked his fingers through his midnight hair. “Did you hear me? You could die. ”
Slamming the glass down on the counter between them, she challenged, “I could die walking across the street tomorrow. I"d rather take a chance than spend my life in misery. But since you"ve elected to doom us both, rather than try to find happiness…get out. If you come back, I"ll kill you myself. ”
CHAPTER NINE
Kari stormed away from Ronan, hoping to reach the back room before she dissolved in tears. Clearly, he believed this curse, enough to haunt her pub for the past twelve nights, his watchful gaze never straying. Even Raiden"s lone visit to her establishment hadn"t made Ronan budge from his protective perch. But damn it, he thought nothing of condemning them both the hell without consulting her. Prick.
Suddenly, Ronan appeared in front of her and grabbed her arms. “I must keep you safe.
Please don"t hate me for it. ”
She glared at him with a stormy expression, knowing her pain was written all over her face. Let him see. Maybe he"d feel a tenth of the crushing despair she did. “If you cared for me, you—”
“Would do everything in my power to make certain you don"t die. This curse has afflicted my family for nearly a thousand years. It"s robbed of us of our ability to sense our mates as other wizards do. ”
That took the wind from Kari"s sails. “You never sensed me as your mate? But I thought… The fever in your blood…”
Apology and regret crossed his face. “I know little about the instinct. No living wizard in my family has ever felt it. None have been able to say how the instinct feels. ” He grabbed her shoulders tighter. “I can truly say that when I"m with you, I"ve never felt anyone more right, tasted anyone sweeter, held anyone who gave me such fever. Every other woman left my heart empty. But you fill it. Completely. ”
Kari sucked in a breath. Was he saying…?
“I love you,” He murmured. “I don"t need an instinct to know that. ”
Three words. That"s all it took for her defenses to crumble. She knew she should be stronger, make him suffer. But why keep them apart when it was the last thing she wanted?
Kari ran into Ronan"s arms with a cry. He held her against his chest, stroking a gentle hand over her hair.
“I love you, too,” she admitted between sobs. “I"m scared to trust you. ”
“I know. Don"t cry, love. Shh. ” He stroked her hair. “My heart knows no other. ”
Slowly, the tears stopped. Ronan wiped her tears away with his thumb and a smile.
God, he was beautiful. And when she looked into his eyes, she could see the caring wizard she"d fallen for, not the remote bastard he"d played these past days. The gentleness he showed her warmed her heart. Ronan was a good man. Her man. She understood that he had too much concern and pride to risk losing her if there was even a chance his family was cursed. He"d been willing to sacrifice his heart to keep her safe.
