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“I know so.” He nipped lightly at my knee with his teeth, making me fight a smile. “I realized something, while I was talking to Aeven.”
My smile faded, and my stomach clenched. “What?”
“He’s a reallyniceguy. Soft. Sweet. Kind. A lot of things I’m not. Fate and the goddess thought you needed someone like that.”
I scowled. “That’s just bullshit.”
“It’s not, Nai.”
I used my grip on his hair to tilt his head back so he was looking at me, into my eyes. “You’re nice to the people who matter to you—and there are so damn many better qualities to have thannice. You’re soft with me when I need you to be, and you always have been. You get sweet when I do, which is rare. And you’re kind enough to walk away from your new mate to defend the Stronghold while the unmated fae arecompeting to mate with the fae women, which makes you a damn hero in my book.”
I went on, nearly to the point of ranting, “More importantly than any of that shit, you’re loyal to a fault. You love fiercely, and breathtakingly. You protect the people who matter to you with everything you have. Why would you want to benicewhen you can claim all of that?”
He considered it, his eyes closing as I resumed stroking his hair. “I just worry I won’t be able to make you happy,” he murmured.
“Well you already have, so you can check that one off the list.” I tugged lightly on his hair, and his eyes opened.
“Happiness isn’t something you can check off a list once and be done with, Nai.”
“Then I guess you’ll just have to fuck me every day, so you can check it off.” I made a checkmark motion on his forehead, and his lips stretched in a tired grin.
“I fucking love you.”
“I know you do.” I slid my finger down his nose, and slowly traced his lips. He parted them for me, closing his eyes as I touched them. “Does it bother you that I can’t say the same thing yet?”
“No.” He nipped at my finger. “You didn’t love me quickly or easily the first time around. I expect to have to earn it again this time. You’re mine; that’s enough for now. I’ll win you over eventually.”
My lips curved upward, and he sucked on my finger for a moment before he released it, letting me get back to work on tracing those lips I loved so much.
He hadn’t felt that way with Summer, when their bond existed. He wasn’t willing to wait for her to fall in love with him.
And yet he would wait for me, as long as he needed to. “I love talking to you,” I admitted.
“Oh, I know.” He nipped at my finger again, and I laughed.
Thirteen
“I promised you a date,”Teris said, peeling himself up off of me and sitting up. I released his hair—though I did so with great reluctance.
We’d done a lot ofhuman dateswhen we’d first met. After I’d explained them to Teris, he’d been fascinated by the concept of doing something together for fun, while getting to know each other. We’d been restrained to my house back then, but we’d made it happen by cooking together and spending hours playing both fae and human card games.
“I thought I was going to cook for you.”
“I changed my mind.” He tugged his towel free, and my eyes fixated on the sexy bubble of his ass as he strode back into the bathroom. His erection saluted me as he strolled back out with his pants dangling from his fingers. “Mind cleaning these for me?”
“What do I get in return?” I asked, snagging them from him and making a show of studying the fabric.
His eyes gleamed. “A surprise.”
“You know I’m a sucker for surprises,” I said with a sigh, lighting the pants on fire and then tossing them back. The fire went out before he caught them, and I slid my hand over his erection slowly, earning a low growl. “But we could just stay here, and enjoy the night…”
He pulled my hand off his cock, though the motion was slightly reluctant. “Patience, Nai.”
“Not one of my best qualities.”
He chuckled, stepping into his pants and tugging them on. “I’m aware.”
I smacked him lightly on the arm with the back of my hand, and his lips stretched in a grin.
