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“I suppose I should be thankful for your new role,” I said softly.“Grandmother announced the changes you’ve implemented with the vampire courts. I’m proud of you, Alexei.”
He turned me to face him and through the glittering lights surrounding us, I saw the darkness swimming in his eyes. “Don’t. So many times this year, I have broken your trust, Jade. You should be furious with me. Hate me. You deserve everything—the life of your dreams with a male who will spoil you endlessly and allow your dreams to come to fruition. You deserve much better than me.”
“I deserve what I say I deserve, vamp.” I shook my head, staring at the pale skin of his chest.
His coffee eyes softened. “The courts have been broken apart, so the lords hold power over their own. My plan is to live here, while returning to Slovenia a few times a year to help the Council deal with matters across Gaia. Unless you want me to leave. If my presence here makes you uncomfortable, I can find somewhere else to lead.”
He was offering me a choice. Laying himself bare, knowing that I held his heart in my hand. It made my breath grew shaky as I fought to be as brave as this male before me.
“You would do that? You would give up your Court and everything you worked for this past decade if I told you to?” I murmured, my hands finally leaving my sides to ghost across his bared chest, halting at his unbeating heart.
He nodded, utterly sincere. “For you, I would do anything.”
Unbidden, I reached forward, replacing my hands with my lips.
Breathing shakily, he lifted one of my lax arms from where it pressed against his hip and dropped a kiss onto my palm. “You showed me how foolish I had been to waste the time I had with my mother and sister. Your bond with your family is a beautiful thing. I aspire to never take advantage of that again.”
My trembling hand lifted to the dark waves falling past his cheek. “I always knew you had the potential to bring about change and goodness, if you would only see past the mask of yourself you showed to others.”
He caught my hand with his, pressing his face closer to me as he wiped away a falling tear with his thumb. “All I’ve wanted is to be worthy of you. To be your partner. Your friend. Your lover. Your mate. And if you still think there’s a possibility you could one day forgive me, I want a chance to prove it to you, though I know I don’t deserve it.”
“What did I say about assuming what I do or don’t deserve?” I ground out, though my twitching lips belied my happiness.
Our hands twined together as naturally as ivy wound over stone.
“I love you. I’ll always be yours, Alexei. I’m your mate, and you’re mine. But if you betray me again, I’ll stake you faster than you can saymoj draga.”
And then my lips were on his, and everything else faded away.
