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Had I revealed too much? “What do you mean?”
“Does this charming American persona reveal the real you or hide her, hmm?” He reached out to trace a fingertip along my jawline.
Shivers rained over me, my next words slipping out unbidden. “What if by some unseen twist, I’m not your fated one? Something I’m not sure you even need.” Gripping his thighs, I reminded him, “You keep your berserkerage under lock and key without me.” I tightened my grip. “Would you still desire me if my appearance drastically altered?”
“I didn’t pick you for your beauty.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “But youaremy firebrand. I only wish I was yours.”
Easing back on my haunches, I rasped, “How do you know I am? And don’t tell me you just knew. Not this time.”
He drew in a deep lungful of air. “You remember the meaning ofuisge ciùin?”
“Many things. Namely, calm waters.”
He nodded. “That is accurate, but the significance runs deeper. Every minute of every day, a sentinel can be swept into an inferno of fiery fury or let the waters snuff out the flames. The choice is always ours.”
“That’s lovely. But what does it have to do with mates?”
“When a sentinel meets a firebrand, the constant burn of fury cools. For the first time in our lives, we feel as if we bathe in tranquility. The sensation didn’t last for me, as it does for most, but I felt it when we first met, and I wanted so badly to feel it again.”
“Did you?”
“Once or twice. But it hit me like a tidal wave at our reception.” Raw longing coated his shocking statement. “I crave more.”
I absorbed his confession, reeling, certain of the exactmoment he spoke of. When I’d been eating scones, and he’d watched with that all too brief ravaged expression.
Was this body responsible or was it possible Isobel wasn’t his fated?
I licked my lips, suddenly breathless, and attempted to steer us to steadier ground. “What ifIlose my temper withyou?”
His eyes lit up, and he grinned. “I think I can handle it.”
“Oh, really?” I lifted a brow. “You’re making a lot of assumptions about my wrath.”
He barked out a laugh, and I soaked up the lightening of his mood.
There was no stopping my next words. “I came here to accept your mark. Did you change your mind about giving it?”
He went still. Dropped his chin and pinned me with a smoldering stare I couldn’t break. Such intensity! The most he’d ever exuded. “Stand up,” he rasped.
Nerve endings singing, I obeyed and backed up to give him space. Slow and measured, he unfolded to his feet and prowled forward, walking me backward until I pressed against a moonlit wall.
I panted my breaths as he caged me in with his arms. His incredible scent enveloped me, fogging my head. Heat blazed over my skin.
“You area prize I’ve yearned to collect all the centuries of my life, and you’ve fought me every day of our acquaintance. Until now.” He held my stare. “Why? What changed?”
Thud, thud, thud. “I’m not a prize. I’m a person with thoughts and feelings.”
He didn’t seem to hear me as he pressed closer, burning me inside and out.
“Why?” he insisted.
“Because.”
His lids slitted. “Is this how you made Roderick feel?” Golden moonlight warred with shadows, couching his chiseled features. “As if he would die if you didn’t belong to him? He knew he risked everything when he challenged me, yet still he did it. For you.”
“Stop bringing him up,” I demanded, gripping fistfuls of his shirt. “This is between you and me.”
“Is it?”
