Page 104 of Torin

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Would you have killed Cade if it hadn’t been me?”

He takes a moment to answer. “No.”

“If he’d done the same thing to another woman?”

“I’d have stopped him.”

“But you wouldn’t have killed him.”

“No.”

“Then why was I different?”

“Because you’re my mate.”

A shiver runs through me.

“Yesterday, while you were gone…” I hesitate. “Orson said that.”

“Yeah.”

“So, it’s true?”

“Of course.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“I thought you knew.”

“How would I know?”

His eyebrows rise. “I tried to kiss you.”

“I know. But then nothing really happened after that. I started wondering whether I’d read too much into it.”

“You thought I changed my mind?”

“Maybe.”

He reaches for my hand. “I was trying not to push you.”

“Oh,” I mumble. “You could’ve pushed me a little.”

His thumb brushes my knuckles.

“I’m a bear.”

“Uh huh.”

“I don’t go around kissing women for the fun of it.”

I stare at him.

All those years, he knew there was someone out there for him. He wondered who she was. What she’d be like. How they’d meet.