Page 192 of Tamed By Her Touch

“You don’t mean that,” he murmured. “I hurt you, Clair—I used your body for my own gratification. I forced this Bond on you.”

“You were under the influence of the virus,” she reminded him. “And in case you forgot, it was my idea to have sex—not yours,” she added mentally.

Kaelus was having a hard time processing her words—mostly because he wanted so badly for them to be true that he didn’t quite trust himself to be rational.

“You told me yourself you did not want another permanent relationship,” he reminded her.

“That was before I fell in love with you, you enormous idiot!” Clair shouted.

Then she took his face in both her hands and dragged him forward for a long, passionate, angry kiss.

33

CLAIR

When the kiss broke, there was silence—absolute, complete and utter silence.

Kaelus just stared at her and Clair’s heart stopped. Then it started again far too quickly.

Well—there it was, she thought. Not exactly the beautifully planned declaration a woman might imagine making someday, but apparently she was committed now. She’d told him she loved him—there was no going back.

Kaelus’s lips parted.

“You…what?” he whispered.

“Oh, don’t you dare make me repeat it like you didn’t hear me,” Clair snapped.

Maera and Varell and all Council members watching probably thought they were crazy, but she didn’t care anymore.

“I heard you,” Kaelus said carefully.

“Good.”

“But you said⁠—”

“I know what I said!” Clair exclaimed. “I said I didn’t want another man but then you came along.”

Kaelus didn’t move but the hope in his eyes was growing.

Clair cradled his face in her hands and kept talking because she couldn’t seem to stop.

“You came along with your stupid tape dividing our laboratory in half and your ridiculous list of rules and your permanent scowl,” she said. “You drove me crazy. You still drive me crazy. But then I started noticing things…

“Every time I fell, you were there to catch me. Every time I forgot to eat, food mysteriously appeared beside my elbow. When I spilled that chemical solvent on myself, you didn’t hesitate—you took care of me. When I fell asleep in the lab, you gave me your coat. When that plant tried to stab me, you put your own hand in the way.”

Her eyes filled with tears again, but she blinked them away, refusing to look away from him.

“You taught me what it felt like to have a man care about my comfort without expecting payment for it,” she whispered, looking into his golden eyes. “You made me feel safe.”

“Clair…” he began, but she put a finger over his lips.

“No, I’m still talking,” she said firmly. “You keep saying I had sex with you because I had to save you, but you have it backwards. I didn’t have sex with you because I had to save you, Kaelus. I saved you that way because I love you.”

It was the second time she’d told the big Hybrid she loved him and this time, it seemed to finally sink it.

His face changed. Clair saw it happen—the iron control he wore like armor was cracking straight down the middle.

“You love me?” he asked hoarsely.