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“I love you too,” she whispers.
He waits for a panicked retraction, but none follows.
Gently he tips her head up and to the side to catch her eyes. “You’re not going to take it back this time?”
The corner of her lip hikes up the smallest amount. “Nuh-uh. Too high on endorphins.”
Jacob grins and pecks her lips. “I’ll remember that.”
Her smile softens as she looks up at him, the love in her pretty eyes making his chest tighten. And then, much to his dismay, her expression cracks and tears spill down her cheeks.
“What can I do?” he rumbles, holding her closer, even as his knot releases much swifter than he’d hoped. Seems his mate’s tears have about the same effect as an icy shower.
“Nothing,” she sobs. “It’s not you, I—”
“I know,” he murmurs. Because he does. The ache in their bond, and the hopelessness blending through their blissful respite, lets him know exactly what has his mate crying in his arms. However unexpectedly happy their ending, it’s not come without sacrifice and loss.
“I never realized how happy my mom must have been with my dad. I always thought… I thought there had to be some sort of Stockholm syndrome, for her to love him like she does. But it’s just that they are Fated too, isn’t it? I know what he is, and I know what he’s done—but he’s still my dad. And he loves my mom so, so much. But he’s going to be executed, and that will kill her too. God, if you—if you were on death row, I… I wouldn’t care what you’d done. I’dwantto die with you.” She turns away from him and buries her face in her hands, her sobs making her shake in his arms.
His knot entirely deflated, he pulls out of her and spins her around so he can pull her into his chest.
“Addie.” He says her name like a command. Her head pops up on instinct, hardwired biology urging her to obey her alpha.
“You don’t have to grieve for them, mate. I will fix this.” He nudges her chin up with the crook of his finger, forcing her to take in the promise in his eyes. “I won’t see you hurt; not by this, not by anything.”
She shakes her head, tears still flowing freely. “There’s nothing you can do. Even if you broke into Ezban to free him, they’d come for you next. And I won’t risk you, not even for my parents. Never, ever you.”
“You won’t,” he simply says, cupping her cheek. “I promise. But Iamgoing to fix this. Dry your tears, little mate, and trust that I will make everything okay. Can you do that?”
Sniffling, she nods, and despite her doubts, in her eyes he sees the unbreakable faith a woman should always have for her alpha.
“Good girl,” he murmurs, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll make you an obedient mate yet.”
She snorts, gaze flashing up to the tilt of his lips. “If that’s truly what you wanted, you really should have picked another woman.”
“Fate picked—I did not.”
“Hmm,” she hums, one eyebrow arching. “Then perhaps trust that Fate better knows what kind of mate you need.”
“Perhaps,” he relents, grabbing her by the hips so he can lift her up on the vanity.
She huffs when her ass impacts with the wood, and again when he presses in between her thighs, forcing her to spread them wide. When she glances down between their bodies, her lips flatten to a disapproving line. “Really? It’s not even been five minutes.”
“I warned you what was gonna happen. If you want a break, you’re gonna have to beg.”
Her other eyebrow joins the first high on her forehead. “Fate didn’t give you the begging kind of mate, either.”
“We’ll have to see about that.”
Reaching down between them, Jacob brings his once-again hard cock to her still-open pussy. Before she can protest, he pushes up, hilting her smoothly in one, long stroke. Her responding groan makes a primal thrill run up his spine. Hopefully it’ll be a good long while before his stubborn mate swallows her pride enough to beg for a break.
* * *
NINE DAYS LATER
Moonlight streamsin through the wispy curtains when Jacob gently extracts himself from his passed-out mate.
She’d tried her best to out-stubborn his rampant need to be inside her, but eventually, she did beg him for rest. True to his word, he allowed her respite while he prepared food for them both. Then he carried her down the stairs when she complained of how he’d rendered her unable to walk straight, and made sure she ate her fill in front of the open fireplace—where he’d then proceeded to mount her again. And again.
