His smile was slow and sad. “No. It would have been the end of tonight. I was going to change your mind, but I wasn’t going to put you on the spot and do it tonight, not with this hanging over you. I was going to let you bond with someone else and then make sure you felt it. And then I was going to demand you bond me too.” His grip slid down her neck, his body looming closer, his thumb tilting up her chin. “I can be very very—” His lips brushed hers, both of them inhaling deeply. “—very stubborn, Illy.”
