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“That isn’t how mating works. Our people view it as sacred. Marriage is more of a duty.”
Lifting his shirt, he examined his injury again. Only a purple scab remained. Verakko hadn’t thought much of it. He’d healed from worse. But the knowledge that she’d used her precious water to clean his wound, in an attempt to keep him alive, made his chest ache. He wasn’t used to being cared for in that way.
If husbandry school had done anything, it’d given him the instinct to care for a female. Make sure they were content. Although he’d always considered this urge tiresome and annoying, the instinct to provide for Lily in every way didn’t feel like a chore. It felt like a need. An unyielding need for her happiness to be brought about by his actions alone.
He hoped that when she finally gave up searching, she’d let him be there for her. Hold her while she cried and whisper reassurances into her mop of tangled, gorgeous brown hair.
Why was she saying this? Was she so infatuated with Verakko that she felt she could have a meaningless relationship with him? Not likely. A small, sad smile curled the corner of his mouth. He lifted his hand as if to reach out to her, then curled his fingers into a fist and dropped it back to his side. “It would mean something to me.”
This was probably for the best. Her life had become difficult enough as it was. Throwing a complicated forbidden love into the mix seemed like a bad idea. Moving on, she told herself dully, an ache already seeping into her heart. It was dumb—she had only just met Verakko—but something about him, about them, made her think they could’ve had something spectacular. Knowing nothing could ever happen made her feel like she’d lost someone she’d never had in the first place.
“I need you here with me, Lily. I don’t want to be anywhere you aren’t.”
He took a swig from his own bottle, having already downed an entire one in preparation, but every bit of him, from his toes to the tips of his ears, felt shaky and nervous. How did one convince the other half of their soul to accept them?
He didn’t know what would happen if she left him. He only knew that every fiber of him revolted against the notion, but he couldn’t say one way or the other what being away from her would do.
“I’d follow you anywhere, mivassi. If your face is the only one I see for the rest of my life, I’ll die a happy male.”
Her features softened. She crossed her arms around her waist. “You’d do that for me? Even though you could force me to be with you by revealing your marks?” Verakko let out a rough bark of laughter. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it. I have arguments with myself every few minutes about doing just that. It’s unnatural for me to hold back. It’s not what’s supposed to happen. Mates have always felt the pull equally. There is no doubt.” He closed the distance between them, relieved she didn’t step away, and rested his hands on her upper arms. “Every part of me knows you’re mine. But I want
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“I’m barely holding myself back from you even now. If you tell me you’ll be mine, that’ll be it for me. I’ll never be able to let you go. But I will do everything in my power to make sure you never become unhappy.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” As soon as the words came out, a chorus of little voices in her head berated her. She loved presents, no matter the size or cost. Growing up, her parents had rarely exchanged gifts. Especially not ones that had no use.
“Did I get this dressed up to play checkers, Verakko?” she asked, tilting her head at him. Doubt roared to life, exaggerating the hollow dread in his belly. With a clenched jaw, he uncertainly said, “Yes?” Muscles primed to wince, he waited for her response. The corner of her mouth lifted, and she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “I love it.”
“I’m so sorry it took me this long to see it.” “That you love me?” Verakko said, grinning. “Yes.” Lily chuckled, keeping her voice low. Verakko blew a breath out through his nose and shook his head in wonderment. “Mivassi, I would’ve waited my whole life for you.”
