Page 74 of The Ice Prince's Fated Mate
And somehow he’d fought the nightmare off, just by touching me.
“I don’t understand. How?”
He shrugged. “I think it might be the mate bond. I know Anna has used it to calm Caz in the past when he gets angry, and he was doing the same right before she went into heat. So ours must work on nightmares.”
“And this giant wall of stuff?” I asked, accepting his explanation. “How does that figure in?”
Dirk looked away. I stared in shock. Was heblushing?
“You didn’t exactly give me permission to be in here, Ella. So I knew you wouldn’t want to wake up to being spooned, though the orb knows how much easier that would have been.”
“So you put a barrier in the way?”
“I was focused on staying in touch with you,” he justified. “Without invading your body space. I couldn’t think of anything else, and I wasn’t going to let you suffer any more. It’s confusing, and stupid, I know, but it was late, and I was tired and concerned. Not my best work.”
I leaned forward and gestured for him to step closer. Then I took his hand.
“Actually, I don’t think it’s any of those things,” I said, kissing the back of his palm before resting my head on it. “It sounds sweet. In a weird way, but I can tell you meant well, and I do feel very rested. More than I have in a long time. So I think you’re right. The bond did do something.”
Dirk jerked his head up and down, clearly still conflicted about it all.
I tugged until he sat on the bed next to me. “Dirk. You had your hand down my panties last night, fingering me until I had several orgasms. Then Igave themto you to jerk off into. I think I can handle this, whatever it is.” I pushed against the wall of clothing.
I smiled as I did it, realizing I was telling the truth, not just trying to make him feel better. I meant it. I not only could handle being near him. I was starting to want it.
“So you’re not mad at me?”
His face was lined with pent-up nerves to the point I lost my composure.
“By all rights, I should be. I should be furious and kicking you out. But I guess I’m crazy because I’m not. I mean it. It was kind of cute. You built this entire barrier and held my hand all night so I could sleep and somehow didn’t wake me.”
“It took a bit,” he admitted. “I couldn’t let go of you for more than a few seconds at a time without you making some really unpleasant noises.”
I listened, my hand in his, my eyes on the barrier. To him it might be clothes and pillows and an hour or so of his time to build, but to me it was much, much more.
It was a symbol of respect.
“You know, Dirk, back when I told you I would need to bewooed, as you put it, and shown that you were different, I didn’t really know what I wanted or what to expect. I also didn’t think you would take it as seriously as you have.”
He smiled, and again that tinge of color darkened his cheeks ever so slightly.
“I also didn’t realize I’d start to fall quite so hard for you,” I whispered, the only way I was able to get the words out. Dirk’s eyes were riveted on me, making it hard to speak, but I kept going. “But you’ve been everything I wanted and everything Ineeded, which might be more important. You seem to understand me better than I do myself sometimes.”
“I try.”
“I know,” I said, looking up at him through my eyelashes, a smile tugging at my lips. My stomach was churning, but I was floating through the cloud as I finally admitted things out loud to him. “I think I’m falling for you.”
Dirk’s face was ready to explode. But he fought it down, staying composed.
“I will do whatever it takes to keep being the mate you want and need,” he said solemnly. “No matter how long you need, I will be here. For you. Until the end of our days and we fly out across the Great Abyss. I am yours, Ella. Forever.”
Thirty-Five
Ella
Dirk peered throughthe hole in the attic wall, sitting back on his knees and heels with the pose of a master of patience. Which he had to be, given he hadn’t moved for an hour.
Meanwhile in the cramped space, I had my knees drawn up to my chin, breathing in stale air warmed by the midday orblight as it filtered through tiny cracks in the ancient walls and ceiling.
