Page 89 of The Ice Prince's Fated Mate
“Oh, Ella.” He picked me up and deposited me in his lap, holding me tightly. “You arenotbroken. Not in my eyes. Not to me. I’m just sorry I pushed you at all, that I didn’t give you time.”
“No, Dirk.” I hushed him repeatedly until he was quiet. “Don’t apologize. You’ve been everything. You’ve helped me heal and been patient. You’ve been exactly what I needed.”
“I would do whatever is necessary for you, my mate. I love you.”
The way his face exploded and then immediately closed off told me he hadn’t planned to say the words.
He loved me?
I stared back, unsure how to respond to that. Did I love him? I was falling for him, yes. Harder all the time. But love? I wasn’t sure I knew what love was. But I had to say something.
So like the big brave girl I am, I ignored it for now.
“I know you would,” I said instead, acknowledging the first half of his comment since he too seemed deeply uncomfortable about what he’d just said.
Perhaps he thought he was putting more on me than I could handle, given everything I’d just gone through. Deep inside me, though, a tiny thrill flickered and burned. It was buried under all the other emotions in the moment, but it existed, and I couldn’t put it out, even if I’d wanted to.
“May I ask something?” he rumbled after a few minutes of silence, his hand the only thing moving as it rubbed my back up and down in slow circles.
“Yes.”
“What happened to the humans? How did you get out?”
“They thought I was human. They didn’t take adequate precautions. I broke my hand, slipped free of the cuffs, and healed. Then I ripped the bedframe apart, until I had a sharp piece I could use to cut the restraints on my legs. Then, when they came for me, I did the same to their throats.”
Dirk’s eyes lit up once more. “Strong mate,” he rumbled with dark approval.
Despite the topic, I shivered pleasantly at the light in his eyes and the pride in his tone. I liked knowing he was proud of me.
We sat there staring at one another, his fingers stroking my leg and back.
“Once you’re mine, I will always know the moment anything is wrong. I will never let anyone take you away from me,” hepromised, the possessiveness coming to the fore now as his fingers tightened ever so slightly around my upper leg.
His touch was awakening things, igniting a need inside me. The desire had been building for some time, and I now knew what I wanted more than anything else.
“Dirk?” I whispered, leaning into his chest and rubbing my breasts against him as I spoke into his ear, making a decision I’d been avoiding for too long.
“Yes?”
“I want to be yours. For good.”
A throaty growl vibrated into my skin. “You are mine.”
“Then claim me.” I bared my neck to my mate.
Forty-Two
Ella
He kissed myneck softly, a tiny thrill running down my spine as he ran his tongue lightly along my jaw before adding tiny kisses too. He inhaled slowly through his nose, and I knew he had to be smelling me.
But he didn’t bite me. Didn’t try to push me.
“D-do you not want to?” I asked nervously.
He took me by the chin and held me so our eyes could only see one another. “There is quite literally nothing I want more in the world than to claim you. Except, perhaps, to be claimed in return. But I need to know you’re ready … for that side of me.”
“That side?”
