Page 251 of Infernal Secrets

RAE

Ash loved me.

Too often, people on the edge of death overestimated their emotions. They think they’ll never get the chance to speak their heart again, so they blow their feelings out of proportion, mistaking desperation for truth.

A part of me believed Ash mistook the affection he’d developed in our short time together for something more.

He hadn’t taken it back when the opportunity arose, but with the danger gone, I couldn’t ignore the lingering doubt—especially knowing how I felt about him.

But he loved me.

With nothing pressuring him, he’d said it again.

We had all the time we wanted to let something grow between us until Cornaith demanded I come to Elyrdin, so Ash didn’t have to say it. But he did.

When he withdrew from the kiss, I surged forward, cupped the back of his head, and took control of our kiss.

He groaned, and I tightened my fingers in his long hair.

I rose to my knees, never breaking our kiss as I grabbed the hem of his shirt and worked it up his body.

He chuckled against my lips, breaking the kiss long enough to pull his shirt over his head, revealing cut muscles and a dusting of chest hair I stroked with my fingers.

I yanked my tank top off and tossed it aside, rising on my knees to kiss him again.

He stopped me with his hands on my shoulders. “Wait a second.”

I frowned, not wanting words. I wanted him. Needed him.

He smiled at my expression. “Patience, beautiful.” He urged me to sit back on my heels, sliding his hands up the sides of my neck. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Is something wrong?”

He shook his head. “Not at all.”

“Then can’t it wait?”

He barked a laugh, and I slapped his arm. “No. It can’t.”

I huffed and looked off the side of the bed for my top. I didn’t want to sit there with my breasts hanging out while we talked.

“Wait.” He grasped my arm. “It’s not bad.”

I looked up at him, waiting for him to spill it before my anxiety kicked in.

He rubbed the side of his neck, swallowing hard. “I told you before that we weren’t bound yet. That we hadn’t done the things needed to seal our mate bond and soul tether.”

I remembered he’d said we needed to exchange bodily fluids, and he needed to be in his alternate form. Was he hinting at what I thought he was?

He rubbed his hands together, looking at the bed. I’d never seen him this nervous before.

I reached out and took his hands in mine. “Are you saying you want to complete it now?”

His throat worked with a rough swallow. “If you want that. We can wait if you’d like.”

“Ash,” I said in a tone that both chastised and pleaded. “What do you want? I’ll be honest with you if you’re honest with me.”

He licked his lips and squeezed my hands. “I want nothing more than to bind you to me. I would give everything I have to bind myself to you forever.”