The Nymph King

desire to keep her with him and the desire to see to her happiness. Always. No matter the cost to himself.

A sigh slipped from her. 'I'm not sure if I miss it or not. I mean, I'm not close to my family. I never have been, really, but closure would have been nice.'

'Why exactly were you not close with them?' He could not imagine such a thing with his brother if Verryn had lived.

'They wanted me to be something I wasn't,' she said.

'What?'

'Sweet.'

He snorted. 'You are sweet. You like to pretend otherwise, but you are most definitely the sweetest morsel I have ever sampled.'

Shaye bit him on the shoulder and licked away the sting. This man saw into her soul; he saw the woman she'd always secretly wanted to be. Something her own mother hadn't been able to do.

'How can your family not see how sweet you are? More shame, them.'

She raised her head, cupping his cheeks with her palms. 'Thank you for that.'

Valerian's chest tightened. This woman possessed his heart, of that he had no doubt. Now he wanted hers. 'Have you been able to make your anti-cards here?'

'Yes.'

'If you were to make one for me, what would it say?'

'Well... let's see.' She rested her head on his shoulder. A minute ticked by, then another. 'Are you sure you want to know?'

'Yes.'

'If I were going to make and send you a card, it would say... ' She paused, frowned. 'It would say, I'm trusting you not to break my heart. If it gets even a scratch, I'll break your face.'

His lips twitched. 'Break my face?'

'You heard me.'

Break his face if he broke her heart... Her heart. Valerian stilled, the significance of what she'd said finally registering. Even his blood ceased flowing. Breath froze in his lungs. A wave of dizziness hit him as emotion after emotion crashed through him. 'You are trusting me with your heart?' He was almost afraid to ask, afraid he'd misunderstood.

He, a warrior who had laughed at danger his entire life, was afraid this tiny, pale woman would not want him.

'Kind of,' she said. 'I'm not saying I love you or anything like that.' A layer of panic coated her words. 'But I'm going to trust you not to be with anyone else while you're with me. That means no other women.'

'Moon, I desire no other save you.'

'Now you don't. But what about later, when the novelty of me wears off?'

As she spoke, he heard her vulnerability. He rolled her to her back and stared down at her. 'You are my mate. I have told you that, but I do not think you understand what that means. None arouse me anymore but you. None tempt me. None appeal to me. Only you. When a nymph takes a mate, that is the way of it. Now and always.'

Her gaze softened, and he knew she wanted to believe him. 'Yeah, well,' she said, 'we'll see what happens in the coming days.'

'So you want to stay with me?'

Radiating vulnerability, she whispered, 'Yes.'

Joy burst through him, full but not complete. Not yet. 'You want to stay with me but you do not love me?'

'Right. Love is complicated and messy.'

'I love the way your nipples are pushing into my chest. That is not complicated.'

Her lips pursed. 'That's not what I meant, and you know it. Loving someone gives them permission to do bad things to you because they know you'll forgive them.'

'What kind of bad things have been done to you by those you loved?' The question emerged quietly, lethally. He would slay anyone, man or woman, who dared hurt this woman.

'I've been abandoned, rejected, dismissed and forgotten,' she said, and he tensed. 'Plus, I saw the way you pushed aside the women who came before me.'

'I did not expect you, moon. You were a surprise. I cannot undo what I have done in the past. But you have my vow of honor that I will never tire of you. In time, you will realize this for yourself.' He paused, intent. 'I know you said you would stay, but I'd like your vow. Promise me you will give me time to prove myself and my intentions toward you.'

Her eyes searched his face, probing. Whatever she saw in his expression must have comforted her because she gave him a slow smile and nodded. 'You have my vow.'

He breathed a sigh of relief and renewed joy. Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers. His hands searched for and found her own, and he intertwined their fingers before anchoring them above her head. This lifted her chest and meshed her breasts deeper into him. She licked her lips as her eyelids lowered.

'While you have seen only the bad side of love, I have seen the best. My mother and father were mated and completely devoted to each other.'

'Where are they, your parents?'

'They died many years ago. My father died in battle and my mother's sadness took her not long after.'

My God, Shaye thought. To be so devoted to someone you actually died without them. Simply lost the will to live. It was something out of a movie, yet a part of her she didn't want to acknowledge understood such devotion. She was frightened, and yet for the first time, utterly excited by the prospect.

'I'm sorry you lost them,' she said softly.

'Uh-oh. You are showing your sweet side again.'

She grinned. 'How dare you say such a thing. I'm a hard-core bitch.'

'And you hate the things I do to you.'

'Hate them,' she agreed with a laugh.

His breath tunneled into her ear, followed by his tongue. Her hands tangled in his hair as she trembled.

'Just like you hate me,' he breathed.

She couldn't give him the words he wanted so she gave him these instead. 'Yes,' she whispered. 'I hate you so very much.'

'Good. Because I'm going to hate you until you can't imagine life without me.'

Too late, her mind whispered as he slid into her.

CHAPTER 26

LEAVING SHAYE ASLEEP in his bed—their bed, Valerian amended—was the hardest thing he'd ever done. Her soft, pale tresses tapered over the violet sheets, as ethereal as a dream. Her features were relaxed, the sandy length of her lashes casting shadows over her cheekbones. Her lips were plump and rosy from his kisses.

He'd already dressed, had hastily tugged on a black shirt and pants before he'd lost his resolve to leave. As leader of this palace, it was his duty to see to his guests. But more than that, he wanted to see to the palace's defenses and ensure they were well fortified, strong enough to withstand the most violent of attacks.

This peaceful reprieve the vampires had given them would not last long, he knew. Darius would be back. Valerian only hoped it would be later rather than sooner. The longer he had to solidify his bond with Shaye, the better.

He couldn't resist placing a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose—which proved to be a mistake. She muttered under her breath, an airy gurgling of unintelligible words. One of them might have been his name. He was suddenly rock hard for her, so aroused it was as if he'd never taken her. Leave. Now. Before you