Page 189 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“No, Kat. No, that’s not?—”

“For the first time ever, you made me feel like I was beneath you,” she went on, and that fire in her eyes banked as tears filled them, spilling over. “You walked away as if I was something you could simply discard when I was no longer useful to you.”

“No, kitten,” Axel snarled, taking her face in his hands and swiping at her wet cheeks with his thumbs. “I left because if I ever hurt you like I did before, I would not be able to live with myself. But what if there’s a next time, and there’s no one to stop me? What if I kill you? What if this child is born, andthenit happens? That’s why I left, Katya. Because I would rather live a life without you, knowing you are healthy and whole, than live a life where I endanger you just by existing.”

“I am not whole without you!” she cried, more tears falling. “Do you understand that? Because I do not. It is not logical, but you being away these past weeks? Axel, it felt like a part of me was dying a little more every day.”

“Kat, I’m sorry,” he murmured, pulling her into his chest. Her salty tears stung as they soaked into the burns, but he’d live every day in agony to never see her like this again. “I’m sorry, kitten. I’m so fucking sorry,” he murmured over and over into her hair.

For the next several minutes, he just held her, and she clung to him, her sobs eventually lessening. He waited until she pulled back, letting her take whatever she needed.

Taking her face in his hands again, he waited until she brought her eyes to his. “I’m sorry, Katya. Please know that.”

She nodded before dropping her eyes and stepping back from him. His hands fell to his sides as she said, “What are you doing here, Axel?”

“I told you. I came back for you,” he answered.

“So you can leave me somewhere else?”

“No,” he said instantly. “No, Kat. I came to take you back with me.”

“Back where?”

“To the Underground.”

She went silent, and he shifted under her scrutiny when she just…stared at him.

After a full minute, he said, “I need you to say something, Kat.”

“You want to take me to the Underground,” she repeated.

“Yes.”

“To stay with you.”

“Yes.”

“In the Underground.”

“Yes.”

“Stop saying yes,” she snapped.

He forced himself to swallow his laugh at her irritation. “I will need to stay there while I…adjust to things, and it’s the only place I’ll be able to keep you both safe. Even once I have things under control, I can’t say that I’ll ever be welcome anywhere else. All Legacy who succumb to the curse are banished to live there.” Then he said words that nearly gutted him to speak. “So if you’d rather not come with me and stay here, I’ll understand.”

She rolled her lips while she got her thoughts in order before she said, “I have lived these last weeks without you, and they were miserable, Axel. But if you are only moving me from place to place and not planning to stay with me, I want to stay here. Where there are people I can depend on.”

“I swear to you, Kat. Never again,” he insisted.

“But how can I believe you?” she asked. “You sat with me on that bed. Told me we’d figure things out together, and then you left. And I…”

“Katya, I need you to understand something,” he said, taking a single step forward. “Love to me is defined as safety, and I know loving someone as protecting them. It’s fucked up, and I know it’s not how the whole love thing is supposed to work, but that’s how I’ve known love. And this thing between us? I don’t understand it either, but I know that I love you. I was loving you when I sent you with Tristyn, and I was loving you when I left you here. I know I need to learn to love you differently. Normally maybe? Whatever it is, I’ll do it. If you’re telling me that loving you means we’re together no matter what, then that’s what I’ll do. Tell me how to love you, kitten, because I’ll pluck stars from the sky and walk through your flames. And when I’ve turned, and this bond we never got to have has faded, I’ll still choose you. I’ll still love you, and it will mean even more because we’re choosing it. We’re not being drawn to each other by some bond gifted by the Fates.”

More tears were tracking down her face as she stared at him. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do in this situation, so he stood there, waiting. He didn’t move when she closed the distance between them. Not until she reached up and slid a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him down to meet her lips. Then he was gathering her close and taking control of that kiss. Her mouth parted easily, and he chased her tongue with his own. His fingers tangled in her curls, and her warmth was seeping into his chilled skin. A perfect balance.

He forced himself to pull back first, dropping small kisses on her cheeks, her nose, her brow. “Does this mean we’re done fighting?”

She huffed a laugh. “Yes, Axel. It means we’re done fighting.”

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