Page 84 of Spookily Yours

He stirred at my touch, grabbing my hand and kissing my knuckles as he woke.

“Good morning, Willow,” he said, voice groggy from sleep. But he didn’t give me my arm back—no, he placed gentle kisses all the way up my arm before pausing at the mark he’d left yesterday on my neck.

“I like my mark on you.” The sound of his voice was like a deep, rumbling growl. “Fuck. What it does to me…” He kissed the mark before tracing his tongue over it.

“Damien.” I ran my fingers through his hair once more. “I need to tell you something—”

“I still owe you a favor, you know.”

I kissed him to shut him up. “Youaremy favor, demon.”

He laughed against my mouth.

I sat up, not caring about bringing the sheet with me. “I mean it. You… I never could have imagined this. You. Us. And I l—”

He shook his head. “Don’t say it. Not yet.” The fangs popped out from his upper lip.I want to say it first.

I shook my head, even though I loved his possessiveness. “Why did you stay?” I let the words slip out. I’d asked him something similar before, but this time, it was different. “Besides me being your mate.”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Maybe I need to hear it. The words.”

“Willow.” Damien’s forehead rested against mine. “I stayed foryou, little witch. Because I couldn’t bear to be apart from you. Because you’re mine.” The corner of his lip tilted up, exposing a canine tooth. “I’ve never had somebody of my own. Somebody to…” His voice choked up. “Love.”

“You…?” My eyes filled with tears. Maybe I’d thought it was too soon to say the words myself. Even then, I’d been seconds away admitting the same thing to him. How could I not, after letting him claim me yesterday? My fingers fluttered up to the bite, tracing the puncture wounds.

“I love you.” He took my hands in his, intertwining our fingers together. I marveled at how perfectly we fit, just like always. “I think I’ve loved you since I first laid eyes on you, Willow.”

“But you…” My eyes widened.You were a cat.

Damien sucked in a breath. Nodded. I didn’t need to say the words, because he knew what I was thinking. Our bond gave us that, always. “Even then, I think I knew what you were to me. But it wasn’t until you helped me get back into this form that Iknew. But it’s more than that.”

I blinked. “It is?”

“You’remine, but that’s not why I fell in love with you, little witch.” He brushed his fingers over my chin. “I fell in love with you because you’re clever, and kind, and you never give up on people.” Damien gave me a small smile. “Especially not on me. And I’ve never had anything that was mine before. Really, trulymine.Never had somewhere that felt like home before you. But fuck, Willow. I’d give up anything for you. Do anything for you. Burn down hell just for a chance—just for a moment with you.”

“I love you too,” I said, unable to contain all of the emotions flowing through me. “I have for a while. I wanted to tell you, but I was just… scared.”

“Of what?” Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, gently, he looked more vulnerable than I’d ever seen him before. More open, too. “I’d never leave you.”

“I know that now.” I sighed, burying my head against his pecs. “But before… I thought you’d have to go back here. That you wouldn’t be able to stay.”

“You were something I never expected, never hoped for, but… I’d never trade you for the world, Willow. My mate,” he murmured. “My beautiful mate.”

“Damien…” My eyes filled with tears. “I love you. So much.” I wrapped my arms around him, letting our lips connect.

Kissing the man I loved.

Kissing the man who lovedme.

“Do you want to go home?” He tilted his head up to look at me, pausing all of the little touches I loved. I wanted them—cravedhim,but there were more important things right now.

“You don’t want to… stay?” I asked, surprised. We had each other, but I hadn’t known what our plans were. If he’d have to stay here, because of his brother. “This is your home.” I would have hated every minute of it, even if he’d asked me to stay with him. But I would have understood. Even more so after Luna had decided to marry his brother.

He shook his head. “This isn’t my home.”

“What?” I laughed. “Isn’t it?” I gestured to the room around us. These giant suites we’d occupied for only a night.

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