Page 161 of Until the Stars Fall

He was mine. I was his.

Part of me wanted to push him back onto the bed and show him the extent of my feelings for him, but another part of me remained bruised from his earlier rejection when he’d kissed me and run. That piece of my heart—though on the mend—needed reassurance that I was truly loved not because I was his mate but because I wasme.

Looking down, I folded my hands together. Then I slipped the sapphire ring from my finger. Stepping back half a pace—lamenting even the small amount of space between us—I held my hand out with the ring resting in the center of my palm.

His eyes lowered to it but lifted back up to mine quickly, questioning me with fresh worry.

“The last time I accepted this ring, I hated you,” I said. “Now, I hate the thought of not being with you.”

“So naturally you must return it,” he said, a hint of humor in his tone.

My lips quivered as I smiled timidly. “Next time you offer it, I promise not to faint.”

His expression turned hopeful. “And you’re sure you want it back?”

As I gave him a string of small nods, he plucked the ring from my hand, pinching it between his finger and thumb. Slowly he rose to his feet, wavering slightly as he fought to find his balance before leaning over to set the ring on the bedside table.

“Matthias used to mock me for believing in mates, let alone waiting to find mine. I never admitted to him, though, that my insistence on waiting was an excuse—an excuse to avoid any connection. Because connection brought love, and in the end, love only brought sorrow.”

Swallowing hard, he continued.

“Losing my mother is killing my father. Gradually but surely, his heart is withering away without his mate, and the thought of the same happening to me—the thought of experiencing a pain infinitely worse than what I’ve already suffered with her death? It terrified me. Yet that paled in comparison to the piercing fear of watching you being dragged away to the gallows that night. As though the stars themselves had burst within my chest, and I hated it. I hated that I needed to protect you, hated how I wanted to save you, hated that I didn’t understand it at all.”

He paused to brush his hand along my jaw and tuck my hair behind my ear. Trailing his fingers down my arm, he clasped my hand tightly in his.

“Now I know it was the stars. They knew before I did. They pulled my heart toward you before I even knew what was happening. But I need you to know, Sapphire, that my heart was yours before our lips ever met. And even if the stars had chosen differently, I would have bound my soul to yours a hundred times over to never be parted from you again. And I know that sounds absurd, because I abandoned you. I fled when I should have stayed. But I couldn’t bear for you to feel obligated to choose me. I needed to know you loved me not because you had to but because you wanted to. And I was deathly afraid you never could.”

My heart soared. Blinking away my tears, I reached for him, cupping his face in my hands. Rising onto my toes, I pressed my lips to his. He tasted of unwavering devotion and fearful desire, as if he still doubted my love for him.

And then I realized. I’d never told him.

Reluctantly I pulled away just enough to search his eyes.

“I so wanted you to find your mate because”—I paused to breathe through the new batch of tears that threatened to make my words impossible—“because you deserve a love written in the heavens. I feared I couldn’t give you the kind of love you’re worthy of, but stars, I hoped you would have me, mate or not. Then you ran, you avoided me, and my mind taunted me in my dreams, giving me glimpses and tastes of what we could be.”

“Those were some delicious glimpses,” Connor interrupted, smirking.

“I thought that was all I’d ever have of you, and I tried to be content with that.”

“But it was real,” he reminded me. “You’re mine, Sapphire.”

My core heated as the blissful memories sparked a new aching desire.

“I’m yours,” I said, repeating what he’d said in that blessed dream when he’d claimed me wholly for himself.

“Forever and beyond,” he whispered, pulling me to him. He lifted me effortlessly, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as I pressed my lips to his, kissing him hungrily, desperately.

I needed him. All of him.

As if he could hear my thoughts, Connor whirled around and lowered me onto his bed so that he hovered over me. A wicked grin spread across his lips, and desire flared in his eyes. “I finally got you on your back.”

“Shut up and kiss me,” I said, but he didn’t move except to raise a brow.

“Where?”

The rough need in his voice sent a flash of pinpricks over every inch of me.

“Anywhere,” I whispered huskily. “Everywhere.”

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