Page 417 of Hate Mates

We are bound.

Forever.

Chapter Twelve

ORION VOSS

The only sound in the room is our breathing—deep, slow, steady.

I keep my arms wrapped around Vivienne, our bodies tangled together, the heat between us still lingering. I feel the soft rise and fall of her chest against mine, the warmth of her bare skin pressed to my own.

For the first time in years, I feel at peace.

But I know it won’t last.

I stroke my fingers down her spine, absently tracing the curve of her body. She doesn’t pull away. Instead, she melts into me, letting herself be held.

A part of me still can’t believe she’s here—that she’s mine again.

That she was always mine.

I press a kiss to her hair, inhaling the faint scent of wildflowers and something purely Vivienne.

I don’t know how to say what’s weighing on my chest, so I just let the words fall.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur.

She stiffens slightly. “For what?”

I pull back just enough to look at her, my hand sliding down to rest over her wrist—over the mark that now binds us together.

“For this,” I say. “For binding us. I didn’t mean to?—”

She silences me with a soft press of her lips to mine. It’s quick, gentle, sure.

When she pulls back, her eyes are steady. Clear.

“I would have chosen it,” she says softly. “Even if you hadn’t.”

I stare at her, searching for hesitation.

There isn’t any.

A sharp ache twists in my chest. I cup her face, my thumb brushing over her cheek. “Vivienne, your entire life?—”

“Was never really mine,” she interrupts.

I go still.

She holds my gaze, her fingers sliding up my chest, over the scars there, the ridges of old wounds, as if she’s memorizing every inch of me.

“I spent my whole life running, Orion,” she whispers. “From them. From my magic. From myself.” Her throat works as she swallows, her fingers tracing absent patterns over my skin. “I was surviving. That was all. I never let myself want anything because I was always afraid I wouldn’t get to keep it.”

She lifts her wrist, pressing our marks together.

“But I get to keep this.”

My breath catches.

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