It’s a fucking sexy purr.
“Do you want to see how talented?” He uses his free hand to dance up my hip.
My breath catches. “Later. You slipped Harbinger’s thumb drive back to him, right?”
Instantly, Laurent’s purr breaks off.
I don’t regret mentioning Harbinger, however, because we can’t avoid this discussion.
Laurent nods. “He earned it.”
“You trust that he won’t ruin our plans.”
Laurent doesn’t answer for a moment, before he carefully asks, “Do you hate him?”
I startle.
Do I?
I thought that I did.
Harbinger is the new enemy fighter.
The psycho.
Unhinged.
The man who beat Feral and me in the octagon.
But after what happened in both the tunnel on the way to the fighters’ dorms and then Vinnie’s study, I can’t hate him.
I’m drawn to him.
I understand and respect him.
The spark between us burns me.
Does he feel it too?
I don’t know.
Would any Alpha act like he does, however, if he didn’t have feelings?
I squeeze Laurent’s hand. “He’s a member of an enemy pack but he’s not bonded to them. He’s fucking chained and abused by them. He’s only there because of a debt. I mean, you’re here because you’re kidnapped.”
“But I love you,” Laurent bursts out.
I stare at him.
He hasn’t said it before.
I didn’t expect him to. And it feels like he didn’t expect to blurt it out like that either.
He appears frustrated with himself, biting his lip. “Sorry, that wasn’t romantic. I’mcold, after all.”
“Don’t,” I say, sharply. Then I smooth over his lip, stopping him from torturing it further. “I don’t care how someone says that they love me. It could be with flowers, words, or actions. It’s precious every time. And I love you too.”
Laurent’s gaze is vulnerable. “I love being part of your pack. Fer and our bubbly Beta are both like a dream to me. They’re the best Alpha and Beta I could imagine. But then…”