Page 159 of Daughter of the Serpent

As if it could break the pull between them.

He looked away, as though the very sight of her was too much.

"You don’t understand." His voice was a snarl, his body taut as a drawn bowstring. "You’re not meant to be with me, Sylvie. The sooner you realize that, the better."

The words were meant to push her away.

And for a moment, she almost let them.

Almost let them tear through her, let them send her retreating behind her walls, shielding her fragile, aching heart. Any other time, she might have. Let the doubt creep in. Let the fear steal her voice.

But this was Axel.

This was him.

And she knew -with everything in her- that she wasn’t about to lose him. Not now. Not when she had already lost so much. Not when she had seen the truth flicker behind his eyes.

Not after last night, and what they had shared.

“You say you're wrong for me.” The words came out soft, but there was steel beneath them. “But I see the truth.”

Her eyes never left his, pinning him in place.

“I see you, just as clearly as you see me.”

He stilled.

“You’re always here, Axel. Beside me.”

His fingers twitched, but he said nothing.

“You saved me from certain death. You believed in me when no one else did. And today - ” She stepped closer. “You cut down every man in your path to get to me.”

His throat worked.

“You stormed Rederick’s halls, almost getting yourself killed in the process.”

She closed the distance, her fingers brushing against his chest.

“You nearly slit Haldor’s throat because he hurt me - ”

The heartbeat beneath her touch was thunderous.

“I have nothing to give you.” His jaw squared in defiance, but his eyes showed it all.

Stepping closer, she reached up - her fingers brushing a strand of his dark hair from his face. She could see the doubt that festered in his expression, the vulnerability - as if pleading with her without words, asking her to stop, to understand.

But there was no turning back now.

“Don’t you see?” Her voice was soft.

Her fingers brushed over his cheek, her touch light, as she coaxed his gaze to hers.

“You have already given meeverything.”

A tremor passed through his body, so slight she almost missed it. His eyes flickered shut as if the words pained him.

“You don’t know who I really am.”

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