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“How is not true that the only reason you’re here is because of me.”

He closed his eyes and squeezed them shut before opening them again. “You’re infuriating and confusing. Do you know that?”

Au'revele opened her mouth to speak, but he literally pressed his hand over her lips to keep her from speaking. “Just, let me speak, then you can yell at me all you want.”

Au'revele raised her eyebrows and glared at him, resisting the urge to bite his fingers where they still lay over her lips.

“Of course, I’m here because of you. There is no other reason that I’d be here. But I’m not here only because you spoke to the Sirena about me living here with you. I’d have been here, or you’d have been in my quarters with me, regardless. Are we conventional? No, we are not. But that is because I fought this thing with every bit of will power I had. The very last thing I wanted was a mate. So naturally, you stumbled into my life.”

“I didn’t…”

“I said, let me speak. Please!” he interrupted, pressing his hand harder against her lips.

“I fought it, as most males do believe it or not, because we’ve trained to be warriors all our lives. We’ve focused on our careers, we’ve perfected the job we dreamed of as younglings, and we’re damn good at it. Then the females wander by and we have to figure out how to split our focus. I once heard the Sirenasay that having an Ehlealah made you fight more fiercely, battle more passionately, because now not only were you defending your home planet, you were defending a piece of yourself. Until you, I didn’t understand that. It made no sense to me. How could a female mean as much if not more than your home? But you destroyed that way of thinking. You shattered that thought simply by breathing and looking in my direction. I knew that day that I’d never need or love anything the way I did you. I hadn’t even spoken to you yet, and I knew it. It just took me a while to wrap my head around it. But even so, I’ve made every move possible to stay near you, to protect you, though I wasn’t ready to admit it.”

Au'revele kissed his palm and gently pulled his hand from her face.

“What moves?” she asked.

“I made sure that I always knew exactly where you were, and who you were with, which was easy because you became a friend of the Sirena’s. If you were exercising on the ship, I happened to be training at the same time. If you were eating, I would happen in at the same time. The day I heard that you had accepted the position of nanny to Sire Alexandrus, I pledged my intention to accompany the Sire and Sirena to Cruestace. When I saw where your quarters are, I claimed those across the hall so that I could guard you as I do the royal residence.”

“But you were always so angry that I was near.”

“No. I was always so angry that you were near and I didn’t have a clue of how to get closer to you. There was nothing standing in my way but me, and still I had trouble getting around myself. Until the day that Sirena Vivian sent me to escort you to the dining room, and then to your quarters. We were alone, and the longer we remained together, the more unable I became to resist.”

“So, still irritated that you had no choice, you kissed me.”

“I was irritated, and rightly so. Who did that male think he was? We were seated, eating together, and he blatantly lets you know he was interested!”

Au'revele smiled. “You were jealous.”

“Of course, I was jealous. No male will approach my female without repercussions!”

“And since you hadn’t claimed me, or made your intentions clear, you couldn’t say anything.”

“Something like that. But that kiss made my intentions clear.”

“No, it didn’t. It was a kiss. There are many kisses in the heat of the moment that do not mean either participant is making a claim.”

Zahn’s expression clouded. “Who has kissed you without the intention of claiming you?!” he demanded.

“Will you make sure he understands that he can’t do that any longer? That you don’t kiss someone without intention?”

“I’ll make sure he understands more than that!”

“Good. You did.”

“What?”

“It was you. You kissed me, and then turned and walked away.”

“I told you of my intentions.”

“No, you didn’t. You asked me what the kiss indicated about your intentions.”

“Did it indicate nothing?”

“It indicated that you wanted to kiss me. And that you might perhaps be interested, but maybe perhaps not.”

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