Page 66 of Curvy Alpha Bride
“You don’t know that,” he mutters, trying to push past me.
“Okay then, I’ll tell you what I do know!” I yell in his face, shoving him away from the door. “The other women stayed behind to make sure Ivarra couldn’t get me—they were prepared to sacrifice themselves to save me, and the entire Range! I won’t let that be in vain, Xavier! Don’t be so stupid and reckless that you let the witch take you—because then everyone dies!”
He glares at me, his chest heaving with the effort of holding back his rage. I see a terrible look of resignation cross his face, followed by a deep, ripping loss.
I turn around and shut the door, closing the deadbolt. Behind me, there is a sharp crack as Xavier punches the dining room table.
“I can’t just sit here,” he growls. “I can’t let them die.”
I go to him, putting my hands on his cheeks to force him to look into my eyes. “We won’t let it be in vain,” I say, my voicesteady. “That is all we have here—lesser evil. I hate it, too, but we have no choice but to spend some lives to ensure the survival of the pack.”
“Maybe we can get out,” he says, rambling. “Take the whole pack through the mountain. Evacuate—”
“Xavier, my love, there are not enough hours of sunlight to get us through the woods to the Pass. You know that.”
“The other alphas will come for us—”
“I pray they do not,” I say. “The witch will be waiting. She may attack when they try to enter the valley.”
He sags against me, clinging to my arms.
“All is lost,” he murmurs. “This is the darkest hour I have ever seen, and I don’t know how to live through it.”
I feel an unbelievable compulsion to tell him my secret—the words I’ve been so desperately needing to say—but I know that right now, it would only hurt him more.
Instead of giving him hope, it could crush him that he’s trapped out here with me, and he can’t protect his child. He can’t even send him to safety, like his father did with him.
“Xavier,” I whisper, bringing my face even closer to his. “Kiss me.”
The doubt and conflict in his eyes clears a little, and he leans forward to briefly touch his lips to mine. When he pulls back again, I grab him around the neck and force him back to me, kissing him deeply.
“Mabel,” he gasps. “I don’t know if this is the right time.”
“Let us take what pleasure we can!” I cry, a note of desperation in my voice. “We are in hell, my love, but we have been granted a brief reprieve, right here and now. I want you,I need you—and we should take this moment, in case we never have the chance again.”
Something clears in his eyes, as if my words struck a chord in him. Suddenly, he leans forward and grabs me around the waist, yanking me against him and kissing me hard.
I moan into his mouth as lust flows through me, an incandescent fire that obliterates all else. I spent years holding back my desire for this man, denying my heart, and pretending that good sense could prevail over love. But now I see all I did was waste precious time.
He’s not perfect—and neither am I. None of that matters now. I see the man he truly is, and I know he never wanted to hurt me.
“Mabel,” he mutters through our kiss. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—”
“Shh, my love,” I whisper, putting my fingers on his lips. “It’s okay, I understand.”
“How can you?” he asks. “When I don’t. I wasn’t in my right mind when I left the Lock. My entire world had been pulled up by the roots, and I thought it would be easier on you if I just made a clean break.”
“Why?” I ask, something deep in my soul yearning for this answer, as it has every second since he left me alone on his front lawn, watching him drive away.
“Because I knew you didn’t love me,” he says, his tone too even for such an earth-shattering confession. “It was just some fun at a party, and I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up that you’d actually want to be with me. I know I fucked up when I told you, but I had to get out of there before you broke my heart. I couldn’t take it. Not on top of everything else I’d just learned.”
“You stupid goddamn fucking fool,” I chide, kissing him. “I’ve loved you for longer than I care to think about, and that was the best night of my life.”
“No,” he whispers. “God, don’t say that!”
“It’s alright,” I say, kissing him again. “We’re here together, and that’s all that matters now.”
Xavier lets me kiss him, and I can feel him trembling under my hands. Suddenly, he wraps his arms around my waist, lifts me up, and carries me to the couch. I stretch out under him, pulling him down on top of me and wrapping my legs around him.
