Page 53 of The Rebel and the Rogue

“Don’t you dare put that anger on me. So you’re mad I left. Too bad.”

“I don’t put anything on you.” He raised his hand to his chest. “It’s all on me.”

I stared. Then stared some more. Had I heard him correctly? “What?”

“It’s my fault. All of it.” He came over to me again. Now I was in the corner, Zenos’s large body blocking me in. His hands settled on the wall by my head. There was no escape. I could physically move him, we both knew that, but I wanted to know what he meant, what he would do. Why he was here.

“Ivy… I love you.”

I gasped. The sound fell from my lips as my chest ached.

“Then why didn’t you—”

“Because I love you.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

His hands came up and cupped my cheeks. “You are everything to me. I couldn’t stand the idea of you dying because of me. I love you enough not to bite you.”

“Like Astra and Barek,” I replied.

His thumb brushed over my cheek, and he smeared wetness. It was then I realized I was crying.

“Until last night, yes. Barek has loved Astra for decades. He’s stood by her, watched out for her. Protected her even when she didn’t need it. But he refused to bite her.”

“I don’t think they even had sex until last night,” I guessed.

“Yes, I agree. Barek refused to harm her by his bite. He loved her too much.”

“But they trusted the antidote. You didn’t. You didn’t trust me.”

I kissed her then, not able to wait a moment longer. “I didn’t trust me.” I clarified when I lifted my lips.

“Oh, Zenos,” I whispered. “You can’t deny yourself what you’ve been waiting for so long.”

“I haven’t until you came into the bar. I had been waiting for you. I hadn’t wanted to bite anyone until I kissed your lips, licked your pussy, fucked it good and har

d.”

I wiggled a bit at his dark words.

“It’s been so hard to deny what was between us. How I felt. I was trying to be strong for both of us.”

I waggled my eyebrows. “Haven’t you learned I’m pretty strong myself?”

He growled then, lifted me up and tossed me onto the bed. I bounced but didn’t pop up to fight. I laid there, waiting. I was right where I wanted to be.

“I love you, Zenos. I want you to bite me. To claim me. Make me yours. Completely.”

He licked his lips, took in every inch of me. I waited one heartbeat, then another. Then he pounced.

“Mine,” he breathed as he worked my shirt up and off my body, stripped me of my bra and panties.

He stood at the foot of the bed, shucked every bit of his clothes until he was bare as well. His cock with thick and hard, pointed right at me. I couldn’t see any sign of the mating fist he’d spoken of, and my pussy clenched knowing how tight a fit he was normally.

How was he going to fit when he claimed me?

I licked my lips, eager for him.

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