Page 150 of A Warrior's Fate

“Beautiful,” he said, almost the same way he had that night. “Absolutely beautiful. Crueler than anything I’d been dealt. Because you were a light—a beautiful, bright, fiery light—that I learned I couldn’t hold on to. Not if I wanted you to stay that way.”

Isla had to force herself to breathe, to remain upright, to resist the urge to just cross the room, forget the explanations, and just let him have her.

Kai’s jaw clenched, and she caught the way his hands moved like he too was fighting a pull to have her close.

“I’m not going to say that I knew I loved you before I met you, or that I was in love the moment I laid eyes on you—because I didn’t, and I wasn’t—but I sure as hell knew that I would. One talk with you, and I knew it wouldn’t take much, and it wouldn’t be long before I was entirely at your mercy. Before I would do anything in my power to make you happy and keep you safe…even if it meant having you away from me.”

Breathe.

“So, we made our plan and I let you go. But when I got back home, things were—”

Kai cut himself off, narrowing his eyes. Isla followed his gaze to the door, to the obscure shadow beneath it.

She ground her teeth, having a feeling of exactly who it was, trying to listen in before dawn struck. The concierge must’ve had loose lips and had told Callan the room number he’d directed her to. She wouldn’t be surprised if the whole hotel soon knew the alpha was lurking about.

How long had he been listening?

When she looked back at Kai—unsure what they’d do about the intrusion—she found he’d since risen from the chair and was taking steps towards the door. Steps that felt all-too slow as everything crashed into her. Everything he’d said, how she felt. How completely enamored with him she was.

His hand reached out for the door handle, prepared to rip the structure off its hinges and likely kill Callan—but Isla stopped him, taking it in hers instead.

Then when he turned to face her, confusion written on his face, she grabbed his shirt and hauled her mouth to his.

CHAPTER 32

Nothing else mattered. Not right now.

Not as Kai had her body pressed against the wall. Not as his leg had settled between hers to rub so deliciously between her thighs.

She knew he wanted Callan to hear her, hear them. He thought this was another game she was initiating.

He teased the skin of her jaw, her cheek, up to her ear where he whispered, “Maybe it’s best that he thinks I’m just fucking you.” And then, before Isla knew it, she was up in the air with her legs wrapped around him and his mouth on hers.

Everything was a blur, and the only thing she could focus on were his lips, his hands, and every solid place they connected. On the words somehow still unspoken that she felt on his tongue as it tangled with hers. Words that she tried to convey in her own kiss.

She didn’t just want the illusion that he’d been fucking her. She didn't want a game.

“Kai,” she muttered his name against his lips, and the desperation of her tone had him pulling back. His eyes searched her face, and all she had to do was nod for him to know what she wanted. Needed.

“Really?” Kai’s breathing was ragged; he was struggling against emotions, against self-control.

Isla brought her hands to his face and nodded. “I’m yours.”

The words settled for a beat, and Kai blinked at her as if he still had to wrap his mind around it.

Isla smiled softly and leaned forward, brushing her mouth against his. “I love you.”

And that was all else that needed to be said.

Kai gripped her harder, and Isla moaned as he dropped his head to her neck, licking and nipping his way to that spot at the crook of her collarbone where that primal part of her called out to him. His teeth grazed the spot, sharp and teasing.

She ground down against his hips, already finding him hard, and craned her neck, baring herself to him.

“Isla…”

One last chance to change her mind.

“Yes.” She tightened her grip on his shirt. Yes, yes, yes.

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