Lilith pressed her face against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, steady and strong, and felt some of the panic that had been clawing at her all day finally ease.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "For bringing me here."
"You needed it." His hand stroked down her back. "And I needed you away from the estate for a while. Away from the pack and the pressure and everything else."
She pulled back enough to look at his face.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
He smiled slightly. "You’re always asking me that."
"Because you never answer honestly."
His smile faded and he looked at her for a long moment before finally admitting, "I’m jealous."
Lilith blinked. "Of what?"
"Of Sebastian. Of the fact that he got to have you in the woods and I had to feel it through the bond." His jaw tightened. "Kael is possessive and he does not like sharing. Even with my own brothers."
"But you have the bond," she said softly. "You’re the only one who’s marked me. That has to count for something."
"It does. It’s the only thing keeping Kael from losing his mind completely." His hands tightened on her waist. "But the wait is hard. Watching Sebastian prepare for his marking, knowing Lucian is barely holding on, feeling the incomplete bonds pulling at all of us. It’s hard."
She reached up and cupped his face. "One more week. Then Sebastian marks me. Then two weeks after that, Lucian. And then this is over."
"I know." He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her palm. "I just want you safe. I want the bond complete. I want my brothers stable. I want...."
He stopped and shook his head.
"What?" she asked.
"I want time," he said quietly. "Time to just be with you without the curse hanging over us. Time to learn you without worrying that I’m going to lose you."
Lilith’s chest ached. "You’re not going to lose me."
"You don’t know that."
"Yes I do." She pulled him down and kissed him.
"I’m yours, Nicholas. I’ve been yours since the moment Kael marked me. And I’m not going anywhere."
He made a sound low in his throat and kissed her back harder, his hands sliding down to cup her ass and lift her. She wrapped her legs around his waist automatically and gasped when she felt him hard against her.
"Nicholas..."
"I need you," he said roughly. "Right now. Can I have you?"
"Yes," she breathed.
He walked them backward until her back was against a smooth rock at the edge of the pool, then positioned himself and pushed inside her in one slow deliberate thrust.
Lilith’s head fell back and she moaned. The angle was perfect, the water making everything slick and smooth, and Nicholas filled her completely.
He started moving, slow and deep, his eyes locked on hers. "You’re mine."
"Yes."
"Say it."
"I’m yours."

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