“Because now I know you always loved me as much I loved you. Because now we have a way to be together.”
She stared stonily at him. “Who says it’s not too late?”
“I know it’s not too late. I know it because you came to me in the prison and proved that you still have feelings for me.” He paused, his jaw locking. “I know it’s not too late because you’re mine. Then. Now.
Forever.”
She turned and walked toward the bathroom so he couldn’t see the expression on her face. When she got to the doorway, her knees went doughy and she reached out to steady herself with a hand on the doorjamb. “Why didn’t you ever come to me during these last thirty years? Why didn’t you tell me all this sooner?”
“I thought you hated me.” His voice came from right behind her, and his proximity made her shoulders tighten. “It wasn’t until you came to the prison that I had any reason to believe you might still have a flicker of love left for me.”
Bella closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as her world shifted a little to the left. “I don’t know what to say.”
“The Phaendir came to me. This object I stole for them, I never planned to let them have it. I never planned to allow the Summer Queen to have it either, but now that I know you still care for me, it gives us a chance. The Summer Queen will bargain for what I have to give her; maybe she’ll even agree to protect our union, no matter how much Unseelie blood our children may have.” Gods, he wanted them to be together.
He was doing all this for her.
His hands cupped her shoulders, the heat of his body bleeding through the fabric of her sweater and into her skin. He turned her to face him, but she wouldn’t look up into his eyes. “Just give me a chance, Bell, that’s all I’m asking. I know I screwed up the first time. Give me a chance to show you I’m telling the truth.” He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look into his face. “I never stopped loving you. It never faded and it never failed.”
She blinked, her huge brown eyes coming into focus. “I can’t do this. I—” He dipped his head and stopped her words with his lips. Bella stiffened and almost pulled away, but the sensation of his mouth on hers after so many years was like a balm on an old wound—healing, nourishing. He brushed his mouth across hers as though he had all the time in the world—like he was savoring her. Then he nipped gently at her lower lip and she melted.
Ronan made a low, hungry sound in his throat and dragged her up against his bare chest, his mouth slanting over hers. He eased her lips apart and branded her tongue with his. The taste of him filled her mouth, the scent of him teased her nose, and the hard, warm press of his body against hers did things to her she could only barely recall were possible. After so many years the sexual spark was still there.
Bella grasped his upper arms, trying hard not to think about the huge bed behind them and the part of her that wasn’t sure she could resist him if he pulled her toward it. She’d always been attracted to him on a primal, sexual level. Even though they’d never had sex, she knew it would be explosive between them. They shared the kind of chemistry that made it impossible for it to be any other way.
But there was so much more to love than just good sex.
She stepped back, breaking the kiss, and closed the bathroom door in his face.
SEVEN
Ronan stared at the closed door separating him from Bella. His lips felt electrified from her mouth, and his body was tight, anticipatory. His c**k had gone rock hard in the very first moment of their kiss. He wanted her, had wanted her for years, craved the scent of her skin, yearned for the slide of it against his. Now he’d had a mere taste, and the need for more was nearly overwhelming. It made his hands curl involuntarily at the thought of touching her silky bare body. He forcibly caged the beast within that screamed for her.
It was an effort not to pound on the door or rip it from its hinges. He wanted to throw her down on the bed and use every sexual wile he possessed to lure her to him. If he tried hard enough, he could tempt her past her misgivings, make her forget that he’d rejected her all those years ago. If he put his mind and body into seducing her once she exited the bathroom, he could lure her into giving in to him completely . . . carnally.
But the problem was that he wanted more than just a coupling of their bodies. He wanted her heart and maybe just the slightest bit of her soul. Ronan wanted what he’d been so stupid to give up before—he wanted eternity with the one woman in the world whom he loved.
He wouldn’t obtain that by letting his c**k rule his head. No, he needed to be patient and regain her trust. Ronan wouldn’t accept anything less than the whole of Bella.
He made a fist and almost slammed it into the wall beside the door frame as a way to vent the emotions that roiled within him. Next to the door he leaned up against the wall and rested his forehead against his forearm, trying desperately to get a handle on his lust and to calm the condition of his lower body.
It wasn’t the Summer Queen’s wrath or the Imperial Guard that Ronan feared might bring an end to him. It was Bella. Could he survive being this close to her and not being any closer?
The door opened, and Ronan stepped back as far as the edge of the bed would allow, clenching his hands at his sides so he wouldn’t leap on her. Just the scent of her skin made him crazy. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would last without a deeper taste of her. He wanted the flavor of her on his tongue.
He wanted to drown in her.
She drew a long, slow breath and studied him without speaking, while Ronan’s heart dropped out of his stomach at her expression. He moved his gaze downward to avoid the accusation and anger on her beautiful face and found that her body told a different story. Her spine was slightly arched, br**sts thrust out a little, as if inviting him to look at them, touch them. Even her lips were parted and moist.
She wet them again as she glanced at his mouth.
Bloody hell, what a dichotomy. She wanted him, but she was also frightened. No doubt terrified he’d hurt her again.
Never.
“Bella? Come here.”
To his absolute amazement, she came. She walked straight into his arms. He enveloped her in his embrace, and every bit of tension he’d been holding released in a wave of silent exultation and relief.