He dumped me into the nest and stalked to the windows and drew the heavy curtains closed.
“Strip,” he commanded.
“What?”
“Strip.”
“Don’t you want to talk about what happens now?” I prevaricated. Surely the brief conversation in the carriage had not been enough. “The future perhaps?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Does it matter?” He asked.
“My love, you—“ I crossed my arms, while celebrating my victory in a carnal matter had its appeals, I wanted to talk first.
“What did you call me?
“Love,” I huffed, my whole being tense for we had not discussedlove. I knew he loved me even if he’d yet to tell me… But—damn him—I’d hoped to slip the word in without his commenting on it.
“Do you love me?”
“Yes. But that is not what is important. It is by the by because I have loved you for a long time. We were talking...”
“Here,” he grabbed my ankle and pulled me across the nest until my legs hung off the edge, my hands lying by my head, a smile tugging at my lips. “Do not, mate mine, tease my temper by telling me you love me and then act as if you have not said anything.”
“Your mate? Where is the proof of that—“
“There is none of course,” he growled. “I saw how miserable my parents were. My peers, equally bound in unhappy marriages and mate bonds. You, little mate, little omega, do not get to say the word love and not expect me to take note.”
“Oh? Then I love you. Syon. Syon, I love you,” I crooned. I purred for him. Telling him I loved him, would always love him and all the while he loomed over me. His body braced above mine, a crooked smile and that crooked nose I’d noticed when I first met him. How I loved him.
“Come. I want you naked,” he stood and pulled me to my feet.
“But wait,” I held back. “What about you? Don’t you love me?”
He laughed. “Little omega... haven’t I said as much? Haven’t I proven to you that you are mine and mine alone?”
“Yes but you haven’tsaidyou love me,” I pouted. “It isn’t that I doubt you…”
“I love you. But I told you. You were just too drunk to remember. Thank Goddess, for you were in a state and bowled me over, for you told me that you wanted to be a perfect omega. There you stood, by all appearances an alpha, drunk and telling me... Do you know how long I have needed you? Loved you?”
“Stop,” I begged him. “Dammit. Stop. I...”
I felt guilty. I had sinned against him. The sin of lying. I did not regret what I had done. If I had not dared to dream this mad scheme I would never have met him. But the lie I told? That I did regret. That I kept telling it for so long. That sweet, innocent Olivia had been drawn into the farce.
“My dear, dear sweet girl,” he gathered me into his arms and pressed my cheek to his chest. The purr reverberated through my body and little by little my tears stopped, my muscles released until his arms were the only thing holding me upright. “Hartwell, what you did... It was a mad prank. But no more than that. It ended without anyone hurt. You brought people together. You have done so much. And not one of us who knows the truth blames you. Look at me, omega.”
I sniffed and shook my head. He had never seen me cry before and, unlike Olivia, my tears caused my eyes to swell and my nose to run.
A knock on the door startled us. “There is a bath if you would like it,” Timms called.
“Let’s get you into that, warm and clean. Wash those tears away.”
Syon’s tub was by far the largest I had ever seen and filled to the brim. He made quick work of stripping and then humphed when he saw I was taking my time. To be fair, I had been distracted by the vision of masculine perfection. He was tall and broad but naked I could see the play of muscles across his back and the strong thighs and the buttocks that I decided I would sink my teeth into at the first available opportunity. Then of course his front. In the haze of my heat, I had not the wits to appreciate quite how large he was. As I watched him, he began to thicken and grow until he was fully erect and his knot had begun to swell.
In the bath, he settled me above him, causing water to splash over the edges.