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‘I know.’ Thea’s insides were twisting with regret.

Wilder straightened, very slowly, reaching to rub the spot beneath his shirt where the scar from her arrow must still have pained him. He stared at her without speaking. A tremor ran down the strong column of his throat as he swallowed. Still, he said nothing.

Thea could hardly fill her lungs with enough air. Another second and she’d lose her nerve.

The words spilt forth like a tide as she closed the distance between them. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, for everything. I fucked up. I should have trusted you, I should have known that there was more to the story, that you’d never hurt me deliberately, that you had a reason —’ Her voice broke. ‘Forgive me. Please. Forgive me, Wilder.’

‘I already have,’ he murmured, lifting her chin with his index finger so her gaze met his. ‘I understand your reaction. Trust doesn’t come easy, given everything you’ve been through. I was trying to protect you, trying to safeguard your future in case what I suspected wasn’t true. But that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have kept secrets, not from you. Do you forgive me?’

Thea loosed a sharp breath at the contact. ‘There’s nothing to forgive,’ she said.

She waited for one or both of them to pull away, but neither of them did. Not this time. Never again, if she had any say in the matter. They stared at one another, Thea’s hand reaching for Wilder’s, curling around his wrist. Each moment that passed was like a strike to an anvil, nailing the unstoppable force between them into place.

Her chest hitched, her fate stone warming against her sternum. ‘I wish we could take back this past year. I robbed us of that time together.’

‘You robbed us of nothing,’ he murmured, eyes scanning her face desperately. ‘I have only cared for you more with each passing day.’

Thea fought back a sob as the realisation hit her hard. ‘But we could have had more…’

Wilder’s eyes darkened, and Thea saw it all: heat, need and the thing they’d never been able to shed – love.

‘If you only have a year left, then live it well, and live it with me at your side.’

He said it as though it were simple. Perhaps it was.

‘Thea… What measure of time is enough to be life-changing?’

Before she could reply, he kissed her.

Wilder’s lips claimed Thea’s with an intensity that nearly shattered her. She kissed him back, matching every stroke of his tongue, every brush of his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, spearing her fingers through his hair.

He groaned against her mouth, lifting her bodily from the ground, pressing her to him as though he meant for them to meld together. Thea writhed against him, every part of her singing out for his touch, his mouth, his cock.

Wilder didn’t carry her to the bed like she expected. He took her to the wall. The sconces rattled as her back hit the cool surface hard and she wrapped her legs around him, savouring the friction at her core where his hard length pressed against her. In a tangle of tongues and teeth, she explored his mouth with hers, relishing every sensation he wrought upon her. She kissed him like he was her air, losing herself to him.

‘Do you think you can die from this?’ she gasped, as he lowered her until her feet hit the ground, freeing his hands to explore. ‘The need? The wanting?’

‘It’d be a good way to go.’ His voice was husky as he skimmed her curves, its rich tone vibrating through her, fuelling the longing that raged so fiercely within. Her hands went to the buttons of his shirt, undoing each one with fingers that trembled in anticipation. Furies, she had missed this, missedhim.

A column of golden, scar-flecked skin was revealed as his shirt came undone. She ran her palms across the impressive breadth of his chest, revelling in the heat of him, in the way his nipples hardened at her touch. As the shirt came away from him completely, she eyed the scar just above his pectoral. The first time she’d glimpsed it, it had been with anger and false hatred in her heart. Now, as her fingers trailed the smooth pink line, she wanted to worship it. She put her lips to the mark, kissing it, running her tongue along the raised tissue.

Wilder tensed, his hands stilling at her waist, as though he knew she needed to do this. She trailed kisses along his scar, along his collarbone, and finally, at his throat, where she could feel his pulse racing.

She pulled back slightly, just to look at him. He was beautiful. Hard and fierce, but beautiful.

He knew the power he had over her; she could tell. It tempted his lips into a wicked smile.

And then he slipped his hand down the front of her pants, into her undergarments.

Thea gasped as he slid his finger down her centre, tracing exactly where she wanted him. She was already slick for him, already panting.

‘Gods, you’re ready for me,’ he growled against her neck.

She gripped his cock through his pants, squeezing the rock-hard length of him. ‘And you’re not?’

Wilder gave a low, rough laugh. ‘It’s been a fucking year, Princess. I’m always ready for you.’

Any final notions of restraint vanished as Wilder claimed her mouth in a dark frenzy and slid his finger deep inside her.