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“And of all people, trusting Alaric? Wait until I get to him.” His hands fisted.

“I’m not sure you’re going to get that chance.” Or not alive, anyway. Not the way the door guys had seemed. No one would see Alaric again after today.

“We’re leaving, now.” Kaden stalked toward me, and I backed up a few paces. “You’ve got three seconds to choose whether it’s walking or being carried out.”

I held up my hands, trying to think of anything that might calm him down. “I want you to understand why I—”

“Three.”

“I came—”

My words were cut off as his shoulder connected with my stomach.

“You said I had until three?”

“You took too long.”

He carried me all the way back to the Wastelands, through every stacked door and in record time.

He didn’t put me down until we walked into the house, and not a single person stopped us or said anything along the way, not that I would’ve either. Kaden was acting like a madman.

Luisca and Tiber poked their heads out of the kitchen but said nothing as they watched us pass. They just gave me matched sets of raised eyebrows.

Kaden walked into our bedroom and dropped me onto the bed.

“I guess you’re upset with me for trying to save you? Trying to do something to help us. Maybe you have a right to be upset, but you’re acting like a lunatic.”

He didn’t reply as he jerked off his shirt with more force than necessary and then continued to strip out of the rest of his clothes. “Take off your shirt and pants,” he said.

He was so stubborn. I knew he wouldn’t understand why I did it. “Next time I won’t try to save you. I’ll just assume it’ll be okay one way or another,” I said, leaning up on my arms.

He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me to the center of the bed. Then he climbed on top of me, his lips devouring mine.

Okay, maybe we weren’t going to fight. This was definitely an upgrade. He might not love me, but I was done fooling myself on how hard I’d fallen.

When he kissed me, it was ravishing. He unleashed passion and heat, the likes of which made me realize he’d been holding back before. He wasn’t now. He threaded his hand through my hair, grasping it and holding me at the angle he preferred. I was incapable of moving away from him, and it had nothing to do with his hold. After imagining I might never see him again, thinking of him dying, I wanted this more than he did.

He ripped my shirt open and then tugged off my pants. I gripped him to me, holding on to him so hard that he couldn’t get rid of me if he wanted.

We fucked like two people who were madly in love and hadn’t seen each other in decades. It was short and almost violent in our need, and when it was done, I lay there, nearly breathless but utterly sated.

Instead of lying there beside me, he got out of bed, still gloriously naked, and said, “Why did you do that?”

So much for make-up sex. I’d thought we were going to skip the fight, but I guess we were going to hash things out post-sex?

“You mean try to save you? Did you see how outnumbered we were?” I said.

“One of our people is worth thirty, maybe forty of theirs. That wasn’t saving me. Don’t ever do that again. And don’t talk to me like it’s a joke. I’m not even slightly amused. If you had died, it wouldn’t have saved me. It would’ve doomed me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you died.”

I sat up, grabbing my now-ripped shirt and putting it on anyway. If we were going to fight, clothes seemed appropriate, even if he didn’t think so.

“You’re so stubborn. Why can’t you see you only want me because we’re mated?” I said.

“If it’s only the mating bond, why did I want you before I marked you? Before that, even? Maybe back to the first time you stood in the outpost, dripping wet and looking stubborn as hell. It feels like I’ve wanted you for an eternity, and trust me, I tried to not want you. It didn’t work. It’s like a part of you was stamped into my DNA.”

“We get the mating bond undone and it’ll get rid of all of these feelings. Your life can go back to the way it was.”

“Aren’t you hearing me? It’s. Not. The. Mating Bond. I’ve always wanted you. I fucking love you.”