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My head pounded.

Or that might have been the door.

“Meetings start in an hour!” Rhett shouted from the other side. “I’m sure you two had plenty of fun last night, but there’s work to do.”

“We’ll be ready soon,” Zayne answered for both of us.

“Fun,”I echoed with a chuckle. My mind reeled with the implications of this. Zayne could feel all my emotions, just as I felt his.

And right now, while he was surprised and curious, he wasn’t frightened.

He should’ve been terrified. He was stuck with me.

Zayne crawled across the bed and sat behind me, straddling me with his legs. He wrapped his arms around my belly, pulled me to his chest, and nuzzled the back of my head. It should havebeen so soothing, but I froze, desperate for him and afraid of him, unable to run away or lean closer.

When I didn’t respond to his touch, he leaned back, putting space between his chest and my back. He began to shuffle away.

“Don’t go,” I whispered. “I meant what I said last night. I’m sorry I denied the tether, and I don’t want to go back to that. I just never thought it would become anything more. I wasn’t prepared to have you in my head, to be in yours.”

“I don’t think anything could have prepared us for this.” He chuckled. How he could find humor in this situation… All the same, the laughter sounded nice.

“We’re a mess, aren’t we?” I asked.

“A beautiful one.”

He leaned forward again, and this time, I snuggled against him, wrapping his arms tighter around my waist.

“Just breathe,” he whispered into my ear. “We’ll adapt. We always do.”

“Okay.” I believed him.

He inhaled, the sound like a calming ocean, and I followed his lead as we took a few more deep breaths together.

“How are you always so calm, so in control?” I asked.

He shrugged against me. “I needed control to survive.”

“And you’re sure…” I paused, the question on the tip of my tongue.Are you sure I’m not a burden?Can you handle someone volatile like me?

“Yes,” he answered. “You are my fire, Ayla. My inspiration and drive. Alone, I would wither away, descending into death when life failed to give me purpose. Your passion is beautiful and not a thing to fear.”

My cheeks heated. No one had ever said that to me. It had always beenhold still, stop sneaking out, behave like your sisters… I never meant to rebel, not really. But doing what myfamily asked felt wrong. Doing things my way had been the only way, but the price had been a terrible loneliness.

His lips brushed against my ear. “I know you need time, so don’t respond. But surely you can feel it—I love you, Ayla. I’ve loved you for a long time.”

Icouldfeel it. Like I was the most amazing treasure, one he could admire every day for the rest of his life.

The way he saw me…

I squeezed my eyes tight to fight the tears from falling.

If this was love, I wasn’t sure I had felt love before.

“You are not a burden,” he added. “You are not a disaster. And I’ll kill everyone who taught you otherwise.”

“Please don’t,” I laughed through the tears. “I’m pretty sure that would start a war.”

“If you insist, but the offer stands.”