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Her arms tightened around his waist. "Are you really happy?"
"Yes."
"Promise?"
He gently disentangled her arms so he could turn around to face her. Tipping her chin up, he gazed down at her searchingly. "What's wrong?"
Anah slowly shook her head. "Nothing, really." Because if she looked at her situation logically, there truly was nothing wrong. And yet...
She swallowed hard.
"You really mean it?" Anah just had to ask one last time. "You're truly happy? You're not pretending in any way? Not hiding anything just so you won't hurt me?"
"Anah—-"
"It's not that I don't trust you," she said quickly, "but...Iknowyou, Ethan. You're terribly kind and honorable—-"
Ethan couldn't help arching a brow."Terribly?"
"Because you would rather hurt yourself than hurt others," she said simply.
Ah.
"So..." It was Anah's turn to gaze up at him searchingly. "You mean it? You're truly happy?"
Ethan took her hand and placed it against his chest.
Anah's eyes widened when she felt the heavy pounding of his heart.
"You brought me back to life."
Her lip started to tremble at the roughness of his voice.
"That's how happy you made me."
Anah bit her lip harder, but it was no use. The tears still fell, and when he slowly pulled her close, it was the tenderness in his touch that truly broke her.
She was sobbing in his arms again.
"Ethan..."
She tried to say the rest of the words, but every time she did, more tears would clog her throat, and she had to start again.
"Ethan..."
I love you.
And even though the words never left her lips, Ethan seemed to have heard her all the same, with a shudder suddenly running through his powerful body just before his arms closed around hers in a tight embrace.
"Anah..."
She heard him suck his breath.
"Anah..."
She heard him curse under his breath.
Anah couldn't help pulling back even as a teary laugh spilled past her lips. "You, too?"