Page 134 of Bitten & Burned

“Vael has loved you for longer than he knows. He loves you more than he’s ever loved anyone. And that scares him,” Dmitri finally said.

“So he’s scared by how much he loves me?” I asked, the fact not making me feel better in the slightest. “Quil said he loved me. Then he said he hated that he loved me…” I wasn’t even sure why I was saying it. What I was saying, what point I was trying to make. “So Vael’s scared, Quil hates it…”

My shoulders slumped, the burn in my thigh flaring in quiet agreement — like even the sigil knew I was running out of fight.

“I just want someone to say it and mean it. Not have all these caveats and footnotes. I’m so tired of doing all of this alone.”

“You’re not alone, Rowena.”

I looked over at him sadly. “Not now, no. But eventually. I will be. Eventually, you’ll all be gone and I’ll be… just me. Just here.”

Dmitri’s expression didn’t change. No shift, no flinch. He just listened.

Gods, why did his silence hurt more than someone arguing?

“You think you’re temporary,” Dmitri said softly.

“I think I’m a phase. A novelty. Something that will lose allcharm once all the polish and sparkle are gone. I’ll just be what I always was: a complication none of you signed up for.”

He stepped closer. Not close enough to touch, but close enough that I felt the warmth from his body.

“I think you don’t realize just how deeply ingrained you are. In all of us. In me.”

I wanted to believe him. Gods knew I did.

But belief was dangerous.

Hopewas dangerous.

And I was so damn tired of being hurt by both.

The sigil throbbed sharply in my thigh, a cruel reminder of just how dangerous they could be.

“You say that now,” I murmured. “But what will you say when I stop being easy to want? Easy to care for? When I’m no longer shiny?”

Dmitri closed the space between us finally, his strong arms sliding around my waist and pulling me back against him. He hooked his chin on my shoulder.

His voice was a soft rumble that I felt in my chest as he spoke. “Then I’ll just keep wanting you. Becauseyouare what I want. With all your messes and imperfections.You.”

Tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t want to be emotional now. I wanted to remain composed, but it was so difficult when he spoke like that. Said those things. Held me like I was the only thing that mattered to him.

Maybe in this moment, I was.

But what about the next? And the one after that?

“Let me stay here tonight,” I whispered. “Just—let me pretend I’m not temporary.”

“You don’t have to pretend,” Dmitri rumbled, his lips pressing softly behind my ear.

That small gesture ignited something in me.

It woke up my whole body.

Every nerve was alert.

I exhaled, the sound shaky and staggered. His hand stilled,palm open on my belly, his hand nearly spanning across my waist. I felt him breathe behind me.

I slowly turned, placing my hands on his shoulders to keep my balance, because, when I looked at him and saw the way he was looking at me, I nearly collapsed—knees weak, thigh searing, like my body couldn’t hold the weight of his gaze and the wound I carried both at once.