Page 142 of Eternal

“I’m protecting you from him.” He wipes my tears away, and while that used to feel comforting, right now, it just hurts. “So long as you were mine in every way, he couldn’tlie to lock you up and take you away from me. I did thisfor you. For us.”

“You did this for you.” Another tear drips down between us. “How do you not see that? You thought he was going to take away your options, so you made sure he couldn’t. You did this to protect yourself and control the situation without even considering my feelings. I trusted you. I believed in you. And then you go and do this like I don’t even matter.”

“You’re my wife, of course you fucking matter.” His teeth clench.

“Then why not let me choose this on my own? Why hide it from me? I’m not some weak girl who can’t make these decisions for herself. Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Declan is quiet for a moment, wiping the tears making rivers of my cheeks.

I trusted him with my heart, against better judgment. The first man I thought saw me for who I am. But he went behind my back and took my choice away. He didn’t even ask me if this was what I wanted.

Declan doesn’t break my gaze.

We’re no longer fighting as I straddle him, staring into his eyes. And I hate him for everything he is. For everything he’s done. But I need him to answer me.

“Why?”

“Because I couldn’t risk you saying no.”

He grazes the crest of my cheek with his thumb, drawing a line along the ridge. He tucks my hair behind my ear, tracing the colorful strands down to the tip.

“I couldn’t lose you again.” He spins a pink strand between his fingers. “I heard your father’s plans when they got back from hunting, and there wasn’t time to talk you into it, so I did what I needed to do to make sure you’d be protected from him, even if you hated me for it later. I’d rather have you walking around with me as your devil than you not walking around at all. As my wife, you’re protected. Whether you like it or not.”

Declan’s hand falls to my hip. He’s no longer holding me on top of him, but I’m not trying to get away. I sit here, searching his stare for a lie, but I don’t find one. All I see is the monster behind the iridescent gray mirror that reflects my own.

I swallow his confession, my gaze dropping to the simple band on my finger. And when I look at his hand, I see he has one too. Reaching for it, I trace the black tungsten band, digesting the depth of Declan’s words. The truth about who he is.

A man with no limits.

No regrets.

Even if I end up hating him for it.

My stare flicks to him, and I think about my father, trying to lock me in a cage. Controlling me and manipulating me to the point I started to believe I was insane. And I realize that even if what Declan did is wrong, he isn’t lying to me. He’s keeping his promise to protect me, no matter what.

He did this because he loves me.

“I hate you so fucking much.” A tear slipsdown my cheek.

His jaw tenses. “I know.”

“So why do I love you then?”

Reaching up, I cup his face, and he freezes. His eyebrows pinch as he processes my question.

I could hate him. Idohate him. But I love him more.

“I love you, too, Teal,” he says finally, not touching me, even if his attention feels like his aura is consuming me whole. “’Til death, whether you want me to or not.”

“Fuck it.” I pull him in for a kiss, and when his lips seal to mine, I accept just how sick I might be for loving him through this.

I accept that Declan draws out my darkness and enjoys watching me play in it.

I accept that he claimed me with and without my permission.

His hands lace around my neck, and he deepens the kiss. And I accept that I’m his, and it doesn’t matter whether he forced it or not because I was always meant to be here with him. I always will be.

Epilogue