Page 45 of Kidnapped By the Beast (Beasts of the Kindred #11)

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Guilt gnawed at him like acid.

This was what he got for coming so close to breaking his vow. What would his wife think, if she could see him now? He had sworn an oath to the Goddess herself, sworn never to call another Bride, never to Bond with another woman. To betray that vow was to desecrate everything he held sacred.

And yet…

He closed his eyes, Lexi’s sweet face filling his mind anyway. Her soft voice trembling as she told him she loved him. Her arms tight around his neck, her lips yielding under his. Gods, he wanted her! He wanted her so fucking badly it made his chest ache and his cock throb just thinking about her.

But to take her—truly take her—would be the worst betrayal of all. He had promised his wife. He had promised the Goddess. No matter how much he craved Lexi—no matter how much his heart screamed that she was already his— he couldn’t have her.

He couldn’t.

He had to find a way to let her down gently, though the thought twisted his gut. He’d never been good with words—never been good with feelings. He was a scientist and a warrior—not a poet.

Gods, how could he possibly do this without hurting her?

You can’t, whispered a cold voice in the back of his mind. No matter what you do, she’s going to be hurt. And it’s all your fault.

His hands curled into fists. The voice was right. He had let himself get too close, let himself touch her, taste her, worship her as though she were already his. He had let her believe she mattered to him the way she wanted to—when in truth, she was everything he could never allow himself to have.

And now there was no path forward that didn’t end with him breaking Alexandra’s heart.