Page 87 of Taming His Vampire Mate

“Since it was built.” He hesitated, giving me a wary look, as if what he was about to say might upset me. “In the nineteen-thirties.”

“Nearly a century, then.” I couldn’t keep the awe from my voice. “I bet you’ve seen the city grow up.”

Thierry blinked rapidly and cocked his head. Even without reaching for the bond, I could tell I’d surprised him. He recovered quickly, pursing his lips. “Is that really what you wanted to say? Or are you just being on your best behavior right now?”

“Both.”

“I suppose I’m not surprised you can act like a gentleman occasionally. The universe wouldn’t have set me up with a total brute.”

“Not something I’ve ever been called before.” I paused. “A gentleman, I mean. I’ve been called a brute plenty of times.”

He chuckled and shook his head, but when his gaze met mine again, his expression was serious. “The hard part of having seen everything the world has to offer is that I’m usually right. Aboutpeople, at least. Almost always.” He paused. “I was wrong about you.”

“Me too,” I breathed, searching his eyes. There was something there—a depth I hadn’t seen before. Or maybe I had, every time, but now he wasn’t hiding it from me.

“It feels like a long time ago, but it’s not. It’s only been a few days.”

“I know,” I said. It wasn’t adequate, but I figured he’d understand. I’d been wrong about him, too. “You’re still here, so I must’ve done something right.”

“I’d be here either way,” Thierry said, still not looking at me. He drew his knees to his chest and looped his arms around them. “I come here whenever I need to think. I don’t have to be anything in particular here. No one else is around.” Another pause. “You’re the only one who knows about this place. The only one I’ve brought here. If you were wondering.”

I hadn’t been. Somehow I’d already known.

“Thank you.”

Even without access to my thoughts, he seemed to understand I was thanking him for letting me in. He inclined his head, then said, “You stopped me from killing Quinn.”

When I didn’t answer immediately, he added, “I would have, too. I’d have ended him then and there for hurting you.”

“I know.”

“Why did you stop me?”

“You know why.”

“I think I need to hear you say it. He had just attacked you. You were raised to think vampires are evil. Your pack hunts monsters. To you, he must have looked like any other monster.” His eyes held that strange intensity, emotions pressing through the bond like a flood straining a fragile dam. “So why did you stop me?”

I started to say it was because I knew Poppy’s spell had worked—but that was only half the truth. “Because I want you to be happy. And everything I know about you told me that if you’d killed him—if you had lost your chance to redeem him, to give him himself back—you would have been miserable. And I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Damn you,” he whispered, his voice breaking. Tears welled again, his shoulders trembling in silence, as if afraid to make a sound that might give him away.

I reached for him slowly, my fingertips brushing his shoulder so he could pull away if he wanted.

Instead, he melted into me, his head resting on my chest. I wrapped my arm around him and held him until the tears were spent, the skyscrapers in the distance our only witnesses.

Whatever had made him feel he couldn’t trust anyone had hurt him in a way that had never truly healed. The pain had changed him. If he had been holding it all inside for centuries—because yes, I believed he could absolutely be that stubborn—then it was no wonder his emotions demanded release the moment he finally felt safe.

Could I be that for him? His safe harbor? Could I be the person equivalent of this rooftop? A place where he could drop his guard and be himself without fear of what it might cost him?

I wanted to be that for him. I wanted it more than I could remember wanting anything in a very long time.

Even if I wasn’t good enough for him. Even if my days were ultimately numbered.

“Why did you go after James?” he asked when his tears had ebbed. The words were muffled in my shirt, but I heard them just fine. “You’re not that man. You’re not someone who would do something like that. I know you’re not. And yet, you did.”

He pushed himself up, watching me closely.

I nodded, unsurprised he’d ask. “If I’m answering questions like that, would you mind giving me some answers in return?”