Page 118 of The Chains You Defy

The silence between us screamed at me, and I cautiously freed my hands from their prison amidst our bodies. Leaning my head back, I cupped his face gently between my fingers. Although all this was way too much, too big, too out of my league, the last thing I wanted wasto hurt Dion. To cause more pain for the male who’d known nothing but torment in most of his past winters.

“I—you leave me speechless. But—I’m grateful you opened up. That must have been very hard for you. So, thank you for letting me in. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“My whole life, I valued my privacy above everything else,” Dion said, fixating me with an intense stare. “I never allowed anyone to see who I am deep inside, not even close. In the end, I even shut myself out. I traveled to Ivreia because Antas tricked me into accompanying him and the others in a last desperate attempt to determine if there was still hope for the empty shell I’d become. Although sometimes, I suspect he dreamed of you crashing into my life like a whirlwind, wreaking havoc on me.”

“Dion—”

Here it was, the eruption of the volcano, impossible to stop or evade. Once he’d started his confession, everything had to burst out.

Dion lifted his hand to silence me before I could interrupt him. “Let me speak. Please.”

My eyes widened as this little, typically so unassuming word hit my ears. Please? As seldom as he used the phrase, I usually wondered if the term was even part of his active vocabulary or an accident happening on rare occasions. But here, now, using this expression had been intentional.

He was so close. Heat radiated from him in waves, and despite the chilly wind, I was warm. Belatedly, I remembered to nod, agreeing to his wish for my silence.

“With you, everything is so different. Don’t you get how good we could be together? How good we already are?” Dion embedded one of his hands in my hair,splayed his fingers against my head, and prevented me from averting my gaze. “Not only do I yearn to let you in, but I’m compelled to keep you inside forever. Every part of you, every part of me. The pretty, the ugly. Never again will there be a day when less than all of me will ever be good enough for you. The fates might have designed you as a poison to bring me down, but I don’t care anymore. I don’t want to—I can’t let you leave me ever again. You are mine, Nayana. Mine, mine, mine. And I’m yours. If you want to have me.”

Words.

Words, words, words.

What was I supposed to say? His speech had been beautiful, but the longer I pondered, the more I convinced myself that his confession had been born from infatuation, nothing more. Becausemorewasn’t real.

Dion’s hand on my waist tightened. “I have to come clean about a lie, Naya.”

“Another one? What now?” Glad for the shift in tone, I filled my lungs with a full breath of air, the first one for gods-know-how-long. However, I made a surprised noise as Dion feathered his calloused index finger over my lips.

Ah, yes. Silence.

“Yes. The truth is—agreeing to be your friend was a mistake because I want so much more than mere friendship, Nayana.”

No. Gods, please. How could something so wonderful as his words sting so much?

Of course, he noticed my turmoil, and from his patient smile, I concluded that he’d expected me to panic.

His fingers painted circular patterns on my back and my scalp, causing my breath, which had just returned,to disappear again. I didn’t even deny I’d enjoyed every time we’d been close. Dion knew precisely what made my body sing, and he proved this, as with every brush of his fingers, lightning shot right into my core.

And even though he didn’t comment on my physical reactions to his ministrations, his flaring nostrils spoke a language of their own.

“I want to be your everything, your first thought when you wake up, the last one when you fall asleep. The male you dream about and the one occupying your every waking moment. Let me be the one who gives you comfort and security, and let it be my name, only mine, you’ll cry out in pleasure. Yes, I’m a greedy bastard. No one else but me should give you satisfaction. Still, the most important part is that all this would be worthless if it’s not given freely, but only because I crave you more than air itself.” His eyes stared into mine, deep wells full of emotions that scared me senseless. “You’re everything to me. Every dream come true, and every prayer answered. You dragged me out of the void and gave my life a purpose. I never want to be without you ever again. Jama, my poison. Nayana, mine. My love, my forever home.”

His steadfast gaze was full of hope and vulnerability, and he was observing every inch of me, head slightly tilted.

Gods, what could I reply without hurting him? His infatuation—because I was still sure it was nothing else but that—ran so deep, and even though I had to admit how my feelings for this infuriating male were all over the place, my opinion about not believing in the concept of relationships or love hadn’t changed.

With a patience he’d never shown before, Dion was still examining me. And only after an eternity could Iperceive a shift in his stance. He was done waiting for an answer I didn’t have. My silence spoke louder than words anyway, even though I felt like the worst person in both worlds. What was it with males and thinking I was relationship material?

And yet again, the prince surprised me when hope left his gaze, and instead of the hurt I feared to find, steely determination took its place.

“I’m going to prove this to you, Nayana. You have your convictions and just haven’t realized yet that you’re simply wrong about them. You’ll discover soon enough that every word I said is true. You just have to give me a chance. That’s all I’m asking of you.”

Brooding, I gently freed myself from the embrace of the fae male and sank into one of the chairs. Dion’s passionate declaration reverberated inside me. Was I a monster for not voicing my thoughts or my concerns?

The existence of lifelong loving companionship was not only a lie invented to keep people content and hopeful, but also something to strive for when life got too bleak, dangling in front of everyone’s noses like a carrot on a stick. Why no one else could figure out that there wasn’t such a thing was a mystery to me.

There was no doubt Dion believed what he’d declared so passionately.

Of course, I was overwhelmed by his intensity, by the raw openness he’d never exhibited before, but also by the audacity that he had simply decided that I was his.