Chapter 407: A DIFFICULT CHOICE-2

Confusion passed over her features. "Oh. Right. You don't have switches like that here." She exhaled and her expression smoothed. "Look Talon, if you think I simply care about you because of our bond, you're wrong." He shook his head. "You don't expect me to believe a few letters passed back and forth before my departure to Esterpine was enough to win your heart. Forgive me if I fail to believe it." She opened and closed her mouth, shaking her head. "No. It wasn't the letters." "Oh?" He held himself motionless. Not a single muscle moved. "Oblige me, then. What grand act have I done to wash away all the horrible acts that made you hate me so?" He waited with bated breath. She regarded him for several long moments. "It wasn't one single moment. It was a number of them, actually." She paused, chewing at the skin of her bottom lip as she so often did when she was conflicted. "It started with...with the way you cared for me after my kidnapping. But I didn't...the feelings weren't there yet. That was our turning point, the point when you opened my heart. Brezen was simply the moment that you fixed yourself there permanently." "Brezen?" He scowled, quickly thinking over what had happened there. Trying to recall some monumental incident he might have missed between them. "When you arrived, you weren't angry, even though I expected you to be. You...you were forgiving. Different." She shrugged and glanced out into the darkness before turning back to him. "The way you handled everything that had happened at Fort Squall with such composure. The time you spent with me walking in the evenings. Your thoughtfulness. Each of those little things imprinted themselves upon me. But it was the night in the tent, ultimately, that made up my mind." "In...in the tent?" His heart stuttered. "Yeah. When we were talking about your scars. Remember? What you said to me about building a prison for yourself wrought of fear over what others might think of you. It allowed me to finally see you differently. Then my mind went back over everything that happened between us beforehand. Each of the moments between us. From my arrival here and thereafter. Things clicked into place. I thought about the way you..." She fell silent. "The way I what?" Her face turned a deep shade of red. "The way you cared for me after you rescued me from Eagle and his men. You gave me a bath and put me to sleep in your own bed. Even in my world a man...well...most men wouldn't do something like that. You're not most men, Talon. You're a king. Dragonwall's king. But you stood there, hunched over, washing my feet. For crying out loud!" She snorted and shook her head. "Each time I think of those moments between us, they become heavier, more meaningful." Her voice softened. "It took that night in the tent to put everything into perspective. I think...I think I knew what I felt for you then. I felt more than adoration. I felt..." She clamped her mouth closed and turned away to look out over the sea. Out into the darkness. In her hands, she gripped her wine goblet so tightly that the whites of her knuckles was apparent. His pulse raced. He felt the vein in his neck jumping. What had she been about to say? And why did he want her to say it so badly? Because he was selfish? He wanted to believe her words. Desperately so. But even if she cared for him, loved him, how could she bare to lay eyes upon him when he couldn't stand to do the same? "So, it wasn't simply the mate bond?" She threw up her hands, sloshing wine this time. "Didn't you just listen to what I said?!" Her nose flared as her breathing elevated. "Look, Talon, if the mate bond didn't exist and we were standing here as we are now, I would still want to kiss you just as badly as I do right now." "You..." Warmth blossomed in his abdomen. Hunger, raw and chafing, clawed at his insides. His body screamed. "You want me?" Her jaw dropped. She slapped her palm against her forehead and groaned. "You frustrating, frustrating man!" Without another word, she lifted her goblet to her lips and drained it. Then she set it on the parapet wall and turned to him. Only a few seconds passed, but it felt like a lifetime of silence. Her scrutiny left him anxious, the way her eyes darted over his face, tracing each imperfection on his skin. Did she think the scars ugly? Disagreeable? He could only remain motionless, unsure of what to do or say. She had rendered him helpless. It was unsettling. "Talon...come here." She looked at him with the same soft regard that often tricked him. His feet moved before he could stop them, closing the distance between them until he was before her. As he breathed, his chest rose and fell heavily. She lifted her hand to touch his face, but he flinched, so she froze. Her hand hovered over his skin. "You have no reason to fight me anymore, Talon." Her words were a light murmur, coaxing like the sea breeze. "Don't be afraid." His chest fell. The air pent up in his lungs fled. She laid her hand against his scarred cheek. The warmth of her skin flowed into his, leaving him flushed. He closed his eyes, leaning into her gentle touch. When she next spoke, her words dripped over him like warm honey. "You might hate your scars, Talon, but I do not. They tell a story. It might not be the story you like, but every story has two sides. You hear the one of loss and heartbreak. I hear the one of bravery and heroic deeds." She traced her fingers over his skin. His eyes fluttered opened to find her green gaze studying him. "But...they're ugly. My face is ruined. How can you...how can you bear to look at it? Your beauty...you could win any man's heart. Why me?" She reached up with both hands to smooth the scowl that had formed on his forehead. "Talon." Her voice was low. "Yours is the only heart I wish to conquer." "But you already have." His throat constricted.