Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

TOURON

T here are no spare rooms in the tower now, so I carry Selas to mine. She's exhausted. Unable to keep her eyes open. She needs rest. Food and some major tender care, and I'm going to make sure that she gets it.

She sighs softly as I lay her down on my bed, surfacing briefly from sleep to smile up at me before drifting off again.

I take care when tugging off her boots, but she whimpers in pain when I free the foot on her injured leg. The ankle is a little swollen, but her skin doesn't feel hot to the touch. Good. I don't want to be worrying about infection right now. Once her leg is elevated, I grab more blankets and pillows from the airing cupboard in the lounge.

It takes a few minutes to get her into what I hope will be a comfortable position for the night before making myself a bed on the floor. It's threadbare, but it will have to do.

I've barely settled when she calls out my name. "I'm here. What is it? Are you in pain?"

"No, I…Can you sleep up here with me?"

My pulse flutters. "I don't want to accidentally knock your leg."

"You won't, and even if you do, I don't care. Please."

All the times we were together—intimate in the most explicit ways—we'd never shared this one intimacy of sleeping together. My pulse thuds hard in my throat as I climb onto the bed beside her, careful not to nudge her bad leg or jostle her too much.

"Hey…" She lifts her head so I can slip my arm beneath her, so that she can use my chest as a pillow.

She places her hand over my heart and sighs. "I've wanted to do this for such a long time."

My mouth goes dry, and I lick my lips. "Me too."

"That day you came to see me…I was awful to you. I hurt you."

"It's all right; we don't need to talk about it."

"Yes, we do. I need you to know…I'm in love with you."

The breath explodes from my lungs. She loves me?

Her eyes gleam in the moonlight. "I love you, Touron. I love you with every fiber of my being, and I've never felt this way about anyone before. I need you to know that all the moments we shared meant something deeper. That what we shared was more than a fling, and I'm sorry for pushing you away. For hurting you. I want you to know that so when we part, we can do so with real closure."

My heart sinks. "Selas, it doesn?—"

"It does. You know it does."

My throat thickens. "Baby, I…I don't want us to end."

Her eyes well up. "I don't either. I wish…I wish I could keep you. I wish…I wish we could stay like this forever. Trapped in this moment forever. But we can't. Time moves forward, and the risk of an omega finding you grows. It's best to end this now."

"You want to give up what we have because of a risk that we might lose it? We could all die tomorrow. The faction could wipe us out."

She blinks, dislodging tears. "Touron, I?—"

"No, listen to me. Please." I need to buy time. To figure out a way to keep her. "Give me today, and tomorrow, and every day until the faction has been neutralized. After that…After that, if you still want to, then we can say goodbye."

She scans the air around me, reading my aura, my intent, then relaxes against me. "You're a stubborn one, Touron."

I stroke her cheek. "Only when it comes to things that matter, and you, Selas Mason, matter to me the most."

I cut off her sob with my lips, kissing her for long, aching minutes. Heat builds between us, but I pull back before it can get too much. As much as I want her, she needs time to heal fully. Time and rest.

She looks up at me, lips parted and soft. "Touron…"

I press a kiss to her forehead. "Rest now. Rest and heal." She sighs and relaxes against me, and before long, she's fast asleep.

So fragile. So beautiful.

She's mine. Always mine, and I'll be damned if I ever let her go.