Page 74 of Bewitchingly Hers
“You came,” she whispered, her hand cupping my cheek.
Of course I had. “You called,” I responded, placing my hand over hers and feeling her warmth returning. Somehow, through the bond, she’d called for me. Through our bond. The bond I’d been putting off completing. I shut my eyes, dropping my forehead to hers. “My mate.”
She sucked in a breath. “Yes. I am, aren’t I?”
I nodded. “You are.”
Her eyes grew glassy. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to pressure you,” I said, running my thumb over her cheekbone. “I wanted you to be able to make the decision. If you felt like you were forced to be with me because of this bond, I would have hated that.”
“I still would have chosen you,” she said, voice soft. “You’re every dream I’ve ever had, Barrett Lockwood.”
“In every lifetime, in every moment, I’d choose you, Eryne Fowler.” I kissed her softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wish I had. We could have completed the bond, and then this never would have happened. You never would have been put in harms way. If something had happened to you, sugar…” I shuddered. “I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if I had lost you.”
“I feel the same way. When Ezra told me… I didn’t want to risk never having told you how I felt. What if you’d been attacked again? What if I was too late this time?” She shook her head. “I couldn’t have lived with myself.”
“It’s okay,” I promised her. “We’re here. We’re alive. We’re together.”
And for now—that was all that mattered.
The rest of it—the barrier, the wraiths, dealing with the repercussions of our actions—those were all a problem for another day.
Right now, I just wanted to hold my mate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
eryne
He’d come for me. Of course he had. I’d never doubted he would, not for a single second. He was mine, and I was his, and we werealive.
“Barrett,” I whimpered, feeling the tears pooling in my eyes. The emotions rushed through me, making me realize how close I’d come to losing everything I’d come to hold so dear. How close I’d come to becoming some terrifying monster’s next snack as it slowly drained my magic from my body.
“My mate,” Barrett said, wrapping me in his arms. “I thought I’d lost you.”
I snuggled against his chest, feeling like everything was righting itself as he held me tight. “You could never lose me, Wolf-Man. It’s like you said. You’re stuck with me.” Warmth flooded through my chest as I pushed my healing magic into him, feeling his body knit itself back together. He’d had a cut over his eyebrow that was trickling blood, and I didn’t even want to imagine the other injuries under his clothing.
“Fuck, but I love you.” Barrett kissed me, desperately, showing me just how terrified he’d been of losing me.
“Say it again,” I said, eyes fluttering as he pressed a kiss to my neck, over that spot he loved.
He rubbed his nose against mine. “I love you, Eryne. My sweet mate. My little healer. My everything.”
I took a deep breath, telling him what I knew to be true. “I loveyou, Barrett. Thank you for finding me.” I shut my eyes, savoring the feeling of his hands rubbing my back, his woodsy, spicy scent in my nose. For a brief moment, I’d thought I might never feel this again.
“I should be the one thankingyoufor finding me. Saving me.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “For bringing me back to life, literally and figuratively.”
From that very first moment when his wolf’s eyes had connected with mine, we’d both been changed forever. And I didn’t want to wait any longer.
“Make me yours,” I said.
His eyes flared with desire. “Here?”
I nodded, wanting to complete the bond like he’d mentioned. Whatever that entailed. “I want you.”
Barrett looked around, crowding me against a tree and letting my back rest against it.
He tugged my sweater to the side, exposing more of my neck and shoulder, and I watched as his canine teeth grew out of his mouth, elongating into the teeth of a predator. Of awolf.His lips pressed against my bare skin, so soft, like he was worried he’d hurt me.
