Weight that I’d carried for centuries dropped away as he held out a hand for me to shake. Without thinking, I grasped him tightly in my arms and held him as I had dreamt of doing since I first learned of his existence. He tensed in my hold momentarily before relaxing, then pulling away.
He cleared his throat, and an arrogant mask I knew far too well from my own glances in the mirror slipped into place. “What makes you think I’m a...hugger?”
Throat tight, I wiped away an errant tear and pulled myself together. Bloody hell, Merri had turned me into a watering pot. “Oh, yes, apologies. I was quite overcome and forgot myself.”
Pan’s eyes locked with mine as he gave a terse nod and said solemnly, “Feelings.” Then his lips curled and together we said, “Blech.”
Chapter
Thirteen
MERRI
Seated on the edge of Malice’s bed, I waited, nervously toying with the hem of my shirt as anticipation ran rampant through me. There was no way to know how he and Pan had left things, not without being intrusive, but whichever way it went, I was confident Mal would need me.
The minutes crawled by, and I didn’t know why I was still pretending to read this book. Remi had given it to me yesterday, saying it would change my life, but I hadn’t so much as looked at it, let alone turned a page, in well over fifteen minutes. In my head, it made more sense for me to be sitting here doing—or pretending to be doing—something, rather than just awkwardly biding my time.
A soft creak was my only warning before the door opened, and I slammed the book shut and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Well?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light and cheerful, but ready to jump up and console him at the first indication it hadn’t ended well. “How’d it go?”
His tight shoulders relaxed as soon as my mind connected with his. Relief flowed from him to me at the contact, his emotions flooding me without need of words. While I couldsense all of my men’s emotions, Malice and I shared this on a much deeper level. Perhaps due to his skill infiltrating the minds of beings he saw as targets, but more likely it was related to the high walls he had up at all times coming down for me and me alone. I also thought, though I had never asked, that expressing himself in this way was easier for him than trying to find the words, much in the same way it would be difficult for a person not speaking in their native tongue to express themselves in a second language.
On instinct, I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him to me, saying everything and nothing at the same time.I love you. I’m here. You’re safe with me.
“He doesn’t hate me. He doesn’t like me either, but at least he doesn’t hate me.”
Malice’s admission had a soft smile spreading across my lips. “Relationships have been built on less.”
His low chuckle changed the temperature in the room from tense to calm instantly. He was okay. They had come out the other side of their first meeting with a tenuous thread connecting them. It was better than the alternative.
“I think, given time, we may be able to salvage our connection. His mother did a lot of damage, but she’s shown her true colors, and he’s not an idiot.”
“Of course he’s not. He’s yours.”
Malice’s answering smile was breathtaking. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“For what? I didn’t do anything. This was all you.”
“You did so much more than you could ever know. I don’t think I’d have been capable of such a meeting if I was still the closed-off arsehole I was before meeting you.”
I blushed, something about the admission filling me with pride. “Well, in that case. You’re welcome.”
“I should really send you a fruit basket or something.”
“A fruit basket?” I asked with a laugh.
“Isn’t that how the humans display their gratitude?” His fingers toyed with the strap of my tank before he let his knuckles drag down my arm. “Or perhaps I should give you something more... substantial?”
This was quickly turning from a sweet and tender moment to something much more heated.
“Like?”
A low growl escaped his throat before he dropped his head and layered kisses across my collarbone. “I was thinking something along the lines of an edible arrangement.”
I was about to bark out a laugh, but then he nipped the top of my breast, and I moaned instead.
“I think I could get behind that,” I managed, a bit breathlessly.
“Oh, you think?”