“But what if she really means a lot to you?!”
“I’m not dancing for anyone but you.”
“Well, what ifImeet my mate and I’m the one who wants out?”
“That’s fine.” He took her head in his hands and brought her close, making sure she looked him right in the eyes as he repeated again. “But I am not dancing for anyone but you. Fate or the universe or whoever can pick someone else for me if they want, but I don’t care. I make my own fate. I fight for my own destiny. And you are the future I have chosen. You are the treasure I want to cherish. Even if nothing happens once I dance for you, it changes nothing about my decision. Tell me if you want to end it, but my answer remains the same.”
She took hold of his wrists, tears dancing in her eyes. No one had ever spoken to her like that before. She was always the mistake. The unwanted twin. The oops baby. Fate had thrown her at her parents when they actively wanted a baby, and they weren’t happy about it.
But Tanin didn’t care. And he really meant it. She saw the strength of his conviction burning in his bright, gleaming red eyes.
“Humans don’t really mate bond anyway,” she muttered, smiling timidly. “We choose who we want to spend our lives with, fate be damned. So, okay. I’m down. I want this. I want you. But you have to promise that you’ll tell me if you meet someone else, okay? If you meet the female of your dreams, just let me know before you try dating her or something.”
“You’re not listening. I’ve already met the female of my dreams.” He snaked his arm around her waist and jerked her back against his chest. “Now, I am going to give you three options. Pick whichever one you want, but once you do, that’s it. Don’t change your mind later. You can let me dance for you and choose if you want to dance with me when I do. We can see if the bond forms. But it won’t matter, because you’ll be mine anyway. Or I cannotdance for you, and you just let that be a question that never gets answered. But it won’t matter, because you’ll still be mine anyway. Or you get up off my lap and you walk away from me, ending it all now. I’ve made my choice, and my choice is you. Make yours and let me know how we’re doing this.”
He released her then. Placing his hands back on the arm of the chair. Giving her the freedom to escape if that’s what she wanted.
And she considered it. Not because she wanted to get up. No part of her actually wanted to move. Her hands tightened against his shoulders just at the threat of being forced to do so.
She considered it because this moment really felt like a crossroads. A rare moment in life where she could see the paths of her life stretched out before her and knew that picking one would mean altering her future forever.
And the question really came down to whether she wanted him or not. Was she willing to risk heartbreak and being unwanted by this male in her arms? Was she willing to risk being, again, the mistake in someone else’s life when the real prize was another girl all along?
Did she put her heart on the line hoping for the kind of love and devotion that came from the determination to love someone no matter what? Tanin might not recite poems or sing love songs or anything like that, but he would get her everything she needed, everything she wanted. He would do things for her to make her happy without even needing to ask. He would make the choice, every day, to fall in love with her because that’s what he wanted.
And she wanted that too.
“Do we dance in front of the others?” She asked, running one of her hands down his chest, and resting it over his heart. To her surprise, it was beating fast.
He looked calm, but he wasn’t. He was as nervous about her answer as she was. And that knowledge made her smile as he shook his head once.
“No. The dance is private. Just for you. Just for us.”
“When do we do it?”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
She bit her lips, humming thoughtfully, before saying. “Give me a bit.”
“You want to wait?”
“I want to put on a pretty dress first.” She smiled. “If this is my wedding, if this is how we get married, I want to look pretty.”
Tanin growled, his arms coming around her and holding tight as she giggled. He began pressing rapid, eager kisses all along her neck, her jaw, her lips.
“I’ll get you a hundred dresses if that’s what makes you happy.”
“No way! Do you know how much effort I’d have to put into cleaning and maintaining that many dresses? I feel like two or three is just fine.”
“As many as you want,” he promised, running his hand down, then under her shirt and up again, stroking her skin with a harsh possessiveness that made her shiver. “You’re mine, you understand? You’ve given yourself to me.”
“Yes,” she breathed, smiling as the certainty of the decision fell into place. “Don’t you dare let me go, okay?”
“Never. I don’t lose what’s mine. I claim it and I keep it. Always.”
Honestly, that sounded even better than fate saying they belonged together. Garnet had never been someone’s first choice. Aside from her sister, who loved her dearly, Garnet was used to being the hanger on in other people’s lives.
But Taninchoseher. He could have let her go with the peacekeepers. He could have denied her request to stay, and she would have no right to say he was wrong for doing that.
