His eyes were as wide as hers and she could feel he was waiting for her to say something. She couldn’t find the words, not when her mind was reeling, her heart hammering against her chest as the reality of what she was feeling on her neck slowly crashed over her.
They were already mated.
Harbin walked straight through the fallen food, the scattered pieces of the china plate shattering further under his boots, and didn’t stop until he was right in front of her, his heat curling around her and his scent invading her senses.
His eyes darted between hers as she tipped her head back to look up at him.
“I am sorry.” Those three words weren’t the ones she had needed to hear, the ones she wanted him to say to her as the world came tumbling down around her. It only grew worse when he kept going, rambling on, words she failed to take in until she sensed the growing distress in him and heard him say, “There might be a way to undo it.”
That hurled her back into the room, threw her fears and her hurt out of the window as it narrowed her focus down to him and the tremendous pain she could sense in him.
Aya pressed her finger to his lips to silence him, not wanting him to hurt himself further when he was already hurting enough.
“Why would I want to undo it?” she whispered, her eyes locked on his, her feelings steady and constant, there for him to sense if he went looking.
“I’m really not good enough for you. I’m not what you need,” he croaked and her finger trembled against his lips, her heart going out to him as he stood before her, stripped of his strength, left bare and vulnerable, waiting for her to hurt him. She didn’t want to harm him, or break his heart, or whatever he thought she was going to do. She wanted to hold him close and never let him go.
She knew that he viewed his profession and his past as a barrier between them, but to her it was nothing. The moment she had fallen in love with him, she had accepted everything about him—including his life as an assassin and that his main pride was now a guild in Hell.
“No,” she said.
His face went slack and pain rolled through him, shining in his striking eyes.
Aya shifted her hand to his cheek, cupping it as she stared deep into his eyes, and whispered to him, putting every drop of her love into her words so he would hear it.
“You’re what I want.”
She moved closer, pressing her front against his, and cupped his other cheek, holding his face as he exhaled hard. She tiptoed and brought his head down to her at the same time, and breathed against his lips.
“You’re what I’ve always wanted.”
He growled and wrapped his arms around her, gathering her close as he kissed her, a frantic outpouring of love that spoke to her soul and told her the words that he had failed to find too, the ones that seemed so elusive and frightening.
His strong arms crushed her against him, and she knew he would never let her go.
They would never part again.
She jerked when Cavanaugh slapped Harbin on the back, and laughed as everyone closed in, congratulating them. She couldn’t take her eyes off Harbin as he smiled, his eyes bright with it, shining with the happiness she could feel in him.
Happiness she had given to him.
They had walked dark paths, had survived terrible times, but fate had made those paths cross again and now they would be together forever.
They had a pride and a family again.
They had each other.
Harbin pulled her back into his arms and kissed her so sweetly that she melted into him, lost in his kiss and his love for her.
She struggled for the words, filled with a need to tell him, even though she was sure he would feel it in her kiss too. He pressed his cheek to hers, his breath warm on her neck, teasing her and making her shiver, and she opened her mouth, the words on the tip of her tongue.
He stole her voice from her as he whispered in the old language of their species, telling her in the most beautiful and traditional way of their kind.
“I love you, Aya.”
Tears stung her eyes but she smiled as he kissed her again, her heart filled to bursting as she nestled close to him. She pressed her hands to his chest, broke the kiss and whispered against his lips.
“I love you too, Harbin.”
He growled and kissed her again, his love surrounding her and flowing through her, mingling with hers. The love that they shared as fated mates, bonded forever.
A love that would always grow stronger.
A love that was eternal.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author who writes passionate paranormal romance books. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!
If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, Felicity Heaton’s best selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
In 2011, five of her six paranormal romance books received Top Pick awards from Night Owl Reviews and Forbidden Blood was nominated as Best PNR Vampire Romance 2011 at The Romance Reviews. In 2012, she was awarded the GraveTells Author of the Year Award, and Heart of Darkness was announced as a 2013 Epic Ebook Awards finalist in the Paranormal Romance category. Many of her books receive five star reviews from readers and review sites alike.
To see her other novels, visit: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
Or sign up to Felicity's mailing list to learn about new titles, be eligible for special subscriber-only giveaways, and read exclusive content: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/newsletter.php
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE BOOKS BY FELICITY HEATON
Stories in the Eternal Mates romance series
Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince
Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King
Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince
Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar
Book 5: Craved by an Alpha
Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat
Book 7: Taken by a Dragon
Book 8: Marked by an Assassin
Book 9: Possessed by a Dark Warrior - Coming in 2016
Book 10: Haunted by the King of Death - Coming in 2016
Stories in the Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series
Book 1: Covet
Book 2: Crave
Book 3: Seduce
Book 4: Enslave
Book 5: Bewitch
Book 6: Unleash
Stories in the Her Angel romance series
Book 1: Her Dark Angel
Book 2: Her Fallen Angel
Book 3: Her Warrior Angel
Book 4: Her Guardian Angel
Book 5: Her Demonic Angel
Book 6: Her Wicked Angel
Book 7: Her Avenging Angel
Book 8: Her Sinful
Angel
Stories in the Vampires Realm romance series
Book 1: Prophecy: Child of Light
Book 2: Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea
Book 3: Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising
Book 3.1: Spellbound
Book 3.5: Reunion
Book 4: Seventh Circle
Book 5: Winter's Kiss
Book 6: Hunter's Moon
Book 7: Masquerade
Book 8: Hunger
Books 1-3 are also available in one anthology ebook: Prophecy Trilogy
Stories in the In Heat romance series
Book 1: In Heat
Book 2: In Heat: Mating Call
Stand alone paranormal romance novels
Blood and Snow
Love Immortal
Ascension
Forbidden Blood
Heart of Darkness
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 Felicity Heaton
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The right of Felicity Heaton to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First printed October 2015
First Edition
Layout and design by Felicity Heaton
All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover by Felicity Heaton
Marked by an Assassin Page 27
