Page 84 of Claimed By the Guardian

He pulled her to sit on the bed. It was so tempting to just lay down. She’d sink into the mattress, he’d wrap his arms around her, and she’d have him for a little bit longer. But when she started leaning toward the pillow, he touched her chin.

“We can sleep now. God knows you need it. But will you sleep well? Can you tell me?—”

“The poison in the water lasts about two days in the body.”

He stared at her, and no wonder. She’d just blurted out a random fact like it was the end of the world. It was, but he’d need to understand the rest. “This crap they put in the water…it doesn’t just make shifters aggressive. It heightens all their emotions. Anger becomes fury. Joy become ecstasy.” She swallowed and forced the next words out. “Attraction becomes bonding.” She touched his face. “Your connection to me, this deep need…it’s not magic. It’s biochemical. And it’ll go away…” She shrugged. “Pretty soon now, I think. I know you haven’t had any city water since we met, but you drank it before, right? Before you knew about the taint.”

Her words came out very fast. It was the only way she could tell him that he wasn’t in love with her. That what he felt wasn’t real. Because, damn it, what she felt was vividly real. She wanted to spend her life in his arms. She wanted to have his babies. And she wanted to sleep beside him every night and wake to his smile every morning.

And why the hell was he just sitting there staring at her when her world was ending?

“Hank?”

He touched a finger to her forehead, spinning it in circles at her temple. “Your brain is working very fast right now, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“You’re thinking all sorts of things.”

She nodded. Of course, she was. She’d just told the love of her life that his feelings weren’t real.

“Cecilia, I need you to listen to me very carefully, okay?”

She nodded.

“I haven’t had Detroit water for years. I hate the taste of it in anything. I use bottled water for everything except the shower.” He touched her chin, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. “The poison doesn’t go in through the skin, does it?”

“No. You have to drink it, and not just a little bit.”

“I guess I’m in love with you for real then.” He stroked his thumb across her lips, making them plump with a tingling fire. “I love you, Cecilia. It’s not biochemistry. I don’t even think it’s the magic. It’s real love because you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

“I am?”

He chuckled. “You make me smile.”

She reared back. “That’s it? You’re in love because I make you smile? Why aren’t you married to Comedy Central, then?”

He grinned. “Because I want you. I want your brilliance and your intensity in my life. I want you to tease me when I’m too serious and let me feed you when you forget. I want to protect you, and hold you, and do lots of other wonderful things with you.” He waggled his eyebrows, and his eyes seemed to glow in the early morning light. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

Then it was time for him to start thinking. She could see it in his eyes. The way his gaze seemed to rove over her face as if he were looking for the answer there when she’d just said it out loud.

“Are…are you sure?” he asked. “I’m…my life right now is pretty scary.”

She nodded. “I’m terrified for you, but that doesn’t change how I feel. I need you in my life. I need your calm center and your magical smile. There it is!”

His lips had curved, and she loved it so much she traced it with her fingers.

“I know it doesn’t make sense. We just met a couple days ago when you kidnapped me.” She frowned. “You kidnapped me!”

“It was the only way,” he said, an apology in his eyes. “And I was under orders.”

“I know.” She pressed her lips to his. He clung to her mouth as she teased across his. And when she pulled back, she stroked his face. “I can’t make sense of it, but I know it’s true. I love you. Will you… Can we…” Hell, what exactly was she trying to ask? “I want to stay in Detroit for a while. I want to stay with you and make this work.”

“Yes,” he said, almost before she stopped asking. “Yes, yes.”

“Then you can’t die in this war with the werewolves.”