The Hidden Luna Queen 2

I let out a short laugh. "I could have chosen anything else... painting, flower arranging, or even knitting... but I felt in my heart this inexplicable yearning to make this."

With the knot finally secured, I let my hands settle around his own, caressing the skin around the bracelet. I found myself admiring the way the vibrant blues and greens complimented his skin, beautifully tanned from his many days in the sun. The colors are perfect. The same as our eyes.

"Only now did I realize," I said softly, "that I must have made this for... for you."

Holding my breath, I lifted my gaze to meet his and was stunned by the waves of emotion I found there. Light swirled around in the depths of his beautiful forest-green eyes, glowing with something unspoken that I'd felt stirring within him for a while. Something that had blossomed inside me long ago.

And, suddenly, I couldn't think of anything else.

His mouth opened, spilling with sweet nothings and sweeping gratitude for the bracelet he kept admiring, but I only half- heard them in the haziness that was my mind, consumed by one thought and one thought only. "Xaden," I murmured, as if caught in a trance.

"Hmm?"

I gulped, trying to swallow down my nerves as much as I could. Otherwise, there was no way I'd be able to say what I wanted to say.

What I knew he deserved to hear.

"L..."

And, suddenly, it was like my throat closed up. The words that I'd thought of saying to him were lodged, trapped behind some stubborn, invisible barrier.

"Maeve?" he prodded, moving ever so closer, so he could look at me properly. He scanned my face, seemingly looking for something there before they suddenly lit up.

Xaden's whole demeanor changed. Serenity was replaced by something... desperate.

No. Was it... hopeful?

He let out a heavy, shaky breath. “You don't have to be shy," he whispered, the subtle urgency in his voice pulling my gaze back up to him. "If there's something... anything you want to say... say it. I'm not going anywhere.”

There was a smoldering intensity that made his green eyes burn, and my inability to speak only worsened. This was so much more than hunger or desire or the carnal lust an alpha was capable of.

This was intimate in a way it had never been before.

This was vulnerable.

"I" I faltered, my breath hitching ever so slightly as his coarse, gentle fingertips brushed over my cheek and across the length of my jawline.

I... couldn't say it.

I thought I was ready. I felt the truth deep in my soul, just waiting to be freed, but I was terrified. Things between us were perfect, more so than I could have ever begun to imagine. Saying those words-those three small, yet so incredibly life-changing words-made everything that much more real.

I was terrified to burst the bubble and make everything fall apart.

"I-I can't," I whispered, wanting to curse myself. "I want to... more than anything, I do, but..."

I fell into his shoulder. I couldn't look at the inevitable disappointment that I knew blossomed on his face.

What a coward I was.

But then Xaden's strong arms wrapped around me in a warm, tight embrace, pulling me into the comfort of his body, and it was like nothing else mattered and nothing else existed but the two of us. His heartbeat thrummed against my body, steady and sure, slowly lulling me into a state of much-needed calm.

"It's okay," he murmured as I closed my arms around his back, digging my fingers into his shirt. "I can wait. For you, I'd wait forever."

I could have stayed in his arms forever. It would be so easy to, and I was never more tempted than now.

But I was drowning in guilt. I needed to do something... say anything... to atone for my cowardice. "I like you."

Xaden's arms slackened. "... What did you say?"

My resolve wavered, but I forced myself to stay strong. If I couldn't yet say that other word, I was determined to give him what was hopefully the next best thing... if it was something he was willing to accept in its place. For now.

I let out a shaky breath, pulling back to look at him. "I like you," I repeated softly, taking notice of the way his eyes glued to mine, as if I'd vanish in a blink. "Everything about you. Everything that makes you... you."

He swallowed. The need that emanated from him made my heart pound. "Tell me more."

Goddess, my throat was so dry. I could barely speak with him looking at me like that, talking to me like that... like I alone was his saving grace.

But I couldn't stop.

I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling so, very hot. "When you hold me, I feel like nothing can hurt me... and when you touch me," I said, my breath hitching as I felt his hands trail down my waist to play with the hem of my pajama shirt, "I think of nothing but you, and how much I want to drown in you."

He pressed his lips to mine, chaste but yearning, before scrunching his fingers into my shirt and slowly tugging it over my head. My shirt was tossed to the ground without so much of a second thought, leaving me clad in my bra. "I like you—” Xaden's whisper, hot and needy, made my breath catch in my throat.

"-so fucking much." I let my hands wander to his chest, grazing over the smooth fabric of his shirt, where his heart hammered wildly under my touch. “More than I could ever begin to explain. I long for you... my one and my only." His one and only.

I popped open the buttons of his shirt, one by one, never letting my gaze stray from his face. The words were like music to my

ears.

How long would it take for me to finally become used to such tenderness?

With his shirt finally unbuttoned, he shrugged it off, quickly tugging his arms free so they could once again wrap around the small of my back, pulling me closer and closer into him. He buried his face into the crook of my neck, breathing in my scent. I sighed, rolling my head to the side, savoring his soft, greedy touch.

Never... I mused, never in a million years could I ever understand why you chose me... why you continue to keep choosing me... But I'll always be grateful.

His hot breath ghosted over my ear, chilling me and burning me to the bone, before moving to capture my mouth in a slow, searing kiss as I moaned in the blissful, tense quiet of our bedroom, wrapping my body around his.

We moved together in perfect harmony, like we always did whenever we came together like this. Like we were made for each other.

Just please...

Never leave me.