Tears stung her eyes as she realized he hadn’t left her, hadn’t spilled his seed elsewhere. She wrapped herself around him as much as she was able and held on tight.

As he watched her fall into the abyss of physical release, he realized he could deny her nothing she wanted. And so when he should have left, he stayed, doing what he’d never before done: poured his seed into a womb.

He had expected to feel a measure of regret, but it was not to be found. Nothing, it seemed, mattered more than she did, more than her happiness. He’d been playing at a game, striving to justify not giving her the only thing she asked of him. Just like the billiards game they’d played, the odds were stacked against him winning. Not because she was coy or clever or knew how to manipulate him.

But because she hadn’t pushed. She’d given him time. She’d accepted his qualms and allowed him to come to his own conclusions. In the end, they weren’t what he’d expected.

He who had never loved before loved at last, and it was the most rewarding, the most terrifying thing he’d ever known.

He’d almost voiced the words I love you out loud, but had known that doing so would only make things more difficult when the time for parting came. Because they would have to part. Eventually she would realize that.

Or perhaps he hadn’t voiced the words because he feared discovering her feelings for him weren’t equal to his for her. Not that it mattered. Which was a recent and surprising discovery.

Years ago, when Finn had fallen in love with the daughter of an earl, Aiden had called him a fool. Only now did he truly understand that his brother had been given no choice in the matter. The heart did as it wanted, loved who it would love. And seemed to have a penchant for choosing those who provided the most difficult of challenges. But then if love were easy, poets would hardly be heralded for putting into words what most found indescribable.

He pressed a kiss to the spot where her neck met her shoulder, where a love bite was fading. He’d sought to brand her that night. What a fool he’d been not to realize how she had the power to permanently brand him. His heart was hers. Would remain so. He’d never give it to another. That he knew with certainty.

Lifting his head, he captured her gaze, frowned. “Why the tears?”

Her eyes were glistening with them. He watched as one rolled along her cheek.

She gave him a tremulous smile. “I don’t know. Silly, isn’t it?”

With his fingers, he brushed the damp strands of her hair away from her face. “Nothing about you has ever struck me as silly.”

“I suppose I just didn’t expect—”