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After a while, she cut her eyes toward Paden and watched the sea breeze ruffle his hair His face was stoic, but she could feel his carefully concealed turmoil She hated to watch him suffer, even if it was to find the words to break her heart

"Paden, I’ her off, he glanced at her and then quickly away

Ree beca open, so she snapped it shut and shook her head no When she realized he ht not have seen her response, she cleared her throat and his eyes cut back to her face

"No Not like that Not like…" Her voice caught, but she pushed on "Not like I love you" Paden closed his eyes for ato make this harder on you I know you deserve much better than me I don’t even really knohy or how it happened It was stupid and I wish… I wish you could forgive s difficult"

He opened his eyes so they were barely slits and looked at her "You don’t love him" His words were odd, and didn’t make sense to her at first

"No, no I s for him, but I’m not in love with his kind of confusing, but that’s gone Roland was meant for someone else" Ree took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her waist She almost told him she was meant for his harder on hi his head so she couldn’t see his face Biting her bottom lip, she looked away and tried to keep the tears fro down her face Part of her wanted to find a place to cry, while another part of her wanted to yell and kick things

"Ree, I’m sorry" Paden didn’t look up at her, and Ree felt her heart sink This was it, the end Her tears ran down her cheeks, but she didn’t say anything She’d let him finish and do her best to not make a scene "I never should have made that bet with Roland I shouldn’t have treated you like you were an object to be won"

"Why did you?" Confused, Ree wiped at her cheeks with her sleeve

Looking up at her, his face looked terrified "No, Ree, don’t cry Please" Heto touch her face, but stopped He shook his head and licked his lips "I thought I would win I wanted to win, to be better than hiht it would prove that you were supposed to be with ot a wild look to the you? Kissing you?" His breath ca

"And it was my own damn fault" He looked at her seriously, his eyes wide and earnest "But, you’re not in love with hiain, she shook her head no and waited to see what he would say "Do you…" He stopped and see a shaky hand out, Ree touched his fingers and gasped when he yanked her into his lap His arled in her hair and he tucked her head under his chin

"I love you, Alastriana McKenna And I never want to see you in soht here with ainst her hair "I love you"

"I’m so sorry, Paden" Ree mumbled into his shirt "I love you so much I never er to lift her chin so he could look into her eyes "No Don’t be sorry I think… I think it had to happen for you both toa mistake, okay? I should never have made that bet You are worth so much more than my pride Do you understand that? You’reup withof joy and relief in her heart

"Break up with you?" Paden gave her a sainst his chest "How does someone break up with their own heart? To not have you would be like living half a life Only death will keep hed weakly, her tears choking her as she buried her face in his shirt His arently so he was lying down, and she was tucked against his chest They didn’t say anything for a while Instead Ree stared at the stars and enjoyed being in Paden’s arms His free hand toyed with her hair and she cuddled up to hiht all of the Dark Ones by h his chest, ht the gods for you" Reewas thrown over his and she wrapped her arerous words" Paden said quietly, but he turned his head so he could kiss her hair

"Those are true words" She looked up at him, so he could see the fierceness in her eyes He nodded and s her head back down onto his chest

The sound of the lapping waves seemed to soothe their hurts as they lay under the stars in each other’s arms After a while, Ree started to drift to sleep, only to jerk ahen Paden shifted

"I guess we need to head back to the house" Ree sat up and brushed so out of his jacket, Paden held his arms open in invitation to her She melted back into him and smiled when he covered the two of the you"

"Sounds perfect" Cuddling back into him, she put her hand on his chest and smiled when he covered it with his own

After a while, Ree’s eyes fluttered open and she saw Aphrodite tending a ser to her lips Snuggling closer to Paden, Ree closed her eyes and went back to sleep

Chapter Nine

The sound of hissingcold water droplets that kept her awake Rubbing a hand across her face, she looked around the area in confusion Soft rain fell fro the fire to sputter out A rumble of thunder woke Paden, who cussed under his breath and pulled Ree up and out of the sand He held his jacket over their heads as they ran for the cover of the trees

"And this would be why I never wanted to go caratulations You just spent your first night roughing it" Paden winked at Ree

The clouds opened up just as they reached the large tree Ree had fallen out of not so long ago Laughing, Ree fended off the wet assault when Paden shook his head, sending water flying in all directions Paden narrowed his eyes at her before pushing her against the tree and rubbing his wet hair along her face She couldn’t help the squeal that escaped her lips as she tried to shove hi ended up pressed between hers and her heart started to flutter in her chest for very different reasons Paden seehts, because his led in her wet hair, tipping her head backward so he could reach her easier Tiny pricks on her lips ed Ree onward Running her hands over his wet t-shirt, she traced the outlines of his ertips

Her heart stuttered when his hands followed the same path hers had, only over her shirt When his hands hesitated along the lines of her bra, she leaned into hi more She could literally feel his resolve weaken as his hands ran over her body freely When he lifted the heers could touch her skin, she ainst her skin while he trailed kisses down her neck When his fangs scratched gently over her skin, she felt a s of pain that quickly disappeared as he healed her Hisher skin through the wet ling in his hair

Water fro their faces and down their bodies as they stayed pressed against the tree The soft sound of wind filled their little area, and Ree knew her poirling through the fallen leaves at their feet There was no way she could control the power at this point, but if all it did was churn around them happily, then she decided it would be fine At least out here no one would notice

Running his hands under the back of her shirt, he played with the clasp of her bra After a moment, it snapped open and his breath shuddered out of him Almost timidly, his hands slid around to the front of her body and her back arched in pleasure

Ree could barely forht as Paden’s hands andshe was capable of deciding was that she wantedher hands out of his hair, she slid therabbed the top of his jeans With nervous jerks, she undid the button and traced her fingers along the top of his boxers Paden sucked in his breath and grabbed her wrists Very slowly, he lifted her arms so they were pinned above her head