Deryk (Dragon Hearts #2)(42)

“Or kill me.”

“What the fuck!” Deryk crossed the cave so quickly, Izabella had no opportunity to step back even if she had wanted to. His firm grip on her arms ensured she didn’t. “Why the hell would you ever think I want to kill you?” He glowered down at her. “Did Chloe say something—”

“Chloe loves you,” she defended. “And you love her too.”

“As a sister and Nathaniel’s mate, yes,” he acknowledged.

“You admire her too.”

He nodded. “She was such a little spitfire when she and Nathaniel first met. She threatened to stab me with my own sword once,” he recalled fondly.

Tears welled up in Izabella’s beautiful green eyes. “And my own friendship with Tanya and Pyotr almost resulted in Vaughn’s death. Maybe you now think—believe—I’m too young and naive to be your mate. That I’m a security risk to you and your brothers.”

Deryk realized he’d gone too far if his mate believed that of him. He had agreed not to spank her earlier, but had decided denying Izabella physical release would be as effective in teaching her that when he asked her to do something, it was to keep her alive, and not meant as a show of dominance over her. Keeping his physical distance had worked so well, she now believed he didn’t want her as his mate.

He gazed intently into Izabella’s tear-wet eyes. “To me, you’re perfect. From your glorious long blonde hair to the tips of your dainty feet. Your kind and trusting heart is a huge part of what makes you Izabella. It’s also the yin to my yang,” he acknowledged self-derisively. “I’m a cynical bastard. You’re open and warm-hearted. Was I angry when I realized you had put yourself in danger by going to the Petrovs’ apartment? Hell, yes,” he confirmed grimly. “Was I equally as proud of my mate when I came into that apartment and found you standing there with a broken glass pressed against Petrov’s throat? Pride doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt when I looked at my warrior woman. It even overrode my own fear for a few seconds.”

“Fear?”

“I thought the bastard was going to kill you before I could get to you,” Deryk grated, the memory of imagining Izabella lying dead still all too vivid.

Was it enough to remain angry with Izabella? To cause her to doubt he still wanted their mating?

He released her before taking her in his arms. “Izabella, never again doubt how much I want you as my mate. I want to spend the rest of my life protecting you. I know from yesterday, you will protect me and our young with your life too.”

Deryk wasn’t talking about love, Izzi acknowledged, not in the way she knew she loved him. But maybe with time, that would come too? Chloe seemed to think so. “Then why have you been so distant toward me since?”

He drew in a deep breath. “You asked me not to spank you, and so I—”

“Decided to punish me in another way,” she realized suddenly.

Deryk winced. “If it’s any consolation, I’ve been punishing myself too.”

“It is,” she assured him softly.

He shuddered. “I wouldn’t survive if anything ever happened to you.”

“Chloe told me you would become feral without your mate.”

“I said I wouldn’t survive, not my dragon,” he snapped.

Izzi felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her as she placed her hands against Deryk’s bared chest. She relished the silky feel beneath her fingertips of his skin over the tautness of those defined muscles, along with the fierce beating of his heart. Deryk still wasn’t talking about love, but it was close enough for her to know what she now had to do. No, wanted to do. So very much.

“I still want to spank you,” Deryk admitted.

“Chloe said—”

“Forget what Chloe said,” he cut in forcefully. “My sister-in-law is a menace.”

“I like her.”

“So do I most of the time,” Deryk acknowledged heavily. “But the truth is, I’ve been afraid to so much as kiss you the past twenty-four hours.”

Izzi eyed him quizzically. “Why?”

He scowled darkly. “Because if I do, I’ll introduce more of this damned aphrodisiac into your system, which will deepen your discomfort. I haven’t just been keeping my distance because of that spanking you deserve,” he assured her gruffly, “but because I seriously doubt my own ability to stop in time if we make love again.”

It felt good to know that, despite all that had happened, Deryk wanted her as much as he ever had. That it was painful for him to resist her too. “And if I don’t want you to stop?”

He tensed. “What does that mean?”

“That I’m ready to complete the mating if you are,” Izzi told him huskily.

His heart began to beat faster beneath her hand. “There’s still time. I don’t want you to rush your decision.”

“Why wait?” Izzi answered calmly, more convinced than ever now she knew the reasons for Deryk having held back. “If we don’t mate we both die.”

He quirked a mocking blond brow. “So becoming my mate is marginally better than death?”

She smiled. “Oh, a lot more than marginally. Chloe is going to write our story next, you know,” she teased. “She also mentioned she needs us to have lots of erotic sex I can tell her about to help the book sell.”