"Then the woods. God, the woods." His voice dropped lower. "Watching you run from me. Chasing you. Catching you. Having you beneath me in the dirt and knowing....knowing that you were mine and I still could not mark you. Could not complete what Rhen was screaming for. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, pulling back from you. Leaving that mark incomplete."
He reached up and touched the partial bond mark on her throat again, felt it pulse under his fingers.
"And now I have done it again. Left you with half a bond. Half a claim. And you might hate me for it when you wake up."
The fear of that was almost worse than the incomplete bond.
"I need you to wake up," Sebastian whispered. "I need you to look at me and tell me you understand why I did it. I need you to choose me. Choose us. Because I do not know how to survive if you do not."
The silence stretched, Lilith didn't answer and Sebastian felt something break inside his chest.
