Chapter Twelve
You’re what? Lifemate? What is that? Libelle was confused, it felt like her head was beginning to spin. Lifemate? Like a soulmate? No way!
Her eyes narrowed again in confusion, “You’re what? Have you lost your mind?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I know I hit your head, but I didn't realize it was that hard.”
“Libelle,” He lightly kissed her, taking the moment to silence her cursing. “You are different than all other slayers.”
“You’ve explained that.” She interrupted.
“I cannot believe it either, I always knew there was something different about you; despite all my efforts, and I’ve never been able to take your life.” She glared at him again. “The Gods have their own plans, and somehow they have made this decision: as strange as it is. You are my lifemate.”
“You're mistaken, you are crazy.”
He chuckled again, and wrapped his arms around her despite her struggling, his grip did not hurt her and he did not intend to harm her: so no pain came to him for his actions. He picked her up and carried her back towards the grassy spot they were just sitting on and dropped her. She fell on her back and let out a hiss when her elbow landed on a rock, she reached for it when Eskil knelt down over her and grabbed her forearm.
Eskil’s eyes burned into her, “Dragons are never wrong about their lifemate’s.”
He pulled her arm up and gently kissed her elbow, then his tongue flicked out past his lips and slowly licked the small cut. Her cheeks turned a darker color and she tried to push herself up and pull her arm away.
“Eskil stop! You are a dragon, I am an elf: a mortal. We are enemies, I cannot even begin to count the number of times we have tried to kill one another. You're wrong, I am not your lifemate!”
Eskil stopped her from moving away, pushing her back to the earth with his hand on her chest. He effortlessly wrestled her wrists above her head and pinned them there with one large hand, the other holding her small chin and turning her head to look face him.
“You have Freyja and Freyr to thank for this. The Gods are… vindictive sometimes.”
He stared into her icy eyes, mesmerized by the shades of blue that swirled in them. Her high cheekbones were red, and her jaw line was beautifully sculpted. He bent down over her again, capturing her in another sweltering kiss. His tongue tracing her swollen lips until the sensation forced her to part them and open her mouth; his tongue reached hers and danced with it, swirling it around with his. She felt him explore her mouth, felt the heat from his body flood into hers. He sucked on her tongue, leading it back with his, leading her to battle with their mouths.
He moaned into her, the sound vibrating through her and she felt his body tense as he rubbed his groin against hers. His hand left her chin and found her breast, grasping the soft tissue beneath her shirt. He massaged her large breast with his palm and his fingers, building up tension until he was able to feel her perked nipple. He twisted the little nub between his fingers and heard her gasp out a moan between kisses.
“My little she-elf, my lifemate.” He whispered. “I have waited so long to find you.”
He kissed her again, then kissed her cheek to her chin, down her neck to her exposed collarbone. He licked up her pulsating vein and felt her shiver out another gasp. His left her breast for a moment to find the slit in her shirt, twirling his fingers in the fragile material before tearing it down the front. He moved the cotton fabric to the side and clasped her breast in his hand again; her soft and hot skin felt miraculous in his calloused palm. He trailed kisses back down from her neck until he clamped his steamy mouth over her other nipple. His tongue swirling around the peak and sucking it into his mouth.
She moaned and gasped out, “Eskil stop. This is wrong, I am not your lifemate. I was born your enemy simply by being a slayer, it's not possible.”
Eskil felt how swollen his groin had become, his member hard as a rock and begging to be released from its prison within his wool pants. He rubbed himself against her groin and listened to her moans of pleasure become less controlled. She was arching her back up as he suckled her breast and teased her skin. She felt magnificent, she smelt like lavender and honey, and she tasted sweet like berries. Eskil released her hands from above her head and turned his focus to the leather strap tied tightly around her waist, one hand massaging her breast while his mouth remained clamped onto her perked nipple.
Her hands tangled into his long locks and he felt her fingertips graze his scalp as he continued teasing her nipples, she was beginning to lose control. “I am not her, please you have to listen. We are not right for each other, you're a dragon! You are the dragon prince, I was born because I slaughtered your kin in my past life, and I have slain more in this life. There’s no way I could have been born your lifemate.”
Libelle gasped out again, her eyes hooded as she felt the foreign pleasure rush through her. She knew how wrong all of this was, but it all felt so right. “Eskil please, please stop.”
Eskil’s long tongue flicked across her breasts, leaving trails of fire wherever it touched. He felt so hot, so powerful and needy. He was solid muscle and rock hard all over against her. He felt like a man, smelt like a man with a delicious and masculine scent. The way his eyes burned as he looked at her made her sex spasm between her legs. Get yourself together Libelle, he’s in a false form. This is not the true Eskil, this is wrong. So wrong, oh please do that again.
She cried out and her back arched further. She felt so excited, but she felt so strange. Her conflicted emotions grew when his teeth gently pinched her nipple between them, a sweet sting of pain followed by soft caresses of his tongue swirling around the pink nipple.
“This won't work, please.”
Eskil paused to lock his gaze with hers again, “Libelle, dragons are never wrong. You are my lifemate.”
A tear formed at the corner of her eye and she shook her head. “I'm not, your wrong. You’re not yourself, this isn't you. This form is not you.”
Eskil kissed her, his tongue twirling around hers. “Even if you had not cast this damned curse on me, I would have eventually found out: and I would do exactly what I plan to do now.”
Another moan escaped her lips when she felt him grind his throbbing cock against her groin, his hips twisting and rubbing against her and the friction from their clothing adding to their excitement. She felt his fingers tug at her waistband trying to slip past her belt, and her eyes opened wide.
Her mind was racing, and she was struggling to think straight. What did he mean by that? To do exactly what he planned to do now? She felt the waistband to her pants tear, and his hand slipped down into them; his fingers sliding in between her legs and slipping into her wet sex. Her eyes widened further, nearly bursting from their sockets, and she grabbed onto his arm.
“Stop.” She stuttered out, her free hand planting firmly against his chest. He ignored her or didn't hear her when his kisses traveled back up her neck to claim her mouth again. She gasped for air when he tried to suck all the air from her lungs, “S-Stop!” She said again, forcing herself to be louder despite her growing need to submit.
She pushed against him again with more strength and he finally stopped and looked at her. His eyes were smoldering. “You have to stop, get off of me.” She panted.
“I don't want to. You are my lifemate, nothing you say or do is going to change that.” He thrust his fingers deeper inside her, exciting a pitched gasp from her. “I will have my lifemate, I will have you. In this form or my true form, you are mine: the Gods have decided this for you, for us.”
He thrusted his fingers in and out of her, his thumb rubbing her sensitive clit. He bent his head down to kiss her. Libelle turned her head away, preventing him from reaching her lips and causing him to growl. She fought the urge to moan again when he ground his rough fingers against her. He was playing dirty, and her resolve was growing weaker by the second as he teased her sex. She had to do something, and she had to do it fast or she wasn't going to be able to prevent this from going further.
She pushed him with her hands, raising her knees and kicking him off of her. Eskil snarled at her when she stood up and stepped away from him, her body was trembling.
“Libelle.” He growled like a beast while staring into her eyes.
She stood next to him for a moment, staring down at him as he pushed himself onto his knees to look back at her. Her mouth didn't move, but he could sense she wanted to say something. She straightened the fabric of her shirt, pulling the material to cover her exposed breasts. He eyed the tear in her pants, the buckle so loose that it threatened to fall to the ground. She wiped away a new tear from her eyes and took another step backwards.
“Libelle,” He started. “I am Eskil, the first dragon to be created and birthed from the gods. I am what your kind call the death-bringer. I am a dragon, the strongest of my kin and one of the oldest. I swear to you, you are my lifemate. Dragons are not mistaken on these facts, when they find their lifemate: they just know. I am not wrong, I cannot be wrong.”
He stood up and held her gaze. How he wished he could hold her delicate chin, and trace her lush lips with his thumb. How he wished he could hold her in his arms, enjoy the heat of her body and the arousal in her voice while he fucked her. He felt the ache in his loins and it was growing unbearably painful to not tend to his own desire, he wanted her but she didn't want him. He wanted to take her, he wanted to prove to her that she was his lifemate and that he was hers.
Eskil had never felt like this for any other dragon, not even for Brenna. He loved his cursed mortal, but he never wanted to mate her like he wanted to with Libelle. How he had not realized this long ago was startling, the number of times that the two had battled and nearly killed each other: he couldn’t number them. He had always been close to her, he had heard her before, smelt her, touched her, and tasted her: how did he not recognize her as his lifemate?
He thought back to all the times he had nearly taken her life, and all the times she had nearly taken his. They would always come so close to death, but neither ever fully being able to make the final blow that would end everything. He stared into her eyes, a feeling of defeat rushing over him like it had never done before.
Her blank eyes stared back at him, “Libelle, I want you to believe me. I need you to believe me.” He took a step closer to her and she unconsciously took a step backwards. “Why would you not? Eskil, the dragon prince, the death-bringer. Enemy to all mankind and to the slayers, the ones who slay my kin. What would he, I have to gain from this if it were not the truth?”
He saw her flinch at his words, he should have phrased it differently. She did not take any enjoyment from killing his kind. “I have been asking myself the same question since I first saw you at the damned town you call Grimsby. I remember seeing you on that chopping block, I know you saw me too. I remember the rage that churned in my stomach when I saw the man about to take your head off, I couldn't explain it until now. The anger that rushed through me that day, all I wanted to do was burn the place down and find you. You.”
He pointed at her chest for good measure and she took more blind steps backwards. “All I wanted was to find you, to learn why I felt this incredible yearn to know who you were and you disappeared like a rabbit down a hole. Then you reappeared in that grove, but you were a slayer, one born to destroy my kind. My anger and my hatred got the best of me, I pushed the yearning to the back of my mind and did my best to ignore it. I shouldn't have, I should have listened to it.”
“How many times have we crossed paths? How many times have we fought in close quarters? I cannot tell you the amount of times, and each one brought me closer and closer to my breaking point.” Eskil stepped further into Libelle who was now backed up to a tall oak tree, the shades of her eyes beginning to shine like a gem. His hands slammed into the sides of the tree, shaking the old wood and rustling the leaves. She was pinned between him and the tree and she did not realize it yet.
“Do you know how many times I have wanted to reach out and touch you? For reasons I could not have explained? How many times your scent made me ache, made me crave to touch your skin. The number of times that hearing your voice eased my tension and just made I want to sit and listen to you call me all the horrid names you could think of. Just being near you, it makes me yearn for you. I’ve never felt this way, not for anyone. Not even Brenna if you must know, so I didn't know how to explain it. To make sense of all of it.”
Chapter Thirteen
Eskil pushed his body against hers, preventing her from running away, he arched his neck, resting his nose against her throat and breathing deep.
“You don't realize how close I was-” His long tongue slipped past his lips and trailed a hot path from her collarbone to her jawline before he flicked his tongue across her cheek. “-how close I was that day to making you mine. It took all the strength in my body to fly away that day. When I had your taste in my mouth, it was like I was just gifted the finest meal I could ever ask for. The most precious gift the Gods could give me, was you; and like a fool I rebelled against those feelings until now.”
Eskil let go of the tree and pulled her hands away from her chest, his fingertips lightly grazing her sensitive skin as he traced feather light touches down the nape of her neck, parting her torn shirt and running his fingers between her breasts. She was shaking, biting her lip again and staring off into the tree line. His callouses grazed over her hard nipples making her flinch and stifle a whimper. His other hand rubbed her side, his fingers massaging deep into her ribs to her belly button.
He lowered himself onto his knees in front of her, raising his eyes to stare at her perfect and embarrassed face: waiting for her to turn her gaze back to his expectant one. He tugged at her pants and she flinched again, her teeth at her lip pinching down harder and another droplet of blood formed on her lip. He growled again, the sound dark but possessive as he pulled down on her hair, forcing her to bend forward with a surprised gasp. He kissed her gently, licking away the blood and the pain stinging her lip.
“My lifemate will not bleed because of me, nor for any other reason.” He let go of her hair, allowing her to lean back away from him but this time her eyes were locked with his. His kisses returned to her stomach, leaving gentle and invisible marks from her hip to her belly button and down towards the low material of her torn waistband.
He pulled the fabric even more, shredding the belt and pulling the wooden buttons from their stitches. His eyes remained on hers as she watched him, she was scared and he could feel it. She didn't know whether to stay here or run. Eskil slid her pants down her hips, gliding the leather over her rounded bottom and down her soft pale legs. He pulled them down until they stopped at her mid-calf boots and pushed her feet wider apart.
His breath tickled her thigh as he rubbed his cheek over her smooth skin, he kissed her inner leg. “I was a fool Libelle, I apologize for that. I ignored everything that my heart and soul was trying to tell me; until I could touch you like this, until I could hold you like this, until I could hear you: like this.”
Libelle cried out when Eskil’s tongue slipped past his lips and slid between her legs, his tongue still resembled the one his dragon from possessed. Long, slick, slippery and talented. His tongue slid across her aching clit, flicking the sensitive tissue and slurping her sweet nectar. Her knees buckled and she tripped forward, her fingers digging into his shoulders to catch herself from falling. Eskil wrapped an arm around her thighs steadying her, his mouth clamped between her legs while he continued to tease her.
She cried out again, the sound followed by a lustful moan when he tongue pushed its way into her sex: into the tight tunnel that was not used to this sort of attention. She felt his tongue twirl in circles inside her, pushing deeper into her until he would feel resistance. His tongue thrust in and out, teasing the lips around her entrance then her clit again. Her fingers dug even deeper into his shoulders, her nails clawing at his skin through his cotton shirt.
For a moment his tongue left her aching sex, only to return with his fingers that slipped inside her and viciously rammed in and out of her while his tongue twirled around her hardened nub. His fingers twisted about, finding her sensitive spot that resulted in her gasping for air. He found that spot and stayed on it, his fingers and tongue taking turns to thrust against the bundle of nerves that formed that delicious ache. She was gasping with each breath, moans of pleasure escaping her parted lips. Her back arched when Eskil pinched her hard clit between his teeth, followed by a gentle caress of his tongue. He pinched again, followed by another too slow lick.
His fingers curled inside her, thrusting and battling her tight entrance that was constricting around his fingers. Libelle’s cries could not be contained any longer when he went after her sex like a starving beast, savoring the sweet taste of her juices that leaked from between her thighs. She cried out his name over and over again, her head rolling back with a lusty moan when his tongue delved back inside her and his fingers returned to her exhausted clit.
Her buckled knees were trying to clench together when her hands tangled into his messy hair, one hand wrapping around the point of his scaly textured horn. The pleasure was too great, she felt like she was going to explode. Her heart was pounding, and her pulse was throbbing through her neck. Eskil was going to take her life, she would surely die right here. Another cry escaped her lips, it was all too strange. The sensations he was giving her, the pleasure and the feeling of being needed: it was overwhelming. He was showing her just how desperately he needed her, how much he wanted her.
She couldn't imagine Eskil doing this just to torment her, he was too prideful. An act such as this, he would not be proud of; he would not do something like this and then boast about it to the world. Perhaps he wanted to shame her, despite what reactions he would receive from his kin.
Libelle, the only slayer in history to be defiled by a dragon. She thought to herself, trying to find focus on the situation: trying to find a way to escape from it. Escaping proved difficult however as she unintentionally bucked her hips against his tongue, her body craving more while her mind wanted to flee in terror.
She felt her sex spasm, the wet tunnel tightening around Eskil’s fingers with a delicious sensation. Her belly felt full, like her entrance might explode. The feeling was both wonderful and terrifying, exciting and foreign. She couldn’t help herself when she moaned, her eyes hooded and seductive when she looked down at Eskil who was still watching her.
“Eskil, please.” She whimpered out, the sound quiet but lovely to his ears.
Eskil stopped everything he was doing and Libelle cried out again, this time a protest to his actions. He wrapped his arms around her thighs, just below her trembling cheeks. He lifted her, sliding across the ground on his knees carrying her into the grassy patch where they originally sat. He moved through the crumpled strands, further into the taller blades until they were concealed behind a thick wall of waving green blades. The moon was high above them, full and large it filled up the night sky with glorious light. Stars were beaming brightly, and the lunar lights were magnificent this time of year as the colors danced through the night sky.
Eskil paused and took a deep breath before setting Libelle down, bending her weak knees and slowly lowering her onto her back on the cool soil. Her entire body was trembling, but not from the cold: she was truly scared. Her pale skin shined like stardust in the moonlight, and he gently brushed his fingers across her cheek before cupping the side of her face. He leaned over her and kissed her forehead before smiling at her, a glimmer in his eyes and light reflecting off his pearly canines.
“Do you believe me?” He asked.
Libelle didn't know how to respond. She wasn't sure if she really believed him, she wasn't sure if she could trust him. Eskil was trying to take her life only five days ago, there was no way anyone; man or dragon could change in such a short period of time. Either he was acting… or he was being genuine. Right now, he wasn't trying to hurt her, he wasn't trying to force her, and he was only trying to convince her. He was being gentle with her and giving her pleasure she had never received before, even now he was staring at her with his blood red eyes that somehow appeared to care.
Eskil desperately wanted her to believe him, and it didn't make sense to her. Not if he wasn’t being genuine. She timidly raised her hand up, her palm brushing against his cheek; the warmth emitting from him felt comforting and she watched as he turned his head into her hand and kissed her palm. He smiled again at her, this time not exposing his teeth. She had to admit that she was enjoying his advances, and she never liked someone advancing on her. She had been enjoying herself moments ago, despite the twinge of fear.
He said her name, his deep voice gentle and calling to out to her soul. She felt her heart flutter in her chest as she pulled her hand back from his face. She covered her eyes with her palms and chewed on her lower lip again, a horrible habit. She didn't know what to do anymore, especially right now. She felt his hot breath against the nape of her neck where he gently pinched her skin between his teeth, followed by a series of soft kisses.
His kisses traveled back down to her breasts where he sucked her perked nipple into his mouth, twirling his tongue around the bud before releasing the suction his mouth had formed with a subtle pop. She whimpered when he moved to her other breast to repeat the same teasing motion. Her shirt was tattered, the material torn completely down the front: there was no saving it now while it was only attached by her arms. Her pants were still around her calves, bunched up and making it difficult to move her legs while Eskil trailed more kisses down her abdomen. Her heels dug into the soil, trying to free her feet from her leather boots. She felt trapped beneath Eskil’s large body, his muscular and damned sexy body. She felt hot, excited, wanted and needed: but the twinge of fear still lingered in her heart and mind.
Eskil responded with a soft chuckle when he heard her airy gasp as his tongue grazed her sensitive clit, he paused only a moment to tease that area before he marked kiss after kiss down her inner thigh. He lifted her legs and planted his lips to her shaking knees, pulling her boots from her feet and sliding the leather material of her pants from her legs. He kissed her calves, her ankles and the tops of her feet. Every inch of her was beautiful, he was mesmerized by his lifemate. She lay on the ground before him, for the first time ever: she was completely vulnerable and exposed to him. If he had wanted to take her life, this would be the time to do so. But he didn't want to take her life, he wanted to cherish it. To treasure her, to admire her beauty until the end of his days, he wanted to devote himself to her.
Eskil’s kisses traveled back up from her legs, back to her clenching belly to tease her navel and to rub his rough hands against her sides. His fingers digging into her ribs before he ran his hands up her sides, under her arms that were raised to cover her face. He kissed the underside of her forearm, nudging it with his nose to try to get her to show her expression to him. She didn't move and he took the time she would need to savor the taste of her breast again, she was scared and he was struggling to understand why.
Yes, they were born in an era where they should have been enemies: but they were not enemies. By all the Gods, they were not meant to be enemies in this lifetime. Their sick sense of humor was torture, they strangely found pleasure at the mercy of others, and only a few of the Divines cared for his reckless behavior. Yet the reward they bestowed to him, after thousands of years of pain, agony and anger: there was no greater gift he could have received.
His lifemate, his little elf, his Libelle. Everything she was belonged to him, and everything he was, everything he will be: belonged to her. Lifemate’s were equivalent to the mortals so called soulmate, but dragons bonded to their lifemate on such a deeper level than a mere verbal contract of marriage. Their souls would bind to each other’s, they would not be able to live without each other. They were bound together for life, for eternity, his immortality would be bestowed onto her mortal life. She would be with him, forever.
It enraged him, deep down to his core that he had not realized this about her long ago. How could he have ignored the yearning he felt for her, the feeling of need the welled up within him every time he thought of her. They had fought countless times, and countless times he had aimed at taking the life of the one thing that now made him whole. The one thing that would give his life meaning again.
His thoughts ran wild as he continued his teasing across her body, grasping her breasts with his hands and mouth. Feeling the soft skin of her waist to her quivering thighs, his groin was nestled between them against her pelvis. The material of his pants were the only thing that separated them, and he wanted that boundary gone.
She squirmed beneath him and he watched her lips part in a lust-filled sigh when he rubbed his hips against hers, her arms were still crossed above her and covered most of her face from his view. He sat up, pulling his cotton shirt above his head and tossing it to the ground beside them. He opened the trio of buttons, pulling the material apart and exposing his large member to the cool air. The long shaft was pulsating, thick veins visible beneath the silky tissue; he was hard, so incredibly and painfully hard. His pants slid down around his waist, stopping mid-thigh as he leaned forward to kiss her chin. He twitched when he felt his cock rub against her belly, a bead of milky white cum forming on the tip as he pushed his hips against hers and lightly massaged his sensitive skin against hers.
Libelle stifled another gasp when she felt him thrust against her, the head of his cock teasing her clit and slowly sliding across her pelvis and stopping at her navel. She resisted the urge to look down at him, afraid that he may see her face, see her tears. Eskil rubbed himself up against her sensitive body again, this time a quiet moan escaped his lips. He paused, his sack resting against her entrance and his shaft reaching from her pubic bone to her belly button. He was big, his cock was large in length and girth and he would fill every inch of her. Eskil reached up and tried to move her arms, trying to expose her face so he could see what she was feeling: she stiffened and Eskil tried not to frown.
“Libelle,” He whispered. “-show me your face.”
She shook her head, her lower lip sucked in between her teeth as she gnawed on it. He called her name again, and this time he paid more attention when she released her lip: it quivered and she was struggling to stop it. He wanted her to look at him and she wouldn't, but he was willing to play dirty to get what he wanted.
He slid his fingers between her legs, finding the wet lips that were aching to be touched. One finger slid inside her and she returned to biting her lip, a second, then a third found their way inside her to her most sensitive spot where he furiously rubbed until he felt her clench her slick tunnel around him fingers. She moaned and cried out, unconsciously spreading her legs further apart to grant him better access. His motions slowed to a crawl, gently massaging her throbbing sex and flicking his thumb over her clit.
Libelle’s breathing had quickened, her chest rising with each shaky breath. He heard her sniffle, followed by a sharp inhale and hiccup. “Please.” She cried out, her voice weak and hardly a whisper.
“Libelle,” Eskil responded, leaving her aching sex to rest his chest against hers.
She shook her head when he tried to pull her hands from her face. “Please, Eskil just stop. I can't. I can't do this.”
Eskil used more force this time, grimacing when he felt a sharp twinge of pain stab at his mind when he pried her arms apart and held them at the side of her head. Her icy eyes were full of life, but full of tears. Her gaze darting about, looking everywhere but at him. Her lip was trembling, red and sore from her chewing. Tears rained down her cheeks, an unattractive bubble of snot blowing from her nostril as she tried to control her crying.
Eskil tried to kiss her, the motion meant to be kind but she shook her head again. “Please, please stop. Please stop, I can't do this.” She hiccupped again with a wave of tears, her chest jerking with each sharp inhale.
Eskil felt his own heart ache, he had made his lifemate feel like this. She was scared, truly terrified and he was to blame. He brushed a hand against her cheek, trailing his fingers along the jagged scar that he gave her.
“Libelle, I am sorry.” He said. “Libelle, lifemate, my beloved. I could never hurt you.”
She shook his head and interrupted him, “Yes you can, and you already have.”
He stared back at the old wound, one he had given her long ago: a sour taste formed in his mouth. “Libelle, I did not know then. I did not know that you were my lifemate. I know that now, I cannot harm you.” He bent down and kissed her forehead and her teary eyes came back to look at his. He held her hand gently, and drew it closer until he placed her open palm against his chest over his heart.
“Libelle, you are my lifemate, my beloved, my one and only: I belong to you just like you belong to me. I cannot hurt you, I will never hurt you for as long as I breathe. You are my world, and surprisingly you always have been. You have never once left my mind, and I regret that I did not acknowledge these feelings sooner. If I had listened to them, I would have done things so differently. I would give anything to go back to the first time I met you, to hold you then like I am now.
“Libelle, you are everything to me. Lifemate’s, they are everything to a dragon. You are the very air I breathe, the wind in my wings, the fire in my lungs. You are everything to me. My life, my love, my heart is yours. Libelle, I plead to you: to believe me. To understand me. To understand that I regret my past actions that caused you harm, I would take it all back if I could.”
Libelle searched his gold eyes for deceit and found none, the heat under her hand flooded into her as she felt his heart rate quicken. She parted her lips to speak but nothing came out, instead more tears gushed from her eyes and she wiped them away with her free hand.
“Libelle, you are a lifemate to a dragon. I can't expect you to understand everything, but I can explain it to you as best as I am able.” He brushed his hand against her cheek, wiping away the stray tears she had missed.
“You are my whole world, without you I cannot exist. Now that I have found you, I will never let you go. I would lose my mind without you, my heart would break and my soul would shatter. You are what makes me whole. I will do nothing but cherish you, to protect you, to please you. I want you by my side, always. I want you to give me your heart, and I’ll give you mine. Our souls were meant for each other, Freyja decided that for us. Without you I am nothing.”
He squeezed her hand, “My heart beats only for you.”
Eskil stared into her eyes, every word he spoke was the truth. More tears flooded her eyes, blurring her vision. She felt the ice on her heart crack, her hardened spirit faltering in his presence. How hard she had tried to avoid complicated relationships, and how easily Eskil had just opened her soul to one. He let go of her hand so she could wipe away the new wave of tears, wind spiraling around them and blowing his long black hair into his face.
Eskil brushed his hair away with annoyance, but paused when he saw a very faint smile on Libelle’s lips. He smiled back at her, “Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“Do you believe me?”