Chapter 213\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for me,\u201d I said softly, surprising myself with the honesty. \u201cSeeing you like this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her smile wavered. \u201cYou mean happy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded once. \u201cAnd safe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something flickered in her eyes \u2013 pain, maybe, or guilt \u2013 but before she could speak, I offered my hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDance with me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She froze. \u201cYou don\u2019t dance like this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I should start.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, she just stared at me. Then, slowly, she placed her hand in mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
The contact hit like lightning \u2014 not painful, but alive. The mate bond hummed between us, an invisible current that had never really dimmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I often hoped that it would. There was a time when I would have done anything to be rid of the bond. The way that my body reacted to Ellie was impossible to ignore. It used to make me angry, aggressive with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The feeling was beyond my ability to control or ignore and that felt like a slap in the face. Now, it was something I couldn\u2019t help but crave. She\u2019d been so distant for so long, it hurt to feel the strain on the bond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I drew her gently onto the dance floor, my other hand settling carefully at her waist. She was warm under my palm, and I felt her heartbeat thrum through the space between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We moved slowly, the crowd blurring around us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie\u2019s gaze stayed fixed somewhere over my shoulder, her expression unreadable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think you\u2019d want this,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWant what?\u201d I asked softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie\u2019s grip shifted slightly, holding me just a little more firmly. \u201cWant to make a show of being together like this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t,\u201d I admitted. \u201cI\u2019m not making a show. I don\u2019t really give a damn who\u2019s watching right now. But 1 realized I wasn\u2019t ready to leave yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated, searching for words. \u201cThe reveal helped more than I expected,\u201d I said finally. \u201cThe pack\u2019s calmer now. They understand why you were gone. Some even said makes sense that the goddess was protecting you, keeping you safe until the time was right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what Alaric says too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey believe it,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u2026 comforting, in a way. To think there was purpose in all of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie\u2019s hand tightened slightly in mine. \u201cAnd for you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked down at her then, her grey-blue eyes boring into mine. Her intense look didn\u2019t deter me from answering, if anything it compelled me to be honest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So much had happened between us. So much had changed. wanted to change too, to be a better person. That meant no more lying, to her or to myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chuter 201\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made me realize how close I came to losing you for good\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hung heavily between us. It was an admission I hadn\u2019t quite let myself make out loud. I know that she was aware of the lengths I went to in the search for her, I know that she knows how her leaving has impacted me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But admitting it out loud is different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI drove you away. I put you in danger because of my damned pride. I thought you would never forgive me, I wouldn\u2019t blame you if you didn\u2019t. But, you wanted me here on your day. To celebrate you. Why?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her breath caught, but she said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I drew her a little closer, not enough to startle her \u2013 just enough to feel her warmth against me, to let the rhythm of our breathing align.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to answer. Just know that this means something to me,\u201d I said softly, speaking against her hair as I held her close. \u201cBeing invited back into your life, in whatever way you\u2019ll have me, means something to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie wasn\u2019t stiff in my arms, as I expected. She nearly melted into my embrace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bond was practically humming between us, a steady current of electricity that made my skin tingle wherever we touched. I wanted to lean into the feeling, but I knew that for now, this was more than I could hope for. Ellie was in my arms, her hands on my back. Her head was leaning against my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the most contact we\u2019d had in longer than I could remember. I wouldn\u2019t ruin it by saying anything more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d danced a thousand times before in the name of politics, but never like this. Never with someone who felt like the beginning and end of me at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance was right. I would\u2019ve regretted not asking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just hadn\u2019t realized how much it would hurt when she didn\u2019t pull away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 213 Chapter 213\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s good for me,\u201d I said softly, surprising myself with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-unremembered-mate-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}