He had the feeling she hadn’t ever felt loved. That was going to change. He knew he loved her. He didn’t know when or how it started, it just crept up on him, but he wasn’t going to let her feel alone. She would always know she could count on him.

He wanted to mesmerize her. To bring her under his spell. She was completely captivating him. Ensnaring him when he hadn’t thought it was possible for anyone to do such a thing.

She looked at him with an expression far too close to reverence. Bordering on real adoration. Real. He didn’t get real. He didn’t even deserve it.

She had taken him over when he wasn’t looking . When he’d been so busy binding her to him. Wanting his own woman for all the wrong reasons and realizing when he had her, what the right reasons were.

She didn’t have to love him back. He probably wouldn’t know what to do with it if she did. No one ever had.

The truth was, Sevastyan wanted a woman of his own. A partner. A woman to love. A woman who held the mate for his leopard. That same gift his cousins had. He doubted if that was going to ever happen for him. His father and Mitya’s father both had seen to that with their torture and deviant training.

Ania. If he took her and kept her, she would give them both peace. God knew he needed peace.

He'd grown up a criminal. A man who hurt others. A man who destroyed the lives of others. A man who killed. That was who and what he was, and no matter how hard he tried to climb out of that world of blood and treachery, there was no getting out. Never. He didn't have much to live for.

Timur." She whispered his name. Knowing she shouldn't. Unable to stop herself. She waited until his blue eyes lifted to hers. "You're not a psychopath, nor are you what your father tried to shape you into. You're...extraordinary.