A Destiny Revealed (31 page)

Dalia didn’t bother asking her mother how she knew. “How did
you and papa keep it together so long?” Dalia asked wistfully. For the past few
days she'd been thinking about what Bron said. She held a part of herself from
everyone for so long, she didn’t know if she was able to give him everything.

Isabelle laughed. “It was a lot of hard work. There's
nothing easy about real and true love,
mi hija
. It takes a lot of
patience. Your father and I fought as hard as we loved. My time with him was
worth every moment, good or bad.”

“I love Bron,” Dalia said, more to herself than her mother.

“To mate in this tribe is unlike anything you could imagine,
Dalia. We mate for life. Once that bond is formed there's nothing on this earth
that can tear you apart. It's worth the risk, trust me.” Isabelle kissed
Dalia’s hair.

Dalia scrambled from the bed, “Thank you,
mama
.”
She rushed from her mother’s room. She found Saleem lounging on the sofa in the
living room and frowned.

“I thought you were at the temple.”

Saleem shrugged, “Bakari is there.”

“The barracks?”

Saleem inclined his head to the door.
“About
a hundred yards west of here.”
He cocked his eyebrow at her, curiosity
written all over his face. “I will take you.”

“Thanks.” They walked in silence, and Dalia balled her fist
to tamp down her impatience at their slow pace. Saleem opened the door for her
and waited on her to precede him. The room went quiet as Dalia stepped from the
foyer into the common area. She expected the barracks to be Spartan, with only
bunk beds lined against the wall. The log cabin she stepped into was spacious,
wood floors spanned the hallway and Dalia could see that the warriors had their
own bedrooms. She lifted her chin and braced against the warriors’ stares.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked Bron. He sat at a card table
in the middle of the room. From the stack of chips she saw in the middle of the
table, Dalia assumed they were playing poker.

Bron went back to studying his cards. “Yes.”

Dalia stood at the entrance to the room waiting on him to
stand. When he didn’t move she put her hands on her hips. “Are you going to
make me do this in front of everyone?”

Bron laid his cards down gently. He put his arms behind his
head and leaned back in his chair, not saying a word.

Dalia sighed. “I’m ready.”

“What are you ready for,
rewà
?” He asked quietly,
righting his chair. The warriors all stood mumbling excuses to leave them in
privacy. “Sit,” Bron ordered them.

“Bron,” Dalia protested.

“If you are ready, you can say what you have to say in front
of anyone.” He watched her, waiting.

Dalia shook her head and turned from the room. She spun back
around and sighed. Bron was silent, his eyes telling Dalia how much it meant
for him. “I trust you, Bron,” She whispered.

He stood and walked to her, blocking her view of the rest of
the room.

“Louder,” he demanded gruffly.

Dalia’s eyes lit with anger and she met his heated gaze. Her
body shuddered in response; she stepped closer to his heat.

“I love you, you ass. I will hold nothing back from you.
Everything I have, you'll have.”

BRON CAPTURED the rest of her words with a kiss that heated
her body. Dalia wrapped her arms around him and the catcalls from the other
warriors faded to the background. Bron groaned and deepened the kiss. Growling
he slipped his hands under her shirt and teleported them to her bedroom at the
loft. He thought she would leave when she turned her back to the room. His
heart had stopped, and he thought he'd pushed her too far. He nearly wept when
she turned and told him she trusted him, he knew how much it had cost her to
say it. They would talk later, much later; right now he had to have her.

Dalia gasped when her back hit the wall and Bron swallowed
the sound as he devoured her mouth. He made their clothes disappear and entered
Dalia in one stroke.

“Tell me again.”

“I love you,” she moaned.

Bron pulled her legs around his waist. “Tell me you trust
me,” he ordered, nipping her shoulder.

“I trust you with my life."

Bron licked a trail up to her neck and scraped his teeth
gently along the column of her throat. He bit down and they both exploded.

“I love you,” he growled. He moved her to the bed and laid
her down reverently.

Dalia's eyes closed as he settled next to her. A sense of
homecoming moved through her, bringing tears to her eyes.

"Will I have to give the warriors a soap opera every
time you're angry with me?" Dalia teased.

"That will probably backfire on me. I don't think
they'll allow me live that scene down for centuries." Bron said
sardonically.

"Serves you right."
She
pinched his arm.

"I needed to know you would put your pride aside for
me," he told her solemnly, kissing her on her brow.

"I didn't realize how much my trust meant to you."
She trailed her fingers down his cheek. "I won't give you a reason to
doubt my trust in you."

Bron grabbed her fingers and laid a kiss to her palm.
"Then we will make this work."

"There will still be fights," Dalia told him.

Bron snorted. "As long as I am breathing, I imagine
we'll argue with each other
, mi okan
."

"And my hunting?" she asked.

Bron gave a long-suffering sigh. "We will hunt
together. You can't get into too much trouble if I am there."

Dalia laughed, happiness removing doubt and fear from her
heart. "I love you." She gave him a smacking kiss on the lips.

"And I will love you forever, Dalia." Bron kissed
her deep, content in the knowledge that he had finally found home.