Nala thought of arguing but changed her mind. He was right, she knew the power of the Aje warriors, they would make good on their promise. It was in her best interest to be where they could not find her.
***
DALIA KNOCKED softly on the door to her mother’s room. She entered when she heard her mother’s voice. “How are you feeling, mama?” She sat on the bed next to Isabelle.
Her mother gripped her hand. “I'm fine, mi’ja. I knew you would be there.”
Dalia shuddered as she thought of her mother bound and gagged. “I'll never be able to get that image out of my head.”
“It's over.” Isabelle gathered Dalia into her arms.
She laid her head on her mother’s chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ask me what you really want to know.”
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.
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