"I was a fool," Alterain admitted, his voice lowering, the fire in his eyes dimming to a smolder. "I didn't know how to tell you the truth. I didn't know how to make you see that I wasn't using you. That I—" He stopped, his breath catching in his throat, the words too heavy to say.
"That you what?" Yves demanded, his voice rising again, though his anger was starting to crack, like glass splintering under pressure. "That you loved me?" The way Yves spat the word made it sound like an accusation, like something vile.
"Yes!" Alterain roared, his composure snapping.
He surged forward, closing the distance between them, his hands gripping Yves' shoulders with a desperate force. "Yes, I loved you! I still love you! Don't you understand? You've haunted me every day for the past three years. And I won't let you leave again."
Yves froze, his breath hitching as Alterain's confession hung in the air between them.
