Roarke moved only enough to let her pass.  His face dropped as she spoke and as she moved angrily to the window.  His hands itched to stop her, to grab her and hold her and use the raw strength of his body to keep her close.  He turned slowly and fixed his eyes on her shimmering back, brighter even than the sunlight spilling in around her.<br/><br/>"I do love you," he said as he took a step closer, "You were not his, not even for the night.  You went to him and you gave yourself to him and took pleasure in it.  For a time your body was his perhaps, but not the rest of you.  And until you are Queen and make things different, I AM a mongrel and the courts would never allow themselves to be ruled by a queen that was herself ruled by a half-breed of low birth.  That's the truth and you know it as well as I do.  You cannot be mine the way I would have you, wholly and completely mine and mine alone."<br/><br/>He paused and shifted as those words lingered in the air.  "There... There I've said it.  I am jealous of every hand that touches your skin that isn't mine.. of every meeting of breath or lips with another... I dream of having you as my mate."