That squeeze of her hand as her fingers threaded with his own...he breathed a sigh of relief and nodded at her. "I do. Very much." That was one thing he could never be dishonest about with her, and as much as he hated to lie to her about what he had become (though he knew she would notice the differences) he couldn't bring himself to conceal that from her.
Eric had loved her the moment he had first laid eyes on her as she mounted the wall in die Festung to sit beside him. At first he thought he truly had loved her like one could love a soul mate, but he had been wrong. He adored her on so many levels, loved her more on other planes of being. But he could never love her like Peter did. He wouldn't try. Not now. Maybe before. The other version of them had been together, so it wasn't out of the question but they came from different points, neither of them had known firsthand what he had Lee had experienced.
And Eric could never give up Lee. Not for anything.