Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
ZANDYR
I ’d wanted to shock her out of the dark cloud which had descended between us. Yet she ended up surprising me.
I didn’t know what I had expected today, but it wasn’t this.
I’d promised myself I’d stoically hear every insult, every scorn, and every slight that passed through that beautiful mind of hers.
Was I disappointed she hadn’t wanted to talk about us ? Devastated.
But I understood.
Better to have her irate at me than indifferent.
For the first time since the wedding, I felt like I could breathe. Because she was here. My air. My very reason for existing.
The urge to wrap my arms around her punctured my self-control. Yet I resisted. I was the reason she suffered. She would find no comfort in my arms. Not anymore.
The realization hurt.
Her words cut deep.
They seared into my veins and mind. Bruised my ego and my soul.
Still, it was nothing compared to the torment my mind subjected me to every night. I didn’t fight that either. She was right–I deserved to suffer for what I’d done.
Did I want to hear every painful accusation? No.
Did I have to hear them? Yes.
But the more she talked, her voice darkened and cracked. Her agony was palpable.
I’d been ready for my torment. I was not prepared for hers.
So I kissed her, to jar us out of that tension.
I shouldn’t have done that.
Now I feared I couldn’t stop.
The kiss made me feel alive once more. It burned away all the dark thoughts which had plagued me since the wedding.
But it had to end.
When I began to pull away, Evie clasped her palms on the back of my neck and didn’t let go. Her lips twisted against mine harshly. The bond between us pulled taught, vibrating with renewed vigor.
Everything felt right once more in this crooked world. All my worries, dark and twisted, evaporated. All my thoughts and instincts honed in on her .
Just her.
The perfect her.
Evie’s nails dug into my skin as our mouths devoured each other. There was nothing chaste about this kiss. It was all teeth and growls and sighs and rumbles, echoing from my chest into hers. My arms finally wrapped around her like they’d been aching to.
Evie molded her body to mine, pulling herself up. My palms grabbed her thighs and in one quick movement, I lifted her flush against me. Her thighs gripped my hips to the point of pain.
Delirious from finally tasting her again, I turned and pressed her back against the nearest wall, away from the columns and curious eyes. Here, in the shadows, we could debauch ourselves to our hearts’ content.
Her nails raked up my back, into my scalp, as if she wanted to dig through my skin and mark my skull. Her teeth sunk into my lower lip hard enough to bruise and her fingers twisted in my hair and yanked.
Hard.
She wasn’t kissing me.
She was fighting me.
Trying to destroy me. If this was supposed to be some kind of punishment, repenting had never felt better.
She pulled me against her with one hand and pushed me with another. Yet she still kissed me, like I was also the air she needed.
The harsher her movements got, the gentler I forced mine to be. I cradled her cheeks and ran my hand through her hair, her sweet fragrance searing all my senses.
She didn’t like that.
Sweet Evie, who they’d called a little lamb when she first came to the Capital, bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. Mine. It swirled between our tongues, filling our mouths. And, gods above forgive us, we both moaned at the taste.
As soon as we swallowed the first drops, the energy between us flared. There was a sudden rift inside of me. Part of my soul had split and delved into her body. A small part of Evie somehow rushed within me.
Every sensation was amplified.
The taste of her on my tongue. The soft moans. Through her body, I felt my grip on her thighs and my fingers behind her ear.
I wanted more.
I’d sapped my energy to shield my mind from hers. But now I was powerless to stop the barrage of thoughts flooding my brain. Hers. She was pushing against all the limits, the barriers between us as liquid as the blood we both gulped down.
At first, I thought she was arguing with me.
But she was arguing with herself, in a chaotic rush.
Stop this, Vegheara. Get away from him. Save yourself.
No, this is where I belong. He’s mine.
He’s not yours , a wail erupted between us.
He is. I deserve him after everything I’ve been through. Screw everyone else.
This isn’t you .
It should be.
But it isn’t. He picked Kaya, not you. She’s the favorite.
I never was and never will be Kaya’s , my own thought rumbled between us.
We broke apart fiercely, our harsh breaths melding together. She looked wild, rage in her eyes, blood dripping from her lips. My blood.
My palm still cradled her cheek. It might’ve been my imagination, but she leaned into my touch. In all the madness, her dress had slipped down one shoulder, revealing her soft skin. Slowly, I placed a chaste kiss right at the junction of her neck, leaving behind a crimson outline of my lips. It matched the bloody mark of her palm, right above her heart.
She froze as she finally noticed the blood. Her shaky fingers touched her own lips, coming back crimson.
“What was that?” she asked.
“It felt like a kiss of death.”
Evie pushed me away, slipping from my arms.
She stared at me in horror. Then her gorgeous face twisted with a mean smirk. “I’ll protect your precious Capital. It gives me the perfect opportunity for my revenge.”
“Which is?”
“I’m going to make your people love me more than they do you.”
“I want my Clan to love and respect you.”
Her smirk grew. She looked like a goddess of vengeance. “With a throne on the line and you off to fight in a war, I wouldn’t be so trusting.”
“Do what you think you must.” I licked my lips, giving her a bloody grin of my own. “But remember one thing, menace. No matter what happens, you are mine and I will always be yours.”