32. Chapter Thirty-Two Rhea
Chapter Thirty-Two: Rhea
F lynn slides both of his hands down to grip the bottom of my thighs. My body shivers under his touch, and I can’t help but tighten my hold on his hair. If this is what kissing him is like, I can’t imagine—
He pulls his mouth away from mine, only to plant searing kisses down my jaw and neck. My back arches in response, small gasps seeming to echo off the walls. When his lips are on me, I feel transformed, remade. Like a different version of myself that has been locked away and hidden is now brought to light.
“You are perfect,” he rumbles in between the pressing of his lips on my skin. I’m blazing, feeling more alive, more wanted, more undone—just more —than I ever have before, as my body moves against his. I have no idea if what I’m doing is right or if I’m affecting Flynn the same way, and that small hesitation in me causes him to pause and look up at me. His eyes are wide and filled with a hunger that I know is reflected in my own. His perfect wavy black hair is tousled from my hands, eliciting more of those thoughts of what it would be like to do this completely uninhibited. Heat crawls up my cheeks as I chew on my tingling bottom lip. Flynn frowns, leaning in to kiss me, forcing the lip free and asking against my mouth, “Do I want to know what is making you blush so fiercely?”
“Nothing,” I respond too quickly, causing him to laugh. My body trembles from the sound, and I’m not sure if it’s my magic reacting or just me. Or perhaps it’s both—it likes Flynn as much as I do.
My hands slide down from his hair to hold the sides of his face, so similar to the way he held mine. I pull him in for another deep kiss, feeling like I could exist off of only this. Off of only him . Like two choruses fusing together, our lips create an exquisite melody—a song unique to us. When we separate again, both panting for air, he groans as he adjusts his hold on me. His large hands slide farther up my legs and closer to the center of my body.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, worried that he was injured earlier or that maybe he’s tired from holding me.
“Everything is perfect. It’s just—” He laughs, his olive skin flushing at his cheeks as he leans in to kiss the tip of my nose. “I have been thinking about this moment for a long time. You have consumed my thoughts for a long time.”
Warmth brushes the edges of my mind as my fingers fan across his cheeks and chiseled jaw, gently stroking the smooth skin there in response. “You have consumed mine as well,” I say quietly, my heart fluttering at how his eyes glaze at my confession. “Was it— Was I—” I stammer, not able to find the bravery to question what I’m afraid to know the answer to. Flynn reads the unspoken words on my face, though, and just laughs in that all-consuming way he does. His forehead comes back to rest on mine, his eyes indulgent as he pins me in place.
“Do you believe everything I told you?” I nod my head slowly as his earlier declarations replay in my mind. I want to brand them onto my brain—an eternal reminder of what he feels for me. A dedication of the moment we became something more . “Then know that this is the truth too. All I can think about now is how you taste,” he avows in a dark velvet voice. His tongue darts out to lick his lips like he’s desperate to see if there’s any part of me still lingering there, causing my legs to squeeze around him tighter in response. “And I am now burdened with not only the knowledge of that taste but my desire to consume you again.”
Gods above.
Our bodies are so closely pressed together that I can feel the evidence of how much he wants this—of how much he wants me. I let out a pathetic whimper, while inside of me is an inferno fueled by the knowledge that his desire for me is so… prominent. My earlier thoughts of what it would be like if all the barriers between us were removed pushes to the forefront of my mind again. My magic agrees with the direction of those thoughts as it warms me from the base of my spine to the top of my head.
“I don’t want to rush things with you,” he breathes as his lips skim across mine. “But make no mistake, Rhea, you have complete and total power over me.”
I have no idea how that can be true when just my name from his lips has my legs weak and my heart skipping beats. He’s holding more of me than he knows, and the longer I stare into the depths of his eyes, the more I would give him anything he asks. Any broken part of me he might desire, it’s already his.
“What if I don’t want you to go slow?” I whisper, looking at him from under lowered lashes.
His fingers grip my thighs more tightly, enough to let me know that he’s holding back, but not enough to hurt. Unburdened desire floods my veins as I watch his eyes widen and brows draw up. For the first time since meeting Flynn, I think he might be speechless.
“I just assumed that we should since you haven’t—”
“I have,” I interrupt. His surprise morphs into confusion for a few beats, but then another emotion bleeds in. His eyes narrow faintly, and the corners of his mouth tighten as a near grimace takes form.
“With who?” The words are clipped, the change in his demeanor catching me off guard.
My eyes hold his, trying to decipher what I said wrong as I ask, “What do you mean with who?” We’re both staring at each other, an unpleasant tension pushing us apart as I lean back a little to see him better. The tightness of his lips relaxes a fraction, but he’s still looking at me like he’s learned something new he doesn’t like. And that thought makes me nauseous with panic. “Flynn, what are you talking about?” I suddenly feel shy with the apex of my desire still flush against his body.
“What are you talking about?” he counters.
“You can’t answer a question with a question,” I mumble. When he doesn’t say anything and instead tilts his head forward, encouraging me to respond, I sigh and slide my hands down from his face. “Aren’t you getting tired of holding me?” I deflect, a different heat rising to my cheeks as I now realize that perhaps I don’t want to vocalize my thoughts.
“Don’t insult me,” he scoffs lightly, easing some of my worry. “Tell me what you are talking about.”
My cheeks puff with breath as I pinch my lips together, my fingertips digging into the hardness of his muscular shoulders. Awkward seconds pass that only grow more so as time goes on. Finally, I exhale and dip my chin, hoping it doesn’t sound as bad as it does in my head when the words start tumbling out of me.
“I just meant that I know I’ve been locked in a tower and have barely had any mortal interaction, but I know what it means to be… intimate. Or I have read about it, at least.” My whole body tenses as I cringe—it definitely sounds worse out loud.
Flynn is silent, though his shoulders underneath my hands relax and lower. Suddenly, we’re moving until he gently pushes my back up against a stone wall. Bracing me there, a hand leaves my leg to cup the side of my face. His eyes hold mine for a moment before our lips meet again. The feel of our tongues sliding together draws an indecent moan from me, my legs once again squeezing to bring him in closer. His hips push into me in response, and my mind goes blank—utterly blank. Thank the gods he is holding me up because I’m completely undone under his touch. Flynn pulls back slightly, our lips separating but still close as we breathe each other in.
“We need to slow down,” he whispers. I let out a frustrated groan in response—to which he just chuckles darkly. With one more searing kiss that ends far too quickly, he lowers me to the ground and guides me over to the couch. “We also need to talk,” he says, tone going serious.
I nod my head because I know. I enjoyed a few minutes of distraction where it felt like, for once, my world was coming together rather than falling apart. Unable to stop the quiver of fear that alters my voice, I ask, “How long do we have before the king finds out what I’ve done?”
“He’s not going to find out,” Flynn growls. A muscle in his jaw pulsates as he grinds his teeth together.
“But… the guard?” My skin tightens at the memory of his hold on me. One look at Flynn and I know his thoughts are the same.
“Is no longer a problem.” The words are solemn as he holds my stare, unyielding in the fierce way he looks at me.
“The blood,” I whisper, eyes rounding as realization clears away the remainder of the lust that had been coursing through me. “You killed him?”
“I should have, for the way he touched you,” Flynn snaps before seeing the look on my face and exhaling loudly. “No, we fought, but I was able to subdue him. He’s tied up at the base of the tower.” A crease forms in the middle of his brows, his gaze dropping from mine like he’s ashamed that he didn’t do more.
“Flynn, you made the right choice.” I bring my hand up to cradle the side of his face and tilt his head up to look at me, my thumb caressing his skin. “I don’t want you to kill for me,” I plead. “I just want you .”
He huffs out a laugh, his rueful smile piercing straight through my heart, and leans in, planting a sweet kiss on my lips. I feel his atonement, as well as his protective spirit, in the way he moves his mouth against mine.
“And I want you. Do you have any idea how terrifying that is?” He swallows, a hand coming to rest on my knee. And there, in the slight tilt of his head and furrow of his brows, he shows me the small hurt that’s inside of him. The one he won’t voice but that is there all the same.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you anything about me leaving,” I say with a breath, my hand coming to rest on top of his. “I wanted to ask you to come with me, but I didn’t think you could. Wait, how are you able to help me?”
Flynn goes still in response, eyes searching mine. I take our intertwined hands and flip them so his palm is facing up. When I untangle mine from his, I look for that slash of a scar that signifies his blood oath, like Alexi had. But the skin there is smooth. Grabbing his other hand and flipping it over, I see the same thing. Confused, I look at him as a tiny seed of doubt winks into existence within me. “I don’t understand. Why don’t you have a scar from the blood oath?”
“Because the oath, it didn’t take.” He takes my hand in his once more, thumb lightly trailing along the back, as he speaks.
My eyes widen as they dart from his eyes to his hands and back again. “How is that possible?”
I don’t know many details about how magic works in our kingdom or beyond, but I do know from the history books I have read that magic is in the very land of the Continent. And that, when mortals give a drop of their blood and speak certain words with intention, it creates a sort of contract bound within the confines of that magic.
“That’s a story I promise to tell you when we are long gone from here. For now, we need to talk about how we are leaving tomorrow.”
I want to ask more, to implore how he was able to skirt around magic, but my attention gets snagged on his words. “Tomorrow?” I breathe, watching as he nods his head in response.
“Yes. Tomorrow, you and I are leaving this place permanently .” He squeezes my hand one more time before standing and walking over to the satchel I had dropped when I first came back into the tower. After sifting through the contents, he places it back down.
“This is well packed. And you have boots,” he points out, as if noticing them discarded at our feet for the first time.
“I thought it would be better to have them. Though I have to admit that they hurt my feet.” I reply, shrugging my shoulders.
He nods before a slow-growing smile breaks out across his face. “Were the bag and boots the ‘womanly’ things in your letter?” he asks.
I snort but nod in response.
“This is perfect, Sunshine. Keep this bag packed how it is. We will leave at sunset after my shift. We need enough light to get us to the edge of the forest, but once we are in there, the cover of darkness will help keep us hidden.” My fingers nervously fiddle with the fabric of Alexi’s shirt as I let his plan of escape sink into me. Flynn extends a hand to me, helping me up to stand before pulling me in for a hug. “For today, rest,” he says quietly, lips moving on the top of my head, “Bathe in the afternoon tomorrow since it will probably be your last warm one for a few days.”
I don’t know how I will be able to rest with everything that has happened. My emotions are even more tumultuous than before, rising and falling within me like the tide I often imagine. So many opposing thoughts and feelings are fighting for space that I feel I might burst at the seams from it. But I agree all the same because the truth is, I know I want to leave this tower, and I know I want to do it with Flynn. If those are the only two truths I have, then that is what I will focus on. Wrapping my arms around him, I close my eyes as I breathe him in. Being this close to him, letting him hold me and surround me with his very essence, is magic in itself. Somehow, it feels like he interacts with my magic.
My eyes shoot open as I realize I will have to tell him, eventually, about said magic. I squeeze him harder in response as fear takes root. Will he be angry that I am hiding it from him? Will he care that I have it at all?
After a few moments of protest, I finally let Flynn go and walk with him to the door. Looking out onto the landing, he sets his armor down on the ground again before his eyes find mine. Like he can’t help himself either, his arms wrap around me again as he steps in closer and takes a deep breath. A hand slides down to my lower back, and desire immediately comes racing back into my veins. My body is like sand struck by lightning; I’m completely altered under even the simplest of touches from him. I finally understand what the characters in the romance novels mean about being electrified from just a small bit of contact.
I shiver when his towering, broad form leans over me and his lips come to the edge of my ear. “The ability to touch you like this—to watch you react to my touch—is better than anything I could have dreamed of,” he murmurs.
My breath squeezes out of my chest at his words as my thighs clench together. And despite the fact that today has been a confusing mess of highs and lows, I would happily ignore everything if it meant I could be wrapped up in Flynn for even just a moment more. I arch my neck, giving him space to continue sliding his lips and nose down it. He breathes me in like I so often do with him, and the feel of it has me dizzy with a craving that can only be filled by him. Is this normal? To literally ache for him like this? To feel so complete when he holds me?
“When we are safe and away from this place, I want to explore every single inch of you.” His sensual voice unravels down my spine. Oh gods. My lips pinch together, holding in a moan that nearly escapes.
“Is that what you want?” he asks, peppering light kisses down my neck.
“Yes.” The word comes out breathy and laced with need.
“Good.” I can feel the smile on his lips as he presses one last kiss to my scorched skin before standing back up to his full height. “I will see you tomorrow at sunset.”
I close the door and slow my heavy breathing. There is a deafening silence that screams into my ears as it descends into the tower. It holds the guilt of nearly losing Bella again, the anticipation of actually leaving, and the nervousness at being caught for it all. Like a tree breaking loose from the ground, it feels like the moments before it hits the earth—quiet before destruction. I undress, not bothering to grab a nightdress and just crawling under the comforter instead. Despite my earlier worries, my eyes do grow heavy and my limbs sink into the mattress as Bella rests her head on my thigh over the blanket. I guess I am more tired than I thought. Flynn’s face is all I see in my mind before I quickly fall asleep.
I awake the next morning, realization settling in that I slept through the rest of the night without interruption. My arms stretch overhead as the warmth of the sunlight streaming in through the window blankets me. It is my last morning in the tower. My last time waking up in this bed surrounded by these walls. For sure this time, because I’m not doing it alone. I should feel pure joy at that, and I do, but fear penetrates my thoughts as well. Maybe it’s from my failed attempt, or maybe it’s because I’m going to be leaving behind the only life I’ve ever known. All I’ve wanted is to be free from this place, and yet now that the time is almost here, a part of me wonders if I can even survive in the world outside.
You aren’t alone. Flynn’s words make me smile and my magic hums at the thought. I notice it feels so much stronger and brighter lately. The woman from my visits to the Middle said my magic is growing, but I didn’t give myself time to register what she was even saying until now. Closing my eyes, I try calling the light up to my palms. It responds immediately, the humming sensation mixing with warmth as my eyes open again to see the white shimmering magic. It almost looks like starlight or if you mixed the sun’s rays with the moon’s glow. I stare at it a moment longer before letting it slowly fade back into my body. That small use of magic feels like a release within me, and I again wonder if not using it every so often comes with consequences. The warmth inside me dances at the thought. Great, I’m talking with the magic now. Feeling absolutely deranged, I slide out of bed and head to the bathroom.
After bathing, I put on one of the more simple dresses I own, a light purple one with small eyelet details throughout and a simple square-cut neck. To keep my mind distracted, I start cleaning the tower for the last time. I’m so lost in thought, my attention focused solely on using a broom to get a cobweb out of a high corner, that I don’t hear the king coming until he’s already opening the door. My eyes dart to the loft where Bella is laying on my bed before they fall back on the king. I steel myself for whatever this visit will entail, moving to lean the broom against a wall. He confidently walks into the tower, his trusted guards blocking the door behind him. I notice there are only four now instead of five, so the guard that captured me yesterday must still be tied up.
“Rhea, we have much to discuss today,” he starts, clasping his hands behind him as he begins to walk around me. I keep my body still, trying to shrink in on myself to take up as little space as possible. “Do you know what is happening in a few days’ time?” he asks as he drags a finger across my upper back. My mind whirls for a response, and when I don’t answer, King Dolian smacks the back of my head. I jerk forward with the strike, keeping my eyes down at my feet. “Answer the question, Rhea.”
“Do you mean the Summer Solstice?” I hate the way my voice comes out small and weak. I despise how my uncle has come in like a vicious storm and washed away any of the excitement I was feeling just moments ago.
He walks around me in determined steps until he comes to my front, his shiny black boots nearly standing on my toes from how close he is. The king’s thumb pushes under my chin to lift my head up until I’m forced to look at him. The sunlight streaming in from the balcony hits his face just right, making his eyes brighten—the skin beneath them left in the shadows. It’s frightening and ominous. His other hand trails down my arm, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I fight the urge to push him away from me. I can tell that my magic is paying attention to everything that is happening but, as of right now, is making no move to try and make itself known. Not that I would allow that anyway.
“Do you know,” he begins again, cutting into the piercing silence, “that this Summer Solstice marks twenty-two years since your parents died at the hands of mages?” I grit my teeth together because of course I know. Otherwise, I don’t move, afraid to do or say anything else. Afraid to see where this conversation is going. “Which means it’s been twenty-two years since you were born.”
The beat of my heart is furious, and ringing starts in my ears as dread begins to crush my chest and filter ice into my veins.
“Do you know what turning twenty-two means in our kingdom?” he challenges, leaning forward and invading my space more and more. I try to inch backwards imperceptibly, but he notices and curls his fingers around my arm to jerk me even closer to him. “I grow tired of asking you the same question twice,” he hisses in my face.
“It is considered the time when women come of age. When women may—” I hesitate, swallowing the bile that is working its way up my throat. “When women may marry.” A macabre smile twists his lips, causing my stomach to bottom out. There is no way he is suggesting—
“We are to be wed soon after the Summer Solstice, my darling. Or should I say, My Queen.” He tugs me impossibly closer to him, until I can feel his warm breath skimming my face, the fabric of his finely made clothing brushing against my skin. This time, I struggle to get back from him as my mind tries to come to terms with what he is suggesting.
“But you are my uncle! ” I squeak, a horrifyingly terrified noise. “You cannot marry me.”
He chuckles, but there is no mirth on his face. “I am the king. I can do whatever I want—with whomever I want. Besides—” He pauses, ticking a corner of his lips up before speaking again, “it wasn’t that long ago that ruling families wed within their own bloodlines to keep things pure.”
Despite wanting to pinch my lips closed to keep them as far away from my uncle as possible, I can’t help but let my jaw slacken in shock. I always assumed that I would be safe from this particular type of touch—despite his lingering glares and confusing words—but I’m just now realizing how utterly ridiculous that thought was. Of course I’m not safe from him. I never was. I never have been. I never will be. As long as I stay here, I will be damned to fit into a role I was never meant for. I may be the rightful heir to the throne, but I was never meant to rule with him by my side. Those times I saw a look flash in his eyes that I didn’t know how to define—I know what it was now. Desire and yearning—all things that I have now seen in Flynn’s gaze; except with him, I am undone. With Flynn, I return those feelings. With the king, I would rather die than let him touch me in that way. I would rather impale myself on one of these guards’ swords over and over again before allowing the king’s body to touch any part of mine.
Abruptly—like he knows where my thoughts have gone—he lets me go, the movement so quick that I stumble trying to regain my balance. There’s no time to react before his hand comes down on my face. The pain lances through my head and neck as the sound of the slap reverberates off the stone walls. I turn back to face the abhorrent monster wearing king’s clothes that dares to call himself my future husband. His chestnut hair glints in the sunlight; his cheeks—visible above his trimmed beard—are red from anger while lust swirls in his hazel eyes. Everything in me recoils from him except for my magic, which is now fighting to get to the surface.
“You can try to fight it. You can even pretend to hate me with every fiber of your being, but it won’t matter, Rhea. You are mine. You always have been. From the moment I saved you from death and brought you to this tower, I have been waiting for this day.”
“No,” I whisper as I shake my head. “I am not your consolation. She didn’t choose you, and neither do I.” I hold his gaze, my fear not yet enough for me to submit to the fury I can see burning in those depths. He grips a bundle of hair right near my scalp and yanks me forward. A yelp of pain that I can’t stop wrenches from me as his lips graze the spot where Flynn’s had just the day before.
“You’re right,” he says against my neck. “I gave her a choice, and she chose my so-called perfect brother. Which is why I am making the choice for you, darling .” His hand slides down my arm, squeezing tightly as he holds me in place. “You will earn your title, and I will continue to do what needs to be done until you are worthy of it. Enjoy your last few days in the tower,” he growls before suddenly shoving me back.
The force of it sends me flying into the tea table, cracking it right down the middle from the impact. My eyes go blurry, my head swimming in pain as I watch him stalk towards me and lean over. His gaze crackles with a vile intensity that makes me flinch before blackness starts to creep in at the borders of my mind.
“The night after the Summer Solstice will be spent in my bed.”