Chapter 25 #2
“See?” Atlas murmured, his hands spreading ever so slightly, his fingers grazing her entirely bare bottom. “I’m not so terrible.”
When Everinne spoke, her voice was a raspy whisper. “I never said you were.”
“But you have before,” he countered smoothly.
She couldn’t meet his gaze, instead she stared at the ring on her finger. The one that had belonged to his mother. The large oval stone glinted a deep green, then a radiant blue in the play of intermittent moonbeams.
“So.” He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. “Are we going to talk about this?”
She shook her head, her wet hair clinging to her bare shoulders. “I don’t believe you.”
Atlas pulled back, his brows pinched together in a scowl. “What?”
“I’m not your mate, Atlas.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“The fuck you aren’t, Everinne.” His fingers molded to her, gripping her backside, clutching her flesh.
“You want to know why I used my magic on you all those years ago? Because I couldn’t escape your thoughts.
I could hear them as clearly as my own, and I wanted you just as much, if not more, than you wanted me.
I figured if I used my magic, just once, then I wouldn’t be breaking my vow to Veros. I wouldn’t have touched you.”
He nipped at her bottom lip, tugging lightly. “Then you had to go and have an orgasm and those sounds you made that night…they’re burned into my memory. I still get hard just thinking about them.”
As if to prove a point, he rocked forward, rubbing his hardening length against her core. “Try again, Wildheart.”
She fisted her hands against him. Wishes to falling stars and prayers to goddesses would no longer be enough to sway the path of her fate. “It can’t be me.”
“And why not?” he demanded.
Everinne hesitated. If Atlas was her mate, he would have access to her thoughts, to her feelings, and emotions.
She would have to protect herself, protect him.
She did her best to shield her mind from him, to keep him locked out.
There was no way he could find out that Kralv Oldrich was behind this union, that his own father had threatened to harm him, to break him, with her magic.
If such a thing were to happen, she would never forgive herself.
She grasped hold of the only excuse she could find, the hurtful insult he’d thrown at her the night he discovered her swinging from the chandeliers in the Grand Cru.
“Because I’m broken.” Lifting her gaze, she met the hurt, met the realization reflected at her in his eyes. “You said so yourself.”
“We’re all a little broken, Ever.” His thumbs traced lazy circles along her lower hips, slowly sliding beneath the lace straps to stroke her flesh.
“Sometimes, those broken pieces fit together to make something beautiful. Eventually, the sharp edges soften. The cracks and fractures fuse together to form a more perfect whole.”
Her nose began to tingle and her eyes filled, causing her vision to blur with the familiar sting of tears.
Atlas lowered his head.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t kiss me.”
His mouth skated along her cheek. “Afraid of the truth?”
Everinne’s bottom lip trembled, she was afraid of more than the truth. “I’m afraid of everything.”
“Not anymore. Not with me.” One hand moved to the small of her back, anchoring her against him. The other slid up her arm and around to the back of her neck. “Never again.”
Then Atlas kissed her and Everinne’s soul ignited.
The world fell away in a wash of dizzying colors and muted sounds.
His tongue slid along the seam of her lips, and she opened for him readily, gasping into his mouth as a magical thread thrumming with power stole around her heart, weaving an intricate yet intangible design.
The bond snapped into place and she shuddered, throwing her arms around his neck as it sparked and hummed, as every part of him became every part of her.
Atlas was the beating of her heart.
The blood flowing through her veins.
The air in her lungs.
She’d fallen into the tempest of his existence.
Her pulse thudded wildly as he angled her head, deepening their kiss.
It was a clash of teeth and tongue, of licking and tasting and longing.
He thickened against her and she pushed her hips forward, not realizing how long she had craved this moment.
It was as though she’d been walking through her life in a fog of frigid gloom.
Always lost. Always alone. Suffering by the hands of her own magic, subjected to a place of darkness and despair.
Where light could not reach, where there was nothing and no one.
The pain of her own torment had ruled her, haunted her for years, forced her to live in a nightmare of her own making.
Until Atlas.
Until her mate .
“Tell me,” he said as he planted kisses along the column of her throat. “Tell me I’m not your mate. Lie to me, Wildheart.”
Everinne could tell the truth. She could steal this moment from fate, keep it harbored away and safely hidden, just as she’d done with her twisted magic.
Except she hadn’t been able to keep it a secret.
Kralv Oldrich had discovered it, he’d discovered the monster lurking beneath the exterior of her tortured soul.
And he would find out about Atlas, too. He would learn about their bond and wield it against her like a weapon.
His magic allowed him to sense someone’s greatest fear and use it against them, forcing them to bend and break beneath his will.
Loving Atlas Skye would be the biggest mistake of her life.
“I can’t be your mate.” She choked the words out. Shaking her head, she shoved away from him. “I…I reject the bond. I reject you.”
If looks could indeed kill, Atlas would’ve sent her to her grave. The raw agony, the absolute hurt on his face was like nothing she had ever seen. His eyes darkened, and the newly formed bond between them strained, a convoluted hiss and snap as she tried to deny what could never be undone.
He stared at her, unmoving. “Liar.”
She swam toward the edge of the pool, clutching her heart as she went.
The pain was unbearable, like she’d been run through with a poisoned blade.
Hoisting herself up, she dragged her legs over the ledge and climbed out of the pool.
Cold air assaulted her, and she wrapped her arms around herself and turned back, only to find Atlas swimming toward her.
With her teeth chattering, she faced him, willing herself to hold his furious glare.
“I will be your wife in name only.” Everinne shivered, gripping her elbows with her hands as the cold beads of water slid down her skin, turning to droplets of ice.
He hauled himself out of the pool and she tried not to stare at the way his silky wet shirt clung to his broad shoulders, the way it molded to the solid wall of his chest and abdomen. And she definitely didn’t notice how his pants slung low across his hips as he stalked in her direction.
“Name only?” he growled, snagging her by the chin, his fingers bruising. “So, you have no intention of sharing my bed?”
Everinne clamped her mouth shut. She didn’t dare speak, fearful that if she tried, she would place them both in danger.
“And what if I told you my father anticipates an heir?” His thumb stroked the side of her cheek, and she willed herself not to lean into his touch. “That I’m expected to fill you with my seed until you’re swollen with child?”
That sounded exactly like some vicious command the kralv would set upon Atlas. But she could not allow herself to be swayed.
“Then I would say you should look elsewhere.” Her voice was quiet. Hollow and empty. Just like her.
Atlas barked out a cruel laugh, jerking back from her like he’d been stung. “Elsewhere? You think he’d appreciate me siring a bastard?”
Again, Everinne said nothing.
“And you…” He pointed an accusing finger in her direction. “You’re saying you’d be fine if I fucked someone else while I’m married to you?”
The bond revolted and her stomach heaved. The mere thought of Atlas finding another female to warm his bed made a wave of nausea flow through her, but she was determined to stand her ground. She was doing this to save him. To save both of them.
Everinne lifted her chin and swallowed down the rise of bile scalding the back of her throat. “I don’t care who you fuck as long as it’s not me.”
Atlas opened his mouth but she kept going, refusing to let him get a word in. If she wanted him to believe she was denying him and their bond, then she would have to make it hurt. “You’re the prince of pleasure, Atlas. I wouldn’t expect you to be faithful to me.”
His nostrils flared.
His silence rattled in her ears, deafening, and she trembled beneath the fury in his gaze.
Atlas stomped toward the double doors of his bedroom and threw them open so the etched glass panels shattered.
Following in his stormy wake, she leapt over the shards of broken glass littering the ground and tiptoed into his room.
He disappeared into the bathing suite and she inhaled, only to be greeted by the overwhelming scent of him, of fresh cedar, mouthwatering neroli, and tempting spice.
Her lungs ached and her heart thundered as his volatile emotions crashed down the bond, wrecking her.
He emerged a moment later and threw a towel in her direction.
She barely caught it before it hit the ground.
Atlas’s face was a mask of utter calm, devoid of any emotion. He rolled his shoulders back, his chest expanding with deep, measured breaths, and the bond fell silent.
His cold gaze flicked to the door leading to one of the halls. “Get out.”
Frozen in place by fear or dread, she couldn’t be sure, but Everinne didn’t move.
“I am not asking.” He jerked his head toward the door. “Get. Out.”
She ducked her head, clutching the towel to her. Oh gods, it smelled just like him, too. Something inside of her snapped, breaking her. “Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
Everinne bolted from Atlas’s quarters, unable to look at him as tears slid freely down her cheeks.
All the emotions she hated, the ones she couldn’t control, slammed into her.
One after another. She felt herself slipping off the ledge as she sprinted down the dimly lit corridors, passing snickering servants and whispering halls.
Panic. Heartbreak. Fear. They were all a violent landslide, careening toward her with unfathomable speed, ready to smother her into a suffocating abyss.
Broken sobs escaped her as she muffled her face with the towel, as the dark magic inside her yawned, awakening once more. Welcoming her despair.
No, no, no.
Her body convulsed as she fumbled blindly toward the bedroom the kralv kept for her, her vision blurring as hot tears streaked down her cheeks.
She swiped at them hastily, her fingertips coming away smeared with kohl and stardust, a stark reminder she’d broken two hearts tonight.
Remorse sank its claws into her, pierced her until the stab of its agony met bone, until she thought she would die from the emotional pain she’d inflicted upon Lord Tovian and Atlas.
She’d hurt them both, cut them deeply, and this time, she had only herself to blame.
Not her magic.
Two guards were positioned outside of her bedroom, but neither of them spared her a glance as she approached.
They did not look at her, did not speak to her, no doubt they were only there to ensure she followed Kralv Oldrich’s explicit demands.
They simply opened the door, let her stagger into the dimly lit room, then shut it soundly behind her.
Everinne dropped the towel.
She peeled out of her still dripping dress, letting it crumple to the ground at her feet in a heap of sodden material.
Shadowy wisps of pitch black and deep violet slipped from her fingers, and she curled her hands into fists, pleading with the chaotic magic to stay silent.
Kicking off her shoes, she trudged over to the glowing hearth, but each time her bare feet met the plush carpet, the steps felt like a steady march to her own death.
Naked and shivering, she stood before the fire in an attempt to warm her frozen body. But not even the heat of the flames could offer her any kind of comfort. Her chest rose and fell in uneven intervals as the darkness within her magnified, preying upon the weakness of her mind.
Please , she begged before turning away from the hearth and walking numbly over to the bed.
Not tonight.
She crawled on top of the velvet comforter, drawing her knees to her chest, curling into herself.
“Just for tonight,” she whispered out loud and squeezed her eyes shut, the silent tears still spilling down her cheeks. “Please, leave me alone.”
Everinne ran her thumb along the band of the engagement ring on her hand and waited.
Tendrils of her power cocooned around her, blanketing her in a swath of shadowy magic. And for the first time, the harrowing beast inside of her fell blessedly silent.