Chapter Seventeen
Ama
I was kissing someone. Holy shit. I was kissing someone and he wasn’t dying.
In fact, as I pulled back for a moment, overcome by emotions, tears streaking down my face and out of breath, I realized he looked more than healthy.
He seemed to be vibrating with energy and power.
There was an intensity to him that should have been intimidating but instead had me feeling ten times more turned on.
“Adrien,” I whispered as he pressed his forehead to mine.
I felt that telltale prickle of heat across my body as my Succubus magic came alive, but instead of seeming to affect Adrien, it just wrapped around the two of us comfortingly.
Just like with Finias, my magic seemed to not only accept Adrien, but also embrace him.
Oh man, I was so in over my head here.
“You are so exquisite.” He groaned, and I let out a small happy sound at the heat and comfort that radiated between us. How had I only known this man for hours? That was impossible. I felt like I had known him for years. Longer than Drayven.
Drayven…why wasn’t Adrien being affected by my kiss like Drayven had been?
“Where did you go, beauty?” my Wraith prince whispered softly, the question reminiscent of the one I had asked him. My Wraith prince? He really did feel like mine.
I met his gaze again and, on an impulse, I tugged him back down to me, the kiss quickly turning from delicate and teasing, almost cautious, to something deeper and hungrier.
A low, vibrating growl tore from his throat as his tattooed fingers twisted around the length of my hair, his grip unyielding.
There was something so dangerously seductive about this man, and it was paired with a quiet intensity that was so much more predatory than he let on.
I could feel his shadows wrapping around us, and my fingers dropped down from his neck to dig lightly into his chest. I moaned against his lips as he pinned me to the nearest wall, his breathing as uneven and rough as my own.
I was losing myself in this man. Or maybe finding myself.
Recreating myself. The limits I had imposed on myself for physical affection were gone, and with them the immense weight on my mind that told me I could never have a normal relationship.
I hadn’t realized how much it truly impacted me subconsciously until the tears of relief had streamed down my face.
When the door swung open, slamming into the wall, I jolted and then let out a surprised scream as I was pulled rather violently away from Adrien.
Oh shit.
I groaned as I slammed into a ridiculously hard, large body. Drayven’s entire frame vibrated beneath my touch, and I blinked, trying to steady myself. I was getting high off my own magic or something.
“Get off me,” I growled, pushing away from Drayven, or trying to. I thought he was just doing the typical annoying bodyguard role he had assumed since coming here. Unfortunately, I'd clearly missed the extent of the tension in the room.
When I looked up at Drayven’s face, I immediately stilled. His gaze was locked on Adrien, and his expression was frankly beyond chilling. I swallowed nervously, seeing Drayven's jaw tighten as if he felt my gaze. Then he looked down at me with eyes that flashed with neon green. Ah, shit.
This was bad. Very, very bad. I had no idea what his deal was, but this had to stop. Now. I’d never seen Drayven lose it, but I could tell he was nearly there.
“Dray, stop.” My words were a hard command as my gaze flickered over to Adrien, who was watching Drayven with complete indifference.
Well, attempted indifference. I had a feeling he was ready for Drayven to attack and more than prepared.
His gaze flickered to where Drayven had a firm, nearly bruising, hold on my frame.
“Let go of her, Drayven.” Adrien’s voice was smooth, and there was a lethality to it. “Let go of her and get the fuck out of my house’s quarters.” Is that where we were?
“We are leaving.” Drayven’s voice was rough with emotion that blazed in his gaze as I tugged my body away from his. He let out an ominous growl.
“Ama, this is not the fucking time. We are leaving. Now.”
“No.” I kept my face blank. “No, Drayven, I am spending time with Adrien.”
“Damn it, Ama. Now,” he hissed, and I nearly listened to him, my toes curling as I tried not to think about why his demanding tone was so appealing.
“You don’t have to go anywhere.” Adrien appeared behind me, placing a hand on my hip. “He knows that. He just doesn’t like it.”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are. I will snap your fingers one by one if you don’t get them off her.” My eyes widened at Drayven’s threat and my breathing hitched.
Adrien chuckled softly, “I more than welcome the attempt, but I would much rather be using my fingers for other, more enjoyable things.”
My cheeks flamed with color as I watched Drayven teeter on the edge of control. It was both addicting and dangerous to watch. I shook my head and stepped away from both of them, swallowing and running a nervous hand through my hair.
“I am going to go,” I muttered, hating how confused Drayven had made me feel with his territorial and demanding personality the past two days.
I’d been elated that I’d kissed Adrien and felt such a deep connection, and now I was pissed that Drayven had managed to ruin another moment for me.
How? How did the man always manage to do that?
It had to be his favorite hobby in life.
Adrien raised my hand to his mouth, dropped a soft kiss to the top, and whispered, “I’ll be seeing you, beauty.”
I gave him a soft smile and strode from the room, fury at Drayven growing inside of me.
Questions began to gather in my head, and my breaths grew uneven.
I was so lost in my thoughts as I stormed towards our room that I barely heard Drayven growling out my name from behind me.
After I slammed open the door to our suite and walked to the center of the room, I turned and pinned Drayven with a withering look.
The man looked unraveled—his hair was messy and his eyes pulsed green as if he was barely controlling his magic.
“Why?” I hissed, my eyes prickling with tears of anger. “Why can’t you just let me be happy?”
“He isn’t right for you,” Drayven bit out, his hand raking through his silver hair roughly.
“Isn’t right for me?” I seethed. “Is it so damn hard to imagine a world where someone wants me, Drayven? Where someone actually looks at me as more than just a hybrid? Why can’t you just let me be fucking happy?
Why can’t you leave me alone when I manage to find some small measure of happiness?
First with Finias, and now with Adrien.”
He was in my space then, and I fell back against the couch, suddenly overwhelmed by him. “I will never leave you alone, Ama. Absolutely never.”
I let out a growl of frustration, shoving him in the chest as he loomed above me, “Why, Drayven? Why won’t you leave me alone?
!” I practically screamed the last part, feeling exhausted by this emotional push and pull with him.
“Why can’t you let me feel cared about and not so damn alone?
” The last part was whispered, and I wished I could shove the words back inside, because it hurt to say them aloud.
Tension crackled in the air as he grabbed my jaw and spoke predatorily, “You think you’re undesirable and that no one wanted you, Ama?
No. It’s because I refused to accept that any of them were good enough to lay a fucking finger on you.
And I’ve finally accepted why that is. Because you. Are. Mine.”
Excuse me? What the...
My brain stuttered to a stop as my mouth popped open, “What? What the hell are you--”
Soft yet firm lips seared against mine, and everything around me came to a grinding halt.
The room crackled with tension and pleasure.
Pure, euphoric happiness surged through me as my magic explored him.
Panic ran rampant because the kiss deepened, and I wondered briefly how he was still kissing me with such intensity.
My magic was out. It was playing with his power, and it should have been draining him like it had the last time…
But it wasn’t.
The magic-filled kiss was suddenly ice cold, and I ripped my face away from his, feeling my heart stutter to a stop. Drayven was fine. My magic was doing exactly what it had last time…and he was fine. I saw when the reality of his mistake hit him, panic and concern flashing through his gaze.
“Drayven.” My voice was soft and dangerous.
“Ama,” his voice choked.
“No,” I shook my head as tears welled in my eyes, “Absolutely fucking not. Explain now. Explain why you and Adrien are both perfectly fine after kissing me. Nothing has changed. My magic is as deadly as ever, so why aren’t you fucking dead?”
Guilt. So much guilt filled his features, and he crouched in front of me, his hands tightening on my legs. My fingers curled in on themselves, nails biting into my skin, as I waited for the truth. The truth that I could feel was about to shatter my heart into a million tiny fucking pieces.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” I echoed. “You don’t know why you aren’t dead, or you don’t know why you lied? Because that’s what happened, isn’t it? You lied. I never fucking hurt you. Our kiss was never—”
Betrayal slammed into me. I had felt so guilty, so horrible, for so long because of his accusation.
People had hated me. People had relentlessly rejected me because of what he’d started.
It was bad enough that I was a hybrid, but for people to treat me like I had some kind of disease that could kill them?
Tears streamed down my face as he watched me with a helpless expression.
“Admit it.” My voice was far more controlled than I would have expected. Especially considering the man was shattering my heart. Any wall I thought I'd erected against Drayven was obviously non-existent in truth.
His voice was rough as he looked down at the floor, “Ama, you have to understand—”