Chapter Four
THIS DIDN’T CHANGE anything.
The words sounded right in his mind, but why did they strike his heart like it was a curse?
This didn’t change anything.
Arkane first started hearing it the moment Tiara told him of the things he knew deep down were what Icelle had tried her best to tell him long ago.
‘I need you to listen to me. Please.’
And though he had known even then that his stepsister would only beg for the most painful of things, the ones that really made her normally tough heart start to break—
‘There’s nothing you can say to change my mind.’
It had been the same for him, and Tiara’s betrayal had him reeling so fucking bad—
‘Do not make me turn my back on you, too.’
That no one had even mentioned her name in his presence again.
Because they all knew, even when he had already moved out, and Arkane had started drowning himself in work—
They all knew.
He had never stopped reeling since that night.
And that was why—
Even though to have her in his arms like he did now was like regaining the missing pieces of his heart—
This didn’t change anything.
And even though her body was still trembling against his side, her tears were still falling, and she was following him without question like his heart had enslaved hers for life—
This didn’t change anything.
He took her to his home. His room. His bed.
This didn’t change anything.
Her eyes never shying away from his as he bent his head, her lips parting under his, and ah, this kiss—
This didn’t change anything.
Because he couldn’t fucking afford otherwise.
This MUSTN’T change anything.
Because already, the feel and taste of her, the very scent of her that was uniquely Tiara—all of it was making him forget who he was, what he meant to do, and why it had to be so.
The sound of her whimpers, the pressure of her nails digging deep into the panes of his back—
This MUSTN’T change anything.
His lips moved down her body until he found what he was looking for, and at the first touch of his lips, she was already arching involuntarily, and ah, to hear her crying out his name—
“Arkane!”
He covered her mouth, and when her pleasure-hazed eyes sought his—
“I need you to stay silent, princess.”
That was the only warning he gave her, and she was left grabbing the pillow and biting into it as he continued with the business of giving her what they both wanted.
Pleasure that could never be put into words, the kind that rocked their worlds and made night into day, and as she arched against his lips one last time—
This MUSTN’T change anything.
He no longer knew if the words were a blessing or a curse. Everything was just a fucking blur, pain and revenge melting into lines that he had forced his soul to cross—
This COULDN’T change anything.
She fell back against the bed. A tremulous smile touching her lips as her dazed gaze sought his. And then she was slowly reaching up to touch his cheek—
“I love you.”
And even though a part of his soul still was still lost in the darkness, unwilling to let go of everything—
Arkane still found himself capturing her hand and bringing it slowly to his lips.
“I love you.”