CHAPTER 20 MILI
“ C urse you! ” I yell at him before I can stop myself. “You think to seduce me at such a time?”
His eyes flicker with what might be hurt, if I cared, and I whirl away from him and storm down the hall. My chest heaves with angry breaths as I stomp away, nearly running, and I’m almost to my door when I realize my eyes are hot with tears.
“Mili wait,” he calls after me, his voice echoing down the corridor. I stop in my tracks, sighing, but before I can turn around, he’s already closed the distance, almost colliding into me. I barely have time to gasp as he bumps into me, catching me off guard.
“Ouch,” he mutters, cupping his nose with both hands like I’d just head-butted him. “You have a knack for this, don’t you?” he grumbles, his eyes crinkling as he fights back a grin.
“Maybe if you weren’t in such a hurry...” I shoot back, raising an eyebrow as he winces with exaggerated pain.
“Or maybe if you didn’t run away from our kiss so fast. Was kissing me really so terrible? You should know I’ve been told I’m a very good kisser,” he fires back, his voice low and teasing as he drops his hands, that playful gleam in his eyes making my pulse race again.
“Argh, you are absolutely infuriating. That kiss... it’s never happening again, do you hear me? I have a responsibility to Ethelinda, and I’m not going to let you distract me from it.” I snap, the words bursting out of me from pure frustration.
“I think you already know where this ends Mili, no matter how much you fight it. We’re being drawn together” he says, his voice so intense that I can’t bear to stay in his presence a moment longer or who knows what in the Realm might happen between us if I do.
“I’d rather give a cactus a hug, than you Cory!” I walk into my chambers and slam the doors behind me. I need, for my own sake, to calm down. If I want to break the curse over Ethelinda, I need Cory’s help. I can’t afford to hate him, as much as I can’t afford to long for him. I just can’t –not while my people are at stake.
I think about the positives and try to breathe as I pace, back and forth, in my bedroom. What about Cory doesn’t infuriate me? It’s a tricky question. I growl in frustration, burying my head in my hands, and try to focus.
This alpha nonsense that he believe in isn’t helping either. I don’t want to feel this way about someone because of biology, surely he doesn’t want to either. I want it to be real, but how can I know for sure if what Cory feels for me is real and not just his alpha nature? And now I’m feeling things for him, but is it from my own free will, or are his pheromones blinding me? I don’t trust myself. I’ve made mistakes in the past, I mean who can forget Kar.
Focus, Mili. Think . You can’t go to sleep angry – another manner from my upbringing comes back to bite me. I sigh, focusing on my breathing, until I’m finally able to think clearly again. Well, I’d always been told that the First Guardian (the dragon who leads the others in the volcano, and is most powerful in Ethelinda) was cruel, cold, and power-hungry. He isn’t, not really, although he’s already getting on my nerves.
Cory can be angry, as I’ve seen already, but he’s never iced anyone out. When he’s upset, he communicates it clearly and with passion, nothing like the callous, hard dragons I read about in books.
It’s almost... admirable. Almost sexy . I sigh and bury my head in my hands. How am I meant to work together with him if all I want is to bed him? It’s going to be nearly impossible since he’s so handsome.
As I groan again, there are three sharp knocks on my door. I jump up, startled, and make my way over to it, slowly. Maybe he’s changed his mind, I think, maybe he does want to kill me.
I shake my head, scowling at my own paranoia, and crack the door open slightly. I don’t see anyone outside, and when I scan the right and left hallways there’s nobody there, either.
There’s a small parcel on the ground, I notice, and I pick it up gingerly. It’s wrapped in brown paper, unassuming, but tied with a beautiful salmonberry-colored ribbon. I touch it gently and gasp at how soft and delicate it is. Who would have something so beautiful and fragile in a brutal volcano like this?
I bring the package into my room and set it on my bed, undoing the ribbon gently. As I start to unwrap the present, a tiny piece of parchment falls out, and I read it quickly.
Sorry for being a brute. – Cory
Despite myself, I smile, and start to open the parcel excitedly. An apology gift is bound to be good, isn’t it?
I’m not disappointed when the paper is all undone. Inside the package are nearly a dozen beautiful outfits. From the look of it, half are fit for work (or training, which I’ll have to convince Cory to let me do at some point), and half for leisure.
The leisure outfits are beautiful, woven with such fine fabric that they fold easily into the tiniest squares. There are three light golden-green, and I wonder if Cory chose them because they match my eyes.
I prance over to the mirror, holding one up to my frame, and gasp at how perfectly it matches my irises. How did he have such beautiful garments on hand, though? Did he have them made just for me, or sent in when I arrived? The thought makes me giddy, and I collapse on my bed, sudden heat burning again in my core.
This is going to be harder than I thought.