Chapter 27 Jasmine
Kane had promised to tell me the truth. They all had. But this heartful speech?
How is this the same man who once threatened to kill me? Now he’s saying things like that, looking at me like this? Like he’d do anything to prove himself to me. To make me believe him.
And the scary part is… I do.
Kane shifts slightly on the grass. “I know this isn’t the right time...” He hesitates, which is so unlike him it immediately gains my focus. “But, if it’s okay with you, Ezekial will be staying tonight and we…”
His nervous energy is almost too adorable, I can’t help it when my lips twitch.
“...Julien was supposed to ask, but… We wanted to know if more of us could stay over. Maybe two?”
I blink, letting his question linger a little longer than necessary, then flutter my lashes.
“Two?” The word comes out more breathless than I intended, because I’m already picturing it.
The four of them stayed over last night, but I was high on Julien’s blood, and I’d passed out before I even got a chance to feel them properly. Then, when I woke, only Julien remained.
Now my darkness uncoils at the thought of it. Two of them next door, feeling them through that wall, all night, their combined powers.
Kane must confuse my silence for concern. “We’re not trying to push you, but you’re our bond, and that separation…” He pauses, thinking over his words. “It’s not good for you.” His dark eyes lock with mine. “Or us.”
My fingers curl at my sides, darkness crawling beneath my skin, so eager to reach out.
I do know. I’ve felt it.
The ache, the exhaustion that lingers no matter how much I rest. The way I sometimes feel too hollow, like something inside me is missing even when I try to ignore it.
“It’s about desensitising you to having us near again,” he continues with another reason, clearly trying to convince me.
And his subtle desperation is so… endearing.
“Why not all four of you?”
He freezes. Then that calm, stoic expression fractures.
“You would allow that?” His disbelief is tinged with… joy?
My heart races in realisation it’s that emotion.
I steady myself mentally, then slowly tilt my head, dragging the moment out. “Maybe… Eventually… But two is a good start.”
He nods. “Who do you want—”
“Who do you want it to be, Kane?” I cut him off, narrowing my eyes with a coy smile.
For a moment, I think he might deflect like usual. He’s already met his quota of raw honesty and vulnerability for today, time for Kane to return—
“Me. I want it to be me.” I can’t look away from the storm of need filling those dark eyes.
Eyes I’d once called soulless, now they’re kindling with grey.
“Please,” he murmurs, gaze unwavering. “I want you to choose me.”
His words are so simple, but they hit hard, straight to that ache.
I swallow. He’s being completely honest, raw—just like I asked.
“You’re making my whole ‘make them suffer’ plan really hard when you speak like that,” I mutter, avoiding his eyes, trying to mask the way something warm and dangerous curls deep.
He leans in, just a little more, giving me just enough space to flee.
“I’ll do anything to fix my mistakes,” he says, voice a low rumble. “To make this right.”
I should tell him to stop, lean away. Scoff.
But I don’t.
Because his voice has that deep, steady pull that makes my legs feel unsteady, that makes me want to fall into him. It’s so damn hard to hold on to my resolve—
A sliver of darkness brushes my skin, cool and teasing, lifting my chin, but it isn’t his power.
It’s him.
His fingers brush along my jaw, drawing me back to him, forcing me to look into those damn eyes.
“That’s…” My voice catches. I swallow, try again. “That’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair, Jasmine,” he murmurs, and that voice. Goddesses, that voice. A deadly, wicked, sinful tease. “But I can show you how good unfair can feel.”
I blink. Stare.
What?
My mind stalls. I can’t process those words, or how boldly and shamelessly he delivered them.
It’s so wrong. So perfectly, deliberately wrong.
“Did you…” My voice is barely a breath. “Did you just say that?”
“I did,” he says simply. Calm, unrepentant. “And I mean it.”
Then his gaze drops.
To my lips.
And it stays there.
My mouth goes dry. I open it to speak, to try and take back control—
But nothing comes out. Nothing except a quiet, fractured inhale.
“I’m not here to rush you,” he murmurs so softly, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth. “But I am making my intentions clear. Crystal clear.”
He shifts forwards. Just a fraction. Just enough that the space between our mouths becomes almost nothing.
My breath catches.
His nose brushes mine.
My lips part instinctively, and—
He stops.
Just before our lips meet.
He fucking stops, pulls back and he…
He smiles. Just a small one. But it’s the kind of smile that doesn’t belong in public. The kind of smile that belongs in the dark, with his mouth at my throat and my hands clenched in his hair.
And he knows.
He knows if he’d leaned in even a breath more, I would’ve let him.
My pulse is erratic, crashing in my ears, betraying me completely.
Kane is too damn good at this. Too good at making me feel like I’m hanging by a thread, teetering between control and surrender. Too good at knowing exactly how far to push without ever making me pull away.
“Can two of us stay?” he repeats, that rasp sinful for such a simple question.
“I… I’ll think about it,” I whisper in a pathetic, breathless voice.
He watches me for a long moment, like he’s memorising this, eyes lingering on my lips.
Then slowly, so slowly, he leans back, and stands.
“Thank you,” he says, calm. Relaxed. Like he hadn’t just whispered provocative words, held my face, stared at my lips… almost kissed me—“I’ll be nearby, if you need me.”
With that, he steps back and dissolves into the shadows without another word.
And I’m left sitting there, staring at the space where he’d been, heart still racing, lips tingling.
I stare down at the school of hungry fish. “I’m so glad you were here, or else no one would’ve believed that happened.” I toss the last bit of food into the river. “They’re going to break me.”
Their greedy mouths pop open and closed, and I take it as agreement.
Because I’m still breathless. Still reeling. And definitely, completely, not ready for this version of Kane.