I suck in a deep breath by his tight grip around me, knowing if his skin touches mine, he could burn to ash. But this is the side of him that always sets my heart on fire. He always makes me feel alive.
More than any throne could ever make me feel.
But he didn’t burn when he ripped my hand out from the blue fire.
Thousands of scenarios run rampant through my mind to why he didn’t burn. My only true thought—the blue fire must have protected him.
“Are you better?” My fingertips frantically pick at the material of my gloves.
“No.” He leans in closer, his breath warm against my skin.
What is he doing?
“Are you still in pain?” My brows furrow deeply. I shift away ever so slightly.
“Yes, but it's not the kind of pain you think it is.” The sky shimmers with lightning flashes as his eyes flutter shut.
“Do I need to take you to the Vitaei?”
He shakes his head firmly. “No.”
“Then what is it?”
His eyes lift, darkening. Not with the darkness that wants to unleash, but a burning desire of something more. “The pain of resisting the urge to sweep you onto the piano and make love to you right now burns deeper than my body shifting into a damn dragon.”
I swallow, eyes falling to his lips, catching the slight movement of his heartbeat flickering against his neck. The veins, definitely bold, traveling down towards his chest.
“I could kill you,” I whisper out, my heart screaming to reach out and grab his face.
“I know.” He leans forward. “I’m just unsure how much longer I can control this urge to have my hands on your body.”
I breathe in, savoring his scent before I pull away.
“I must go.”
His hand reaches out, intertwining his fingers into mine that are protected from the gloves. “I wish you didn’t have to.”
“Florian found Alice. She is alive.” I pause, watching his eyes widen in disbelief.
His elbow rests against the keys, creating a loud clashing of notes that echo in the room. “She didn’t kill her?”
“No.”
He shifts his body towards me, taking both his hands to wrap around mine. “Then Lykia has nothing over you.”
“You still lied to me about this, Koen. Lied to me from the start of what your purpose was with me. And that broke my heart. You have lived centuries without me and to me, it's only been years. I’m unsure what else you have done.”
“I will do everything I can to put it back together.” His eyes flicker between mine, cuffing my hand in his to place his lips against my glove. “One day, I’ll be that man you once loved, again. I promise you.I vow this to you.”
“You broke your vow to Lykia.” I slip my hand from his, his eyes following my movement. I can see the hurt in his eyes by my words.
“Lykia will never be you. I was hurt when I made that vow. I thought you were gone forever.” He shifts forward, allowing his legs to wrap around me as he sits at the edge of the bench. He takes his hands, sliding them around my thighs as his eyes soften. “I thought the Gods took you away from me for good. I never thought I would see you again.”
“And now?” I take my hand, gently brushing one of his curls away from his eye. “Now what do you think the Gods are doing?”
His chin lifts, allowing his emerald eyes to catch the golden light of the storm flashing outside. “Now, I believe the Gods want us to break the curse we brought onto the Realms. And if we do that,” he takes my hand, resting it against his cheek before kissing it, “my hands shall never leave your body again.”
Chapter 42
