“Stop sounding like a wise old crone,” I grumble.
I patter over to the chair in front of my vanity and lean my body against the arm of it, propping myself into a half-sitting, half-standing position.
“I’m just being honest. You should try it.”
I balk at her. “When have I lied to you?”
“I was talking about lying to yourself.”
I curl my lip at Rhoden before closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose.
“I would be insane not to leave.”
“I find sanity to be vastly overrated.”
I peek one of my eyes open and smile at her. From the corner of my room, Luna pads over and tucks her head under my hand.
“What do you think I should do?”
“I wish I could tell you, Zel, but that’s something you need to decide on your own. If it’s any consolation, Braxton told me I could leave with you if you’ll have me.”
I brighten, sitting up straighter. “He did?”
My delight quickly turns to confusion as I try to contemplate why he would do that. I tilt my head to the side, studying theall-knowing expression on Rhoden’s face. Clarity soon drifts into my mind.
“He did that, so I wouldn’t have anything binding me to this castle, and, therefore, wouldn’t have anything to miss.”
Rhoden nods slowly, assuring me that was the same conclusion she came to. I twist my mouth to the side and begin to chew the inside of my cheek.
“Why now? Why has he suddenly transformed from being a monster?”
Rhoden shrugs. “Why now are you willing to see him as more than one?”
Rhoden’s words sink into the very marrow of my bones as I ruminate on them.
“Will you hate me if I stay?”
“I will only hate you if you don’t make this choice for yourself. Not for Phillip. Not for Braxton. Not for your father. Not for me. Not even for Luna.” Luna’s ears perk up at the mention of her name. “No offense, girl.” She settles her head back onto my lap. “You were cursed here for something you had no control over.” Rhoden’s smile turns blinding. “So take fucking control.”
I’m crazy. I must be. That is the only explanation for why I’m currently raising my fist and pounding on the door to Braxton’s study.
I can hear him shuffling on the other side of the solid oak frame, and with every tiny noise that draws closer and closer to the threshold separating us, my heart pounds heavier in my chest.
When he pulls the door open, he looks partially a mess. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone, his hair is unkempt and falling in front of his face as if he’d been running his fingers through it, and his eyes appear sunken in.
He looks at me beyond his thick lashes, so many questions brimming in his eyes. I decide to answer them in the only way I know how. Bringing myself onto my toes, I seal my lips to his, hoping they can express every word I’m incapable of saying.
52
Braxton
I’mhalf-convincedI’mdreamingas I feel Azalea’s perfectly soft lips meet mine. I stiffen keeping my hands firmly at my sides, even though every urge in my body is screaming at me to hold her so close that it becomes impossible to tell where her body begins and mine ends. Instead, I place my hands on her shoulders and gently push her back separating the kiss.
“Azalea.” My voice holds both a question and warning.
A rosy blush creeps up her cheeks and down her neck and chest. I trace the color blooming along her skin with starved affection. Her eyes become wide like a doe’s as embarrassment encompasses her. I’m not sure what exactly my eyes convey, but it’s enough to make her pull back and smooth her skirts, nervously.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” she confesses. Her throat works as she drops her eyes to the floor.
