But he wasn’t a monster by choice. He was the monster the world had made.
Light cracked in his irises, blue fracturing like lightning over storm clouds. “I never said otherwise.”
My hand rose before I could stop it, tracing his jaw. His skin was cold, but underneath, the storm still burned. His stubble rasped against my fingers, grounding me in something painfully human.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice rough but steady, his gaze never breaking from mine.
I didn’t know. Maybe I wanted to forget. Forget the bodies beneath our feet, the truth rotting between us. For one breath, I wanted to just be, to share the same air, the same silence, the same unbearable closeness. His breath mingled with mine, uneven, charged.
I wanted to touch him until the truth disappeared.
Until guilt and grief drowned beneath the heat of it.
And maybe that made me just as monstrous.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Maybe trying to see the monster up close.”
His jaw tightened beneath my palm, a muscle flickering like restrained lightning. “You won’t like what you find.”
“Maybe not,” I breathed. “But I’d rather know the monster than pretend he isn’t there.”
Something shifted inside me, like a lock clicking open. Because the truth was, Ididlike the monster, the part of him that didn’t hide behind duty or Court or guilt. The part that burned too bright, too raw, too alive. It terrified me, yes, but it was real. No mask. No restraint. Just Kael Forloren, stripped of everything but the storm that made him.
And that was the part I wanted most.
I rose to my toes and kissed him softly. Our lips barely met before I whispered, “You saved the world, Kael. I understand now.”
I understood that there was no right answer, only an impossible choice. And somehow, that was enough. That was all there was to accept.
Kael kissed me again, fiercely this time, breath hot, desperate,alive. His hands found my waist, lifting me easily, pinning me against the wall slick with blackness that smeared across my tunic. I gasped, struggling to find my footing, until I stopped fighting and leaned into him. The kiss deepened, teeth and tongue clashing, violent and necessary. Within seconds, my tunic was gone.
He set me down on a table slick with ash and tar, the surface cold against my skin. I didn’t care. All that existed was this, Kael’s hands, Kael’s breath, Kael reaching for me like redemption could be found beneath my skin.
He stripped me with grunts and growls, boots, breeches, everything gone under the scrape of his nails. Fear and desire collided inside me, sharp as thunder. The air was freezing, but I knew it wouldn’t be for long. Lightning always followed the storm.
Kael discarded his blade, then his armor, piece by piece, eyes never leaving mine. The cold meant nothing to him. Around us, vines hissed and coiled, releasing sunlight that danced like fire across his skin.
In that light, he looked like a god sculpted from marble and fury.
I sat up and pressed my hands flat against his chest, tracing the lines of him, learning every inch by touch.
He stared down at me, hunger and disbelief warring in his expression. “Why are you still here?” he asked, voice low, cracked. “Why aren’t you running? Why do you still look at me like that?”
I met his gaze, steady and certain. “Because I want you. Every part of you.”
A low growl rumbled in his chest. He pulled me closer and kissed me until my lips burned.
“You quiet the storm, Evangelina,” he whispered between breaths. “But you can also unleash it until it consumes us both.”
“Then let it consume us,” I breathed.
He released me to slide his breeches and undergarments down. His cock rose before me, hard and glistening with his desire. I yearned for him to bury it inside me, to feel even closer to him.
Though this was absolutely the wrong place, I knew it was the right time.
His eyes flared white. Bolts danced along his skin and mine, but there was no pain, only acceptance.
I let the energy crackle along my skin, his hands following its path, his lips taking mine once more.
