“I want to see it,” Luke whispered into my ear before kissing it.
A delicious shudder raced through me.
“And hear it.” He let go of my mouth, and I whined desperately, feeling the first dip in my stomach right before the plunge of ecstasy.
After I finished falling apart, I sagged against Luke and the wall. He pulled his hands from my pants and put his fingers in his mouth.
Seeing him do that gave me a ridiculous urge to lean forward and kiss him. I barely got to graze his lips with mine before he wrapped his hand gently around my neck, pulling away.
He was panting as he met my gaze.
“What?” I baited.
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“I wanted to see what I tasted like on your tongue,” I said huskily. “You might not taste, but I can.”
His breath was ragged as he pushed away from me and turned.
“And Luke?”
He didn’t respond, but I still said, “If you’re trying to make it seem like you can’t stand me, you are and always have been terrible about it.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Luke
She knows.
She knew so much, and yet so little.
No one knew what I planned to do until I did it.
I filled my head with so many lies, and the truth still spilled out.
The things I’d do to get what I want.
Kara didn’t know that, but when the worlds split in two and the human world welcomed me—
Then she’d know everything.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kara
It hadn’t even been half an hour since he touched me. My body still remembered. The echo of need curled low in my stomach every time I glanced at him. Luke hadn’t moved much after returning the room to normal. Instead, he took up residence in his usual oversized chair, arms crossed, head tilted slightly back, eyes shut—like he could simply ignore everything.
I’d expected him to vanish. To disappear into whatever storm brewed behind his crimson gaze after our confrontation. But he lingered.
Silent. Still. Watching without watching.
The longer he stayed, the more my thoughts spiraled. I should’ve felt victorious confronting him and pulling the truth—or at least some of it—into the light. Instead, my chest felt heavy, like I’d pushed too far and still not far enough.
I didn’t need him to say the name aloud.
Shadow.
He was the same. I knew it in my soul. There was no denying it now. He might never confirm it—might burn the truth in front of me just to watch me flinch—but I believed it all the same.
