“I went to make some coffee for us.” I’m thankful my voice doesn’t waver, doesn’t betray the storm raging inside me. “Unfortunately, couldn’t find the coffee beans.”
I stand with my back to him as I neatly stack his leathers on the armchair.
“How sweet of you. I’ll find the beans and make coffee for you. But first, let me enjoy you,” he purrs. “In my bed. Under me, or on top of me. Your choice, princess.”
For a moment, I can’t breathe. The rage at his betrayal is overwhelming.
Everything I’ve known about him, thought I’ve known about him…none of it is real.
They’re trained in manipulation the moment they leave the mother’s womb. Vera’s words ring in my mind, over and over again.
“I bet,” I flirt back as I fetch my boots and stack them neatly next to the armchair with his clothes. The familiar feel of the blade against my skin helps steady my racing heart and scattered mind. “I know exactly what I’m in a mood for.”
Daegel hums, pleased. “I like the sound of it.”
I inhale, and exhale. I’m still as a statue.
I don’t feel.
I don’t think.
I only am.
Slowly, I turn around to face him. Daegel’s in the middle of the bed with his arms crossed behind his head.
So handsome.
So dangerous.
So devious.
I always knew that about him. Yet, I thought because he loved me, he was only a threat to the world and never to me.
What a fucking fool I’ve been.
Keeping his gaze, I approach the bed and climb onto it. Daegel watches me crawl up his body until I finally straddle his hips.
Daegel’s eye burn with desire. That’s all there is right now.
How can he look at me this way when he plans on capturing me and keeping me in his basement, in a neat golden cage so I’m out of his way while he climbs his way to becoming the next Ezkai General?
“There is something extremelyintoxicatingabout danger and pain mixing with pleasure,” I murmur over his mouth. My lips hover close enough we share a breath, yet far enough so he can’t kiss me. A part of me craves the feel of his lips on mine, still. “Don’t you think?”
Daegel licks his lips and lifts his head to try and kiss me. I pull away just enough with a smirk.
“You’re such a tease.” He breathes out the words as his head drops back onto the plush pillow. I can feel his hardness press into me between my thighs. “I do agree. It’s the most addicting combination in the world, if you ask me. More addicting than alcohol, or drugs.”
I roll my hips and it draws out a moan from him. Daegel thrusts his hips up, adding more friction. He has no idea what’s to come.
For a moment, as I caress the sharp line of his jaw, I’m torn. How can I still love him after everything he’s done?
Somewhere at the back of my mind, Lorca stirs to life.
“You know, I was thinking about our conversation last night…You went through all that trouble to assassinate Kitajo Hiromasa so you could become the next Ezkai General,” I whisper into his ear. “And you’re willing to throw that all away for me?”
I feel his muscles tense under my fingertips. Surprise flashes in his eyes for a brief second before he scolds his features back to neutral. “I told you, Phoenix. The win is not worth it if you’re not by my side in the end. My love for you is greater than my ambition.”
So. Full. Of. Shit.
