Someone screwed with her spell,Alex said.You're being played, El. Set aside your emotions and try to view this with cool detachment.
My love,Kyanite interrupted,Darc insists that I tell you to remember when you were drugged by Satyrs and all you wanted was Lucifer. You never loved him, but the drug made you want him.
This is not the same thing, Ky.
I know, but Darc says it's similar. You are under the influence of something powerful. Back then it was a narcotic and now it's magic. The love you feel for Verin isn't real.
I laid a hand on Darc's cheek and let him see what I was feeling. No words were necessary, just an honest stare. Darc flinched away and released me, his mouth falling open in horror.
Darcraxis says that he won't stop trying to save you, even if you don't want to be saved,Kyanite relayed.Your bond is greater even than that of man and wife. You joined essences when physical bodies didn't limit you. There is nothing that Verin can give you that compares to that.
Ky, please tell him how sorry I am. I don't want to hurt him but our bond is broken. I just don't love him anymore.
Are you certain, my love? Perhaps give it some time—
I'm certain,I cut him off.
Very well.
Darc's face settled into harsh lines—at complete odds with the element he was currently composed of. His entire form shook with rage, his stare going from me to Verin and back. He opened his mouth and the hollow echo of a lamenting bellow vibrated through him. I went still, knowing that I was witnessing yet another leap of his magic. Somewhere far above me, standing in the shallows on a beach, Darcraxis shouted in agony and fury. He backed away from me, holding my gaze, and his form melted into the sea.
Elaria, you've just done the dumbest thing I've ever seen you do,Alexandra huffed, then pulled the same disappearing act as Darc.
As soon as they were gone, dragon claws closed around my waist and I was transported to another ocean.
Chapter Nineteen
Verin and I reformed in his bedroom. As soon as I took a breath of air, I felt my throat flutter with the disappearance of my gills. I was only partially aware of this though because the Blue Dragon let out a roar so furious that it shook the floor beneath my feet. I backed away from him but he spun around me, flowing like water. Once he had me within his coiled body, he shifted, retracting into man form. I found myself staring up into a pair of icy blue eyes—Verin's arms a vise around me.
“Darc's gone. I sent him away,” I said firmly.
But Verin didn't seem to hear me. He snarled, grabbed the neck of my wet suit, and tore it down the center. My body flailed as he yanked the clinging fabric from me, then tore apart my underwear. I held still throughout it, trying not to incite him further. When I was down to boots and gloves, his stare narrowed on the offending items and I quickly pulled them off before he could wrench them away. Once I was completely nude, Verin spun me around, lifted me by my waist, and set me down in front of the bed. With a furious shove, he bent me over the mattress.
“Verin!” I tried to get up. “Stop this.”
Verin roared again, sending a shiver of fear up my spine, and shoved me back down. He was too angry—too lost to his beast for me to reason with. I decided that the safest option would be to let him have his way until his dragon was assuaged. If I fought him, we'd both get hurt and I didn't want that. His feet kicked mine apart and I clenched my teeth together. I enjoyed rough sex but on my terms and this was not my terms. But then I felt his hand between my legs, working me gently. Even in his anger, he couldn't bring himself to take me without making sure that I was ready for him. That single gesture made it all better and the tension left my body. If Verin was still thinking clearly enough to show me some consideration, even just a little, I could enjoy this. In fact, I was already starting to.
I reached between my legs and pressed Verin's hand more firmly against me, rubbing myself over him and undulating my hips so that my ass brushed his erection. Verin's growling went a decibel lower. I crawled up onto the foot of the bed and pressed my forehead onto the mattress, pushing my ass into the air. His growling turned into a groan. But still, when he touched me, his grip was nearly punishing and when he slid into me, he did it with a violent shove.
I braced myself for a savage fucking and if I'm honest, I felt a thrill of excitement and anticipation. The primitive beat of flesh slapping flesh filled my ears with the addition of Verin's snarling grunts. His hands were on my ass, gripping tightly and spreading me so he could watch us come together. His powerful thrusts drove my face into the blankets but I didn't care. It felt so damn good—the pleasure spiraling out from my sex to encase my entire body. Verin's cock felt like stone—unrelenting and unmerciful and so unbelievably amazing. After a few minutes of this pounding intensity, his hands slid up my back and started kneading my shoulders.
I rose onto my hands and knees and started pushing back to meet his thrusts. But then Verin hooked my right knee over his arm and lifted it so that I opened further to him. He held my thigh against his chest and surged even deeper. I cried out and gave up on moving. I could barely hold myself steady, twisted as I was into that unusual position. But oh, the feeling of him inside me was enough to make me forget everything that had driven him to this.
“You vowed that you loved only me,” Verin said, almost accusingly.
“I do.”
“I saw how you looked at him!”
“I was saying goodbye!” I jerked away and spun to face him. “You want to have an angry-fuck? Fine! But you don't get to accuse me of lying.”
Verin panted, his chest heaving, and reached for me.
“No!” I pointed at him furiously. “You're wrong and I deserve—”
Before I could finish, Verin was on me again—his body shoving mine down to the mattress as he wedged himself between my thighs. But he didn't shove back into me. He simply held me there and stared into my eyes, his heaving chest flattening mine and his cock pulsing wet against my thigh. Finally, whatever he saw calmed him and—holding my gaze—he reached between us and guided himself back inside me.
“I told him it was over,” I said softly. “I told him that I want a divorce.”
