“This changes nothing,” I whisper. “I still hate you.”
His mouth twists. “I know this hatred of yours is not only about Talia’s nonsense,” he says. “And I know you are not ready to speak of it yet. But you are wrong…”
He bites my neck. “This changes everything, gorgeous.”
“No,” I say. “You are a Markev. And for that alone, you deserve to die.”
I step away.
His hand falls from my face.
And I swear he grumbles, almost to himself, “There, you are not wrong.”
I turn, but I don’t even make it a full step before he catches the back of my neck and spins me around, and before I can react his mouth crashes onto mine in a kiss that is brutal, possessive, and devastating.
His tongue sweeps in, and something inside me shatters as tears slip down my face, my body betraying every promise I ever made to myself, my heart stuttering, my breath breaking, goosebumps rippling helplessly over my skin.
This should not be happening.
He deepens the kiss, as though he feels my resistance falter.
I let him kiss me, even as tears fall, even as my mind screams at me for two entirely different reasons.
Tainted.
You are tainted.
Tainted.
He may not have committed that sin.
But he is still a Markev.
And everything tied to that name is dead to me.
Yet my body doesn’t listen.
And the self-hatred that follows is almost more than I am able to withstand.
Chapter 21
Milo
The sudden shove catches me off guard.
The blow even more so.
My lip splits as her fist connects with my face and blood hits my tongue instantly.
I smirk as I spit it onto the ground, wiping the smear from my skin with the back of my hand.
She doesn’t waste a second. She turns and runs, disappearing into the trees, back toward the noise and the lights of the party.
I straighten slowly and smile.
This girl. She doesn’t understand it.
The more pain she inflicts, the more I want her.
