After another moment, she approached him again, took his hands, and pressed a kiss to each one. Then she stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
She whispered, “I want better for you, Khiva, just as you want better for me. I just wish that you could’ve seen that. We could’ve been bettertogetherbecause of it.”
Khiva squeezed his eyes shut, everything in turmoil.
Evelyn stepped away.
“I should go now before it gets even harder to leave,” she whispered.
Alarm made Khiva grab her around the waist when she reached the door. “Wait. Just wait,leeldra. Please.”
He couldn’t think. His mind felt scrambled and disconnected. All he knew was that this couldn’t be the last time he saw her.
Evelyn looked up at him with watery eyes, waiting, just as he asked. But she eventually realized that he had nothing to say, nothing to offer her.
Leaning up, she pressed a kiss to his lips and Khiva kept a firm grip on her waist to keep her there.
But all too soon, she pulled away, a choked sob escaping her throat. Her hand scrambled over the handle of the door before she managed to unlock it and push it open.
“Goodbye, Khiva,” she whispered.
Then she slipped from his grip…and slipped out of the room, down the hallway with quick strides.
And Khiva watched her go without saying a single word.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
It was later that night when everything unravelled even more.
Khiva was sitting in his sleeping quarters, in darkness, feeling his body begin to enter his Rut. The only light he could see were the glowing letters on the card Evelyn had given him.
2700.
2700.
Khiva growled, closing his eyes. Her words continued to haunt him, everything about her haunted him.
But those truths she spoke…he couldn’t forget them.
His back bowed, a sizzle of need racing down his spine, and he panted through it, feeling his cock surge.
Vauk, vauk, vauk.
It would be an intense Rut. He could already feel it.
Four days, he couldn’t help but think. Four days until Evelyn left Everton for good.
He heard movement in the common room of the Cluster, which was abnormal for that time of night. When a knock came to his door, he realized why.
Valerie.
“Khiva,” she said, her voice hushed, urgent. A moment later the door open. Valerie’s face appeared in the low light, her figure outlined from the light filtering in from the common room. “Khiva, it’s—damn, you’ve started your Rut.”
“Get the chains,” he murmured. Because without them, he would be tempted to seek out Evelyn. He would be tempted to convince her to give him another chance, to give them another chance.
“Khiva,” Valerie said and something about her low voice made his attention snap to her.
“What is it?” he asked, alarmed. Was it Evelyn? Was she alright?
