But it was neverthatfeeling.
The feeling Alena gives me. The one when her smile feels like dawn, exploding its light across my chest.
And now…
I thought I was a man until I kissed Alena. Thought I knew who I was until I touched her. I made her moan and didn’t know it was possible for a woman to own a man—mind, body, and soul. I felt it in my blood, my bones, the animal inside me awakening.Claim her. Keep her. Kill for her.
It’s not a fairy tale; it’s fate when you find the beauty that makes you her beast.
And I’m not going back.
Jace laughs. “Well, brother, you might want to dust off your leather hood because she’s coming, masked, to the club tonight.”
“But Mom is here,” I hiss. “Nash too. What the fuck is she thinking?”
And why is Alena coming here? I thought we were a thing now. I’d never cheat on her, so why is she sneaking into a sex club without me? Is this another secret she hides from me? Like @LuvPounder?
The fucking asshole, and yes… I know it’s me.
Then again, I have no fucking right. No room to judge. I’m the liar, not her.
Jace answers my first question, “I think she knows she’s an adult, and she’ll be in disguise with her best friend.”
Logic fires fast. Jace. Delta’s. Vale and Alena, thick as hot thieves, and my brother, the expert eavesdropper.
“What is she wearing tonight?”
“A hot as fuck white silk dress and a lace hood.”
“That narrows it down,” I seethe, pacing the floor. “It’s black and white night.”
“Yeah”—bet the fucker is smiling—“and you got a problem because Alena’sjusta job, right? You’re not into her.You won’t recognize her banging ass body in a tight dress from a mile away, will you?”
I’d recognize Alena’s banging body while blindfolded, among a hundred women, and only by feel, even though I haven’t explored her yet.
That’s what happens when you love someone from afar. You map every curve you can’t have, every smile that’s not for you, every touch you’ve never shared.
I was making Alena mine. Slowly. Carefully. Hopefully.
But Fate keeps slamming us together like magnets. Rushed, raw, and real, we’re drawn to each other, though I know it’ll only rip us apart one day.
Or tonight.
I don’t answer Jace, and he laughs. “Have fun.” It’s not fun. It hurts my chest, and my brother drops the asshole act, sensing it. “Hey, man.” He eases up. “Look. If this is what you can’t tell me it is, then I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to love someone you can’t have.”
I cast my stare to the ceiling. “What if you can have her? Even for a little while before you hurt her? Is love worth the pain of losing it?”
It’s his turn to be silent before he offers, “You know how you look like Maxim? Mom’s second king?”
I swallow. “Yeah.”
“He didn’t get many years with Mom, and it almost killed her, losing him. I’d hear her crying at night. But at least he lived and died loving her. Their love was worth the pain.”
“Yeah.” I nod. “It saved us.”
I wish I shared more memories with my brothers. My life would make more sense. Their memories give them a purpose—fighting our evil father.
But me? I’ve always followed.
