“What should I do first?”
“You should, um—” I puff out a breath.
Skies, am I seriously panting? I don’t think I’ve ever been this hot for anyone in my entire life. That’s not true. IknowI’ve never felt this way before.
Konstantin smirks, enjoying my sudden discomfiture. “I should…?”
Abort!my mind hollers.This is a terrible idea, Isla. You’re going to catch feelings for a man who isn’t your mate. Abort immediately.
“Perhaps we should—wait until I come back to—to explore whether—engaging in physicality is a sound idea. What if we’rea terrible fit? Then it’ll get awkward, and since we might have to hang out for months?—”
He guides my head down toward his and silences me with a kiss that streaks fire down my throat and into my chest. When his lips part mine, I grip his shoulders as though they were my last handholds on a cliff and tangle our tongues, meeting him twirl for twirl and suck for suck. He makes a noise deep in the back of his throat that slams into my core and makes my thighs clench.
The male has clearly not forgotten how to kiss. When he leans back, taking me with him, I adjust my position, swinging both my legs up to straddle him, and then I loop my arms around his neck and run my fingers through his mussed locks. He groans, and again, the sound hits me square in the core.
A core, which I am desperately trying to keep elevated, for I am also feeling strung very,verytight and am worried I’ll start rubbing myself against him like a bitch in heat.
But apparently, Konstantin desires just that, because he molds my ass with a firm hand, driving it down onto his bulge.
I gasp, and it jerks our lips apart, but our centers…they stay connected and pulsing. As we both draw in breath, Konstantin sweeps his thumb over my cheekbone, tracing my feather tattoo.
“You had me worried that my paleness and scrawniness were too off-putting.”
“I called youlean, not scrawny. As for your coloring”—I brush a lock out of his eyes—“I’m apparently into platinum-haired men now.”
With a deep sigh, he says, “I know you want a mate?—”
“Let’s not talk about that tonight.”
“No, we need to talk about this. You need to understand something.” He traces my waist, scattering goosebumps beneath the leather. “It fucking terrorizes me to feel so much for someone who might just up and leave me someday. Which is one of thereasons I’ve pulled away as of late. I thought that if I didn’t see you, my attraction would dwindle. It hasn’t. If anything, it’s made it worse.”
His lashes flutter over his all-consuming stare.
“But I’d never keep you from your preordained mate. I’d respect…” His throat bobs. “I’d be respectful of the Cauldron’s choice.”
I slide one palm up his chest, capturing the beats of his battering heart on my way to his shoulder. “Thank you.”
He frames my face and presses our foreheads together. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Isla.”
“By this, you meana fake relationship that’s becoming unexpectedly fun?”
I feel him smile, but the curve is so full of torment that it doesn’t reach high or remain in place long. “I know you didn’t want to stay in Glace.”
“Trust me, if I wanted to be gone, I’d be gone.”
“Still, I’m sorry for forcing a ring on your finger, I just…” His lashes flutter, revealing a stare that’s as beleaguered as his hair. He seems lost, as though he’s ventured into a territory that he doesn’t govern and from which he cannot find his way back. “I just really wanted to keep you.”
It’s admittedly the first time in my life I don’t bristle at the idea of being kept. What does that say about me?
28
KONSTANTIN
Isla hasn’t spoken for at least five minutes.
Her unusual silence makes me regret my confession. In truth, I’m not entirely sure why I told her. I could’ve held on to my secret. I’m good at holding on to secrets.
When I can’t take it any longer, I ask, “Are you horrified?”
