Then his gaze lifted back to mine, and he kept talking.
But the bites pulsed warm where his eyes had been.
My hand left his, moved up to his chest, and pressed against his heart. “Your mother is not disappointed. She knew your father and this world. She understands the sacrifices you’ve had to make to survive.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am.”
"Yet. . ." The dragon-shadow coiled off to the side and watched me with this searing intensity. "Regardless of if she is disappointed or not. . .I will kill tomorrow. And the day after. I will dowhateverit takes to protect this throne I never wanted. Because now?"
I widened my eyes.
He raised his hand and placed his fingers over my hand that was over his heart. "Now this throne, this power, and the death that comes with it. . .it's allwithinme.”
The dragon-shadow sneered.
I shivered.
"And due to that. . .I rulemyway. I will win this warmyway. And now. . ." He cupped my face with his free hand. "Now I am guaranteed victory with you at my side. Along with my brother and Reo."
His thumb gently traced my cheekbone, yet his next words were steel. "But you must understand, Tora. I cannot ask for permission."
And then his grip on my hand covering his heart, tightened. "I never asked permission from my father. Not from Hiro. Not from Reo." His eyes burned into mine. "And it won’t be from you either, even though you are myheart."
The words should have stung.
They didn't.
They landed hot. Right at the base of my spine. Because there was something in the way he said it—the absolute certainty, the zero hesitation—that my body read as the same alpha energy he always brought to bed when he wrecked my body.
The Dragon didn't ask for permission there either.
And I'd never once wanted him to.
Meanwhile, the dragon-shadow’s sneer relaxed.
Kenji leaned his head to the side. "Do you understand?"
I looked at him. This man who had confessed his sins and his sorrows in the same breath. Who had shown me his wounds and his walls. Who was telling me, in terms as clear as glass, that I would never have veto power over the Dragon.
And somehow, that clarity felt like freedom.
"I do." I nodded slowly. "I understand."
He studied my face for a long time, and I wasn’t sure if he was searching for any doubt or hesitation.
I swallowed. "It took me a while today to even understand. Honestly. . .it really was spending time with your brother that opened my eyes to the reality of all of this."
His brow furrowed. "My brother talked to you about this?"
"Yes." With my free hand, I raised it to my face and squeezed his hand against my cheek. "And I want to be vulnerable with you too. The way you just were with me."
“Go ahead, Tora.”
“Demanding that you ask for my permission wasn’t just about power, it was about. . .well. . .I wanted to help carry the grief with you." I sighed. "I saw what you went through last night.Everything you carried after you tortured Sako and the others. Everything you faced. And I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to help shoulder it. . ."
Kenji closed his eyes.
