“Warrick,” I murmur. “You taste like heaven.”
It’s better than the illusion. Her flesh is firm in my hands. Her tongue unravels under mine. Even with her tough words, she’s following my lead, letting me guide her.
I don’t know how I can resist this anymore. I tend to find her maddening and disrespectful, but in this moment, I can’t name a single thing I dislike about her. All I can think about is how beautiful she is and how, for once, our horrible fathers did something right when they put us together.
What the hell am I doing?
I release her abruptly, taking a hasty step backward.
“Shit.” I rub my hand down my face. “We shouldn’t have done that.”
Her face shutters, and she folds her arms defensively across her chest. I can’t let myself fall down this path. I am not fit to be with anyone. I ruin. I burn. I shatter.
Haven doesn’t deserve someone like me. She doesn’t know half the atrocities I committed. Things that would make her blood run cold. I’m a monster. The worst kind, because I knoweverything I do is bad, yet I do nothing to change. She despises her father, and I am no different than him.
One day, I will win enough votes to be elected the Supreme Director and continue the regime. And she will be standing by my side as my wife. Our relationship will need to remain as a political match alone. Weakness is inexcusable. It is punishable. My father already senses my attachment. If he believes she controls me, he will replace her with someone else. A person who doesn’t make my heart spike or my thoughts fracture.
He will do what he does best and make her disappear.
“It won’t happen again,” Haven agrees.
Her shoulders are tight, and she spins away to pack her belongings.
“Warrick, I am not what you want,” I say slowly. “I…I am wrong.”
“I’m not in love with you, Vale,” she lashes out. “It was one kiss. It doesn’t change anything.”
Her words dig into my chest like talons, and I resist the urge to say something cruel back. Something that will destroy any bit of fondness she holds for me.
Instead, I nod, folding my hands behind my back, resuming my role as the straight-laced leader.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” I say. “Let’s return to our unit.”
The silence is crippling.
Haven refuses to let me switch her bandages and stubbornly does it herself. It is a miracle, she lays the gauze correctly, considering she does it with one eye open, and the other sealed shut.
It takes everything in me to ignore her wishes andnottake care of her. Whatever trust we built yesterday seems to have shattered.
We trek through the rubble in silence, using the cracks in the roof to guide us. Fragments of half-light slip between the gaps, casting a spiritless glow across the floor.
I regret everything that I said after the kiss. It could have been worded better.
“Warrick,” I say. “Can we talk?”
“No.”
“About this mornin?—”
“You’re not the first guy to grab my ass or kiss me,” Haven erupts. “And you won’t be the last, so spare me any long-winded speech because I don’t give a damn.”
“What the hell do you mean by I won’t be the last?” I ask, outraged. “We are going to be married in a month.”
“It’s not a real marriage in any way or sort,” Haven says. “It was arranged. And if it weren’t for my scheming bastard of a father, I wouldn’t be trapped withyouof all people. As you said, that kiss was a mistake, so let’s not waste our time attempting to force something when we are not compatible at all.”
“That doesn’t mean we are going to break our vows,” I say darkly. “I do not share.Ever.”
“How will you know?”
