I reluctantly pull out of her, feeling bereft, and she drops her legs from around my hips. I hold on to her waist until her feet touch theground and her skirt falls between us. I hate her skirt. I hate everything that separates us. Even so, I close her shirt, then right my own clothes.
“Hi.” I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear as my other hand roams up and down her back. I love her so much, I can hardly stand it. I feel like I’ll combust into flames and burn to ashes in my next breath. I stare into her eyes, hoping to convey all my love and longing through my gaze. And like the cool, suave male that I am, I croak, “Hi.”
A shadow passes over her expression. Sunny gently pushes on my chest, and I step back from her. She walks over to the railing and looks out at the lily pond. I stay back by the pillar, fighting the urge to crowd in on her. She grips the wooden railing and worries her bottom lip raw, her throat working to swallow.
“There are ... things I need to tell you,” she says in a flat voice, and my stomach lurches.
“You can tell me anything, Sunny.” As long as it isn’t to tell me we can’t be together.
“Before I killed Daeseong, h-he told me that he was my ... father.” Her gaze stays on the pond.
I huff a relieved laugh. “That bastard was lying to mess with your head till the very end.”
“I have the power to bewitch people, Ethan,” she whispers, and I would’ve laughed again if she didn’t look dead serious. She takes a shuddering breath. “I swore to my mother to never use that dark power, but when Daeseong called medaughter, I lost my mind. I compelled him to tell me the truth. I took away his free will a moment before he died. I violated him in a way a person should never be violated.”
My mouth opens and closes. The truth of her words drops like an anvil on my head. Sunny is Daeseong’s daughter? She can compel people to do her bidding?And she actually used that power on a dying man?That is the hardest part to believe.
Behind the irreverent, brash demeanor, Sunny is the most honorable person I know. I can’t imagine her robbing someone of their free will. But if she says it happened, it happened. My chestconstricts as I gaze at her profile, noticing the harsh line of her lips and the tightness around her eyes. She is hurting.
How hard has she been punishing herself?
“I-I don’t know what I’m more ashamed of.” She tucks her chin into her chest. She looks so small, so vulnerable. My heart cracks in jagged lines. “That I am that monster’s daughter. Or that I used that perverse power on him. I’m afraid that makes me a worse monster than him. Y-you must be disgusted with me.”
That snaps me out of my stupor. I march up to her and spin her around by the shoulders. “I am in love with you. I willalwayslove you. I can never be disgusted with you, Sunny. You are here, alive and by my side. That is all that matters to me. Do you understand?”
Her chin trembles, her gaze still averted. She says nothing.
“Do you understand, Sunny?” I shake her lightly, afraid I won’t get through to her.
Baby, please. Look at me.
“I don’t care who your father is. I understand why you bewitched him.” Pleading enters my voice.Why won’t she look at me?“And you’re disappointed in yourself—even if that bastard deserved everything he got—because you’re agood person. A monster would feel no remorse, but your guilt is eating you alive.”
“I want to be someone who deserves you.” Her voice breaks. “I want to be worthy of your love.”
“Someone who deservesme? I worship the ground you walk on.” A breathless laugh leaves me. “Youwant to be worthy of my love? It ismy honorto love you. In case I’m not being clear, I love you, Sunny.”
“Can you say that last part again?” She sniffs. “I’m not sure if I heard you.”
“I love you, Sunny Cho, with everything in me.” I pinch her chin and turn her to face me. A tear trails down her cheek, and I wipe it away with the pad of my thumb.
“Please look at me, baby.” I duck my head to catch her eyes. “I will love you, in this life and the next.”
She finally meets my gaze, and her lips part on a soft gasp. She sees the truth in my eyes. I love her, and nothing can ever change that.
“I tried to do the honorable thing. I tried to give you a way out,” she says haltingly, then a sinful smile curves her lips. “Now I will never let you go. You are mine for all eternity.”
With a low growl, I crush my lips against hers and kiss the hell out of her. I’m so hard for her, I can’t think straight. I frantically grab her skirt in my fists with every intent to have her again. But she spins out of my reach with a tinkling laugh.
“Down boy.” She wags her finger at me. “We are in an open pavilion.”
“Within a private garden.” I flash her a rakish grin. “Where I already had you once.”
“Let’s call that a lapse in judgment.” She blushes.
“That was quite a long lapse.” I stalk toward her. “One I’m sure I can replicate for you.”
“Don’t you have a fancy meeting with the other monarchs at the Celestial Palace?” She lets me catch her this time and rises to the tips of her toes with her hands on my shoulders. She kisses me with sweet tenderness and whispers, “Later, Ethan.”
