“So, if the whole jealousy thing doesn’t affect you,” I say, “I should go down to the Summer Realm and visit one of those naked orgy rooms Dayton told me about—”
Keldarion is on me in an instant. He grabs me around the waist and lifts me to the small end table. His arms create a cage around my body, his breath a warm growl by my ear. “You will do no such thing.”
I reach for him, desperate for this show of affection. My dress snags on the thorns, a chill rushing over my shoulders. But his chest is comforting as it presses against mine. “I guess your bond isn’t entirely broken.”
He looks down as I spread my legs to wrap around his waist. “So it would seem.”
“Dayton told me that if I was with someone other than the princes of Castletree, he’d kill them and take me in their blood.”
At those words, Keldarion pulls me tighter against him, and I can feel all of his hard body. “Not every word out of his mouth is complete idiocy.”
I nearly melt into his touch, my mind muddled with his closeness. “Would you do the same?”
He cups my face. “What wouldn’t I do for you?”
“Would you let me love you?”
He stills, and I come roaring back to reality. The reality where Keldarion hates me, and these small glimpses of affection fade like a dream.
He shakes his head and begins to step away.
But I scramble forward, more of my flowing dress catching and ripping on the thorns. I snatch Keldarion’s shirt, hauling him closer, still seated on the tiny table. “Why do you do this, Kel? It’s cruel. I’m so sick of trying to make sense of you.”
“Fulfill your desires with the other princes, Rose. This fate is not in the stars for us.”
“But you’re mymate.” I tug his face down to mine until we’re nose to nose. “Our bond could break the curse.”
His gaze trails down my body. I realize the gauzy dress has torn, loosening the fabric around my chest, the upper curve of my breasts on full display. His calloused hand runs over the delicate skin. A wave of molten desire courses through me. I drive my hips forward, feeling his steel pleasure waiting.
His thumb presses in the soft flesh, exploring, and a male groan emits from his throat. The mere sound of it causes wetness to pool between my legs. “Kiss me, Kel,” I whisper, arching my neck, “or I will die of it.”
Roughly, he grips the back of my neck with one hand and my arm with the other. My eyes flutter closed.
But the kiss doesn’t come. I blink my eyes open to see Keldarion completely still.
“Kel?”
His grip on my arm tightens, his whole body vibrating. Something feral flashes in his gaze as he growls, “Who did this to you?”
27
Rosalina
Mybloodturnstoice. I try to yank my arm away, but it’s too late. My ripped dress has revealed the scar on my wrist. One I’ve been trying to hide for my entire adult life.
“Lucas,” Keldarion reads, the word laced with pure venom. “Thatboywho pulled you from the frozen lake? The one you loved?”
Desperately, I slap my palm over my wrist to conceal the scar. A desperate sob bubbles in my chest, and my true fear bursts out. “You must be so ashamed to have a mate who allowed someone to do this to her.”
I’m not sure how many of my words are coherent and how much is a garbled mess, but Keldarion instantly pulls me against him. “No, Rose. Do not say such things. My anger arises because I was not there to protect you.”
I wipe my eyes. “It was a long time ago.”
“Tell me, when I sent you back, was that man there? Did he harm you?”
Lucas’s hands on my skin. The flash of the knife. If the others hadn’t shown up… “No.” I shake my head vehemently. “I told him to leave me alone.”
Gently, Kel caresses my face. In the strangest show of intimacy, he places a soft kiss on the side of my cheek before striding toward the giant mirror beside the door.
