He quickly withdrew from her.
She tilted her face up to his and smiled consolingly. “You’re allowed to miss them, and I’m sorry your first love left you for a man of higher standing. I couldn’t imagine how awful that must have felt. And losing your sister, your mother, andeven your father. So much loss you have endured.” She placed a tentative hand on his jaw, cupping his face.
A dark expression came over his face. His voice turned vicious and cold. “It doesn’t matter. Revenge is enough. Someday, I will try for peace.”
She stared into his eyes, captivated. They were the most mesmerizing shade of seafoam green. The outer ring of his iris was a deep navy blue, and the rest of his iris was pale green, cradling an inner circle of brown. The contrast with his usual silver eyes was exquisite. He had pupils, and looked, for all the world, like a normal man.
She searched his face, trying to memorize what he looked like with green eyes.
“I’m sorry for your hurts, but revenge is never the right answer,” she insisted.
Seized by a desire to have a moment with this new version of Caspian, she brought her lips to his face. She cupped his face, and kissed his bearded cheek tenderly. She gazed into his eyes, trying to convey that she understood and that she was sorry he had endured so much.
He closed his eyes and brought her hands away from his face, as if her touch pained him.
A furrow appeared in his brow, and when he opened his eyes, they were pupilless pools of silver flame once more. “Do not ask me to be human for you.” His words were edged in anger, hitting her like shards of ice.
Or perhaps, she had been so fooled by a moment of genuineness that she forgot the rest of his abrasive traits. Her warmth towards him evaporated on the spot.
“I willneverforget what you are,” she said acidly.
“Good,” he said, scowling. “Good.”
She glared. He couldn’t let her enjoy his company for a single moment before ruining it.
“And I am not hurt,” he snarled. “I am not a weak mortal man who needs a woman to coddle him. I have slaughtered the men who have wronged me and mine. I am done now. There is no hurt left, only satisfaction.”
She chuckled before she could stop herself. “If you say so.”
“And what isthatsupposed to mean?” he snarled.
“Nothing.” She chuckled. “You’re just … you’re not as bad as I thought you were. You have a conscience and enough feelings to have gotten them hurt. I’m reassured to hear it, believe it or not.”
“Do not be fooled,” he said, his voice lowered an octave that sent shivers down her spine. “My heart isblack.” The ruthless conviction behind his words made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
She leaned forward. “I insist that there is a shred of goodness buried under there. To miss, to love, to have lost. Whether you like it or not, Caspian.”
His nostrils flared. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a foolish dreamer, with her head stuck in the clouds. A simple-minded, silly, mortal girl who believes everyone is good inside.”
Her lips thinned. “Sometimes I think you want me to hate you.”
Silence stretched between them, and his gaze fell to her lips. He could not possibly be looking at her with attraction, not right after he had called her simple-minded.
His eyes raked down her frame, filling with heat.
Flushing, she looked away, resolutely staring at the terrace. Looking anywhere but at him.
She cleared her throat loudly. “A lovely night.”
Caspian stood and walked away, moving to stand at the railing of the terrace. He stood, broad-shouldered and tall, framed by a dark sky as the last rays of orange slipped below the horizon.
“It is.” He paused. “You must give me blood tonight,” he said without looking at her. His fingers came to rest on the railing.
She wrinkled her nose. “Must I?”
He turned towards her slightly, his eyes shaded. “I’ll not forget our bargain, Elizabeth.”
Rising, she slowly moved to his side.
