He traced along the chains of my mask, and I unintentionally leaned into his palm, the tears I’d held tightly streaking beneath the delicate metallic links. Cradling my jaw in his hands, he lifted my chin when I tried to drop my gaze. “The hex will never touch our son. I’d never condemn my child to that fate.”
All the air had been swallowed from my lungs.
“But you’d condemnmeto watch you die?” My heart rattled against my rib cage, anger the only thing keeping me from shattering. My hands balled into fists. “You asked me to marry you knowing this and not telling me.”
“And look what happened when you learned of my fate,” he seethed, catching my wrists before I tore away from him. “You fucking ran.”
“To stop it. Tochangeit.” My voice quivered, along with every part of me, my chest cracking, heart splintering into a million tiny pieces.
He’d known. Had known the entire time we’d been together and yet he refused to warn me, even when he’d planned to marry me, even when I’d been carrying his son. He’d taken fate into his own hands, and I fucking hated him for it.
His gaze hardened before he released me from his grasp, staggering back a few steps, eyes darting around the room. “Maybe it was selfish of me not to tell you, but I wanted to steal every moment I couldwhileI could. I’d do it all over again. The only thing I regret is not fighting more for you to stay.”
Drawn by some invisible force, I dragged my feet forward, still keeping a healthy distance between us. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I knew what would eventually happen.” He wrung his hands together. “When you left, I thought maybe it was better if I just let you go…”
“What changed?” I asked, trying to steady my breaths but the words still came out ragged.
“Nothing.” He prowled toward me, herding me backward in a circle until my ass bumped into the edge of the long dining room table. Nudging his knee between my thighs, he lifted me up and sat me there, his hands caging me on either side. “That’s the problem. I still love you just as fiercely. Every day that passes feels like one more stolen from being with you and our son.”
Hadn’t I spent the last month trying to enjoy every moment with Lynx and Saros, knowing it wouldn’t last? Why was the idea of enjoying what Atlas and I could such a painful concept?
Which was truly more tragic: getting to love someone ephemerally or living out your days never experiencing the full beauty of its wonder?
Atlas leaned forward, hips bolted between my thighs, nose touching mine. His voice was so low, it felt like a wanton caress. “In case I haven’t been clear enough, I’m done with you pushing me away.”
“Atla—”
He stifled my final plea with a brutal kiss that smothered my objection, tasting of tart cherries, dark punishments, and hidden desires.
And this time, I didn’t try to stop him.
I didn’t want to.
As much as I wanted to fight fate, I was tired of fightingus.
My body trembled, aware of every brush of his hand as he dug through the layers of tulle until he finally reached my thigh, continuing to kiss me. When his fingers traced my seam, nothing obstructing his path, he growled. “Coming to the Moonlit Masquerade bare beneath this skirt… Who were you planning to fuck tonight, Oakley? Them? Or Me?”
Possessiveness wove through his words and his fingers pushed inside me. I swallowed, adjusting to the fullness, unsure how to answer. He pumped his hand, palm grazing my clit with each stroke, and my breaths became shallow. “Is that what you wanted? To have them take you right in front of me, like at Luna’s?”
My hands balled into fists at his words, but my body slicked with heat.
“What if I did?” My chin rose in challenge.
He stopped abruptly, and I shifted my pelvis, seeking more friction. After he removed his fingers, he lifted them up into the slip of moonlight. They were glistening. “This. Is. Mine.”
Bringing them to his lips, he sucked them into his mouth, and I growled in frustration, desperate to be filled, to find that release. My Desire was as eager as my body was for him, pulsing from my fingertips, leaking onto Atlas with nowhere else to funnel.
He groaned. Hand coming to his buckle, he undid his belt, tossing it off to the side. Then he unbuttoned his trousers, peeling them off along with his underwear.
“Atlas,” I panted, part of me knowing we should stop, that this would only complicate things—the other part wanting this more than anything.
Lust leaked steadily from the tip of his tan shaft, hastened by my wayward magic. He dragged me closer until I was flush against his length, then he rubbed up and down my seam, the crown of his cock stroking my nerves. “I’m going to fuck you now and remind you what it’s like to bemine.”
Gripping me tightly, he lifted me off the table. I yelped in surprise, forced to wrap my legs around his waist as he carried me until my back slammed against the cool glass. He whispered into my ear, curling his pelvis into me, slickness building where he teased. “You want that, don’t you?”
The words wouldn’t come. That would take logic. Sense. And I didn’t want either of those things. That would end this right here, right now, and I wasn’t ready for that finality. So instead of words, I nodded my silent confession, then coiled my magic around his cock, notching it at my entrance.
