“Is that…?” I stuttered, unsure if she’d been the cause of this change, or someone else.
“A portal? Yes, and this time I didn’t do anything,” Damien said as his eyes drifted toward the wall.
“This is Gwendolyn…” Malakai declared. “It is our bond… It’s making this place act up… and it is…”
Damien didn’t let Malakai finish before he stroked the glimmering surface, watching how his own hand vanished between the spheres.
“I’ll see where it ends,” he said before he fully vanished inside.
Why was he going alone?
After only a matter of seconds, he came back. “This isn’t exactly a new portal. It is just another opening, almost as it splits itself, like Xavier’s wardrobe.”
“What do you mean?” Gwendolyn asked.
“Your bond created an opening to Malakai’s bedroom,” Damien stated.
“Why?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes at her sweet naivety.
“Because your bond wants you tofulfillit… to feel whole, obviously.”
Chapter 31
I was watching her the entire time she was laying inside my arm.
All our gazes were fixed on her.
It wasn’t easy for me, knowing I wanted her just as much as she wanted me.
But now, after she knew what had happened to me… what my body had been used for… I couldn’t even look her in the eyes anymore. I was filled with too much shame and disgust.
Why wasn’t I strong enough to prevent Leanan from touching me, from using my body in a way that solely belonged to Gwendolyn?
The moment I had embraced her in my arms in the underground cave, the feeling of her soft skin against mine, her scent, her hair strands against my face, everything became too much. She was the closest feeling to heaven, and I’d give anything, even the right to touch her, if it meant I could just taste that moment again.
“Is this what you want?” I asked, my fingers stroking through the strands of her long hair.
Her gaze enveloped me like a soft blanket. Her lips were parted, whether to decide if she would speak the truth, the desire tobond with me, or not.
Instead of waiting for a response, I looked at my brother and Xavier, making it clear where we were both going, as I picked her up, vanishing through the icy surface, which Gwendolyn’s dreams and wishes had created.
I entered my room cautiously. It was the first time she had been here. The ceiling was pretty high, much higher than in all the other rooms in the castle. The walls and deck were white, and the room itself was very light and barely decorated. Along the outer wall was a huge glass armoire that was stacked with books, and in the center of the room was a huge bed with white sheets that had been untouched since I got here.
I had been so used to sleeping on the floor that sleeping on a bed felt wrong. Fear and anger unfolded through my chest—what if she didn’t want me, once she found out how messed up I was? I wanted to leave her all by herself until a picture of a little ginger-haired girl on my armoire caught my attention and calmed me down. It was her. I had kept this little piece of memory inside me for as long as I can remember. It was something I had kept hidden down there.
“Is this… okay?” she asked. Confusion spread through me.
“What do you mean?”
“That I’m in your private space… I can also leave…”
“No… stay, you belong with me,” I said, kissing her forehead. It might sound like a plea for her, but it was ademand. There was no way I’d allow her to leave, if I wanted her just as much, if not more.
“There are so many things I want to protect from you, Gwendolyn. Including me.” She looked up at me, eyes widening in surprise.
“You protected me from myself, Malakai. I don’t need to be protected from you. I want to understand every single piece of you…” she said, tears appearing in her beautiful eyes. Tears Icreated with my distance, with my rejection.
