Chapter Twenty-Seven
Friday, April 6, 2018
“Who were you talking to?” Acadia promptedwhen Kaj ended his phone call and joined her on the small love seat in his room.
“My father.”
Her eyes shot to his face as she tried to discern his tone, more specifically, the concern she heard in it.
“Like I suspected, he thought I was dead.”
“I assume he was happy to hear that wasn’t the case.”
Kaj nodded, his gaze locked on the cold fireplace before them. “He needs me back there.”
Although she’d known this day was coming, Acadia couldn’t deny the ache that bloomed in her chest. The thought of Kaj leaving, of not seeing him was more painful than it should’ve been considering she hadn’t deluded herself into thinking this was a forever thing.
“When will you be leaving?” she inquired, not looking at him as she spoke.
“I told him I’d be back in a week.”
A week. That was all the time they had left together? She wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad. Would it hurt less if he went back now? If she wasn’t subjected to six or seven more nights of him sleeping beside her? Or could she find a way to make enough memories in that time to tide her over for eternity? Neither seemed satisfactory as far as her sanity went, but it wasn’t really her decision, now was it?
“Acadia?”
“Hmm?”
“Look at me,balisra.”
She forced herself to look over, her heart in her throat. She could see the pain in his eyes. He didn’t want to leave her any more than she wanted him to go. But behind that, she could see his resignation. His duty was to his father and hers was to the warriors. They came from different worlds and others expected things from them.
Kaj leaned toward her, his big, warm hand curling around her cheek, his fingers settling under her hair, his thumb stroking gently.
“I don’t want you to go,” she told him, though she hadn’t intended to lay that at his feet.
“I don’t want to go, either.”
But it was going to happen regardless. They both knew it.
“You could come with me,” he whispered.
No, she couldn’t. But he already knew that. Her duties were here, her life here. And even if she was willing to go, it wasn’t an option. If she were to walk out of this mansion, she would be stricken from existence, cast into the shadows, neither alive nor dead.
Kaj scooted closer, his fingers sliding deeper into her hair as he cradled her face and urged her mouth to his. Acadia went without question because this was the only place she wanted to be. With him for as long as time and destiny allowed.
What she really wanted to do was run to her room and bury her head in her blankets, cry for the injustice of it all. But she knew it wouldn’t change anything, and the thought of wasting what precious time they did have left hurt almost as much as the idea of never seeing him again.
To be fair, she’d thought things had changed between them. After he’d witnessed her feeding Khalon, after he’d taken her to the floor and all but claimed her as his own, Acadia had entertained the idea of being Kaj’s forever. Deep down, she’d known that wasn’t an option, but for a while, it had been easy to pretend. For the past month, he’d kept her close and Acadia had stayed willingly.
His lips brushed hers softly as he inched even closer. “Let me hold you,balisra.”
“Make love to me,” she pleaded.
A soft growl escaped him, one that had a way of igniting her insides, warming her entire being. And when he shifted his weight so that he could move over her, Acadia reclined, welcoming his body against hers. For long minutes, his mouth fused to hers and she got lost in the sensation of his kiss. Time seemed to stand still as their hands wandered, clothing began to slip away until they were skin to skin.
And when he settled between her thighs, his erection pushing into her, Acadia welcomed him into her body as she had so many times. He made love to her then, slowly and leisurely, neither of them rushing, satisfied to let the sensations linger, the heat build into a conflagration that consumed them both.
As he cradled her face, she curled her fingers around his hand, holding him to her as she kissed his palm. Tears dripped from her eyes unbidden.
