It seems so silly given our situation. He owns a piece of my soul, he’s a member of my Valtrue, and he’s one of my self-declaredboyfriends.
Granted, I no longer plan to deny his claim. I don’t want to fight my feelings for him anymore. It’s exhausting holding myself back.
Everything is exhausting these days.
My desire for him and Amick, though, is swiftly outweighing my fear of a relationship. Hell, I may not be ready to fully accept it, but part of me already claims Creed and Riven.
Other than myself, the only thing holding me back from really admitting that is them. I don’t know how they feel about me from one day to the next.
Resisting my urge to tell Kyzen what happened seems like a problem I’m only creating for myself when we have so much more to worry about.
“I’m not exactly sure how this just happened, but it felt like my breaking point. It started small, but pressure kept building in my chest, and my body was vibrating. The blood on my hands that I thought was Creed’s…” I close my eyes and exhale sharply. “I thought someone had hurt him…”
“And that set you off?”
“It started it. There was a drop of blood on my shirt, so I jerked it off. Then I saw my bruises, which led to me seeing my back.”
“I’m sorry, Thayla, I’m not following.”
I force myself to look at him. “That’s the first time I’ve seen it. I’ve avoided looking at myself, so I didn’t think about the fact that was the tenth whipping I’ve received within the last year.”
His body flinches before he falls unnaturally still. For a small blip of a second, the light blue rings in his eyes flare to life. The color settles as he regulates his breathing.
“No one, man or god, should’ve ever done that to you. I don’t have to know what led to that to know there was nothing you said or did that would’ve warranted that type of abuse. You know you didn’t deserve that, right?”
“I…”
No, I don’t know that.
Mellcom’s soft but harsh words explaining to me exactly why it was happening replay in my ears. It was always my mouth, my temper, my reaction to getting my ass handed to me.
Every single time, I was told it was my fault, he explained why it was happening, and that was the punishment.
“If you don’t know that, I will teach you. I’ll show you exactly how you’re supposed to be treated. Neither I nor my brothers will ever raise a hand, power, or a weapon against you, no matter what. I swear to the Valories, if anyone, I don’t give a fuck who they are, were to ever do something like that to you again, I will kill them where they stand. I will defend and protect you because you are mine. Do you understand me?”
My heart pounds from the intensity in his voice. I’ve never seen him so stern. There’s not a strand of teasing, flirting, or any of his normal, playful behavior.
I have no choice but to let what he’s saying settle inside of me.
Kneeling before me is a powerful god, declaring I’m his.
Swearing he would take a life in order to protect mine.
Me. He’ll protect me. I know that. I see it.
Fuck, that sounds perfect.
“I’m yours,” I whisper.
The serious scowl melts from his face and he blinks repeatedly. “Say that again.”
The raspiness in his voice has heat racing through my body. “I’m yours, Kyzen.”
A gasp falls from my lips as what’s left of the cold shower tile presses into my back. I wrap my arms around his neck and legs around his waist instinctively as he reaches behind me to turn the water on.
My chest rises and falls as I gawk at him.
I didn’t even feel him move us.
