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Rain runs down her arms, little rivers of water tracing the contours of her shoulders and back. There’s something hauntingly beautiful in the way she stands there, unmoving, oblivious to the wet.

What’s going on behind those distant eyes? Does she feel as lonely as she looks right now?

“She’s really not so bad, you know.”

Only at his comment do I finally break away, finding Ashen’s focus now on me. I’d always thought my brother liked Sumner, at least in the kind of way where he wanted something from her. But I’m the one who can’t stop looking.

Which is exactly why I need to get out of here for a while. Remember who she is and why the hell she’s here.

I didn’t sleep with Sumner. I fucked Sumner. It wasn’t an act of anything other than using her to feel something.

It could have been anyone.

“She’s a pest,” I tell him. “Nothing more.”

“Pest or not, there’s something about her you’ve gotta admire. I mean, she puts up with your shit better than the rest of us.” He laughs, always trying to lighten my dickish mood.

But admire her? No. I thirst for her. For her pain. For her smile.

Fucking hell. My brain is in shambles.

“Whatever, man. Can we go?”

We decide on Four Cauldrons for breakfast. I push the food around with my fork, not having any appetite for what’s on my plate. My mind is too far gone this morning.

Why did Sumner so willingly dance with Ashen at the Centennial but tell me to leave when she and I danced at the tavern? And the whole birthday thing. Human tradition aside, why would she care to celebrate mine?

When we’re alone, just her and I, it’s like we aren’t us. She isn’t someone whose entire existence I regret. I’m not the one causing her irrevocable damage. We get along because the fighting isn’t real. Me wishing her away is nothing more than a distant thought.

Until we wake up and remember who the other person is, restarting the endless cycle that is Sumner and Rhenn.

“What’s up with you today?” Ashen starts, his plate already clean. “I thought you were so hungry we had to leave your place the moment I got there?”

“Yeah,” I mumble, not exactly in the mood for conversation. Or these eggs.

“Is this about Siena? You know she’d take you back if you asked.” I glance at him, shoving my food to the center of the table. “Just saying, because now’s your chance.” He nods behind me.

“Hi, Ashen,” she says before I have the opportunity to turn around. And just like that, she’s standing beside me, Moxin to her left. “Hi, Rhenn.”

“Ladies,” Ashen greets the girls, flashing them each an inviting grin. Moxin’s cheeks flush pink when she sees it. He’s always been the lady killer, charming when it suits him.

“Hey,” is all I say, holding eye contact with Siena for long enough to see the hope buried in her gaze. She and I always knew it would never be a permanent thing between us. We aren’t of the same blood order, and neither of us ever planned on breaking that. Still, ending things when we did wasn’t exactly a mutual decision.

“Will we see you two at The Hunt next week?” Ashen asks, trying to rid the tension surrounding us. It pulls Siena’s attention off of me, and I allow my focus to fall over her once again. Her deep blue hair is pulled up into a high braided ponytail. She wears a cuff of silver that spirals and twirls along the length of her pointed ears.

There’s no denying she’s attractive, and the lesser part of me almost considers the idea of starting things back up with her. If I’m distracted with Siena, maybe I can forget about the way Sumner molded against my body while she slept, so exactly, like she was custom made to fit in my arms. Maybe I can forget the way I wanted to hold her there even after she left.

It wouldn’t work, of course. Even sapphires can’t pull me from the maddening thoughts which now consume me.

There are two things I’m certain: Siena, nor anyone, has ever come close to what I experienced last night, and I have to find a way to make myself forget that.

This serves as a problem, because I don’t know how the fuck that’s possible. That girl had already taken me over long before I had her in my bed. I just never expected she’d end up there. It had taken everything in me to resist tearing my shirt off of her when I’d seen her in it. I was desperate to have her, to see and feel all of her. I tried to step away so she could leave. I needed her to leave. But my little Vixen, she wanted me too, and that’s when I lost any control I had left.

The soft curves of her waist, the contour of her shapely breasts—an absolute perfect handful—and her not so innocent doe eyes while she took me in her hand.

Fuck, I can almost still feel it.

I’d visually traced her body when she leaned against the desk, nearly falling to my knees when she started touching herself. Her perky ass was on full display, and that gleaming pussy…