Page 102 of Tainted Gifts
Kellan nods, and then he starts walking away without saying anything more. I look to Jase, and he tightens his lips to a thin line.
I have to be the one to tell him. I'll be right back.
"Oh," Kellan says with his back still turned. "Congratulations on the engagement."
My heart sinks when I hear the genuine pain in his voice, and I start jogging to catch up with him while Simone's jaw tries to slap the ground.
"How did you know? We haven't told anyone."
He keeps walking away, refusing to face me. "I overheard you. I eavesdropped on your meeting with the committee. I thought you might need my help. I was wrong. I was going to talk to you, but then I heard you refer to yourself as his fiancée. I didn't mean to, but I apparently stumbled upon a finished proposal. My apologies."
"Kellan, I'm sorry, but I-"
"Don't," he says in a near whisper while finally stopping and facing me. "You don't have to be sorry, Aria. I have no right to try and force you to feel what I do. One day you'll be mine, but until then, I have to accept the fact you don't want to be. I need to go. Grayson is meeting me ten miles from here. We'll be using my tunnels if this trail crosses the border. I'll see you when I get back."
I sigh out, nodding in response rather than argue. There's really no argument to be had.
He leans forward and his hand wraps around the back of my head as he pulls me to him. His hybrid heat doesn't sting me, but his touch is still no more desirable. At least I don't insult him with my usual grimace when his lips find my cheek.
"Be careful," he says softly, stroking my cheek with his hand. "Figures the cold would come too late for me."
He tries to smile, making it sound like a joke as I hug myself for warmth. Then he offers me a quick wave before turning to go once more, taking a jeep near the gate to aide him on his trip.
Warm arms wrap around my waist as my fiancé comes to rest his head atop mine, staring with me as the man I couldn't force myself to love drives off.
"He took that rather well," Jase murmurs softly.
"He's playing it tough. I felt his pain."
"You're ciphering feelings better?" he asks, seeming genuinely interested.
"Not really, but I know I'm not in pain, so it had to be his." I let a breath fall through with a coarse rasp, and then I lean back on him as we stare out into the vast land. "You feel so good."
"Your headache has stopped completely, your temp has returned to normal, and you're not experiencing any pain," he murmurs somewhat randomly.
"I never do when you touch me," I say with a grin. "I guess you have to hold me for a while longer."
I feel his smile, and then he releases me, making me stumble backwards when I lose the prop I was leaning against.
"You don't feel it even when I'm not touching you. I thought the detoxifier would dry up after sex."
"It should have," Rex interjects, joining us from out of nowhere. "It's something I've already noticed though, and I called Uncle Brazen to be sure. He said her detoxifier should have been burned up during the... exchange between the two of you," he says with his ew face in play. "He also said her pain should be unbearable every time she's not under your weird little spell."
"It's not," I say with a shrug. "I feel better than I have in weeks."
"I know," Rex says with a perplexed expression. "Uncle Brazen seems to think Jase's blood must have healing properties. He wants us to keep him updated in case he's wrong, but it looks like you're in the clear."
"He knows?" I gasp. "About what Jase is?"
"He's known," Rex says, looking at Jase who seems completely baffled. "Dad and Brazen were a lot closer than most people realize, so he told him."
"He never once thought about it around me," Jase says quickly, making sure I know that he didn't know that Uncle Brazen did know. What a mouthful.
"He never really cared that you were different, so it wasn't necessarily a thought that crossed his mind," Rex says with a shrug.
Jase almost laughs to himself. His arms slides over my shoulders as he kisses my forehead.
"Wait a second," I murmur while holding my hands up. "You mean I could have just blood fucked Jase when all this started and I wouldn't have had to go through all this? I wouldn't have had to drink that putrid concoction they called a detoxifier?"
