Page 17 of War of Her Heart

“Does it keep people out, too?” I asked even though, considering a few moments ago, the shadow king was in my room, I knew the answer to that. I just wanted to see what Calum thought.

“No, if I did a ward that strong, someone would notice, and it would draw more attention than we needed. So I placed a small ward that would go unnoticed. Just one to keep noises from escaping,” he responded as his eyes slowly drifted down from my eyes to my lips.

I was so hurt after seeing Calum with Nathara and learning how he’d been acting with her, but I knew he was telling the truth. He wouldn’t lie to me. I had to trust him to get us through this, even if I had to sit back and watch.

But, gods, I missed him. I missed his touch. I missed the way he would make me feel with his touches. I needed to feel him.

I looked down at his body. His shirt was tight, accentuating his biceps. I opened my lips slightly, and my eyes made my way back up to his. He took that as an invitation and closed the distance between us. Calum grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me roughly. Grabbing my waist, he picked me up and lay me on the bed before climbing on top of me.

He pulled his shirt over his head while barely breaking our kiss. It was like he didn’t want to miss a second of our bodies touching. Like he had missed me just as much as I missed him.He didn’t even take the time to take my dress off. He just pulled it up enough where he could grab my panties and rip them off.

I didn’t even notice that he had managed to pull his pants down too until I felt him thrust his length inside of me.

It was rough. Not rough wild sex like we’d done so many times before, but rough and fast like he needed to finish as fast as he could because he had somewhere else to be.

Because he did have somewhere else to be.

His fiancée was waiting for him at the party.

He finished. I didn’t. He rolled over and pulled me into his arms.

“Violet, I’m sorry you had to see me with her tonight, but I’m afraid that you’re going to see a lot more of it. I am trying so hard to find what or who is making the Sovereign weaker. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to figure it out, so that means I don’t know how long I’m going to have to pretend to be in love with Nathara.”

I squeezed him a little harder when he said that. I didn’t want this moment to end. All I wanted was Calum.

“But I will figure it out, and I will get out of this engagement. I promise.”

“I know you will,” I whispered.

Did I? Did I really believe that he would get out of this? I had to. He was all I had.

He kissed my head before getting up to put his clothes back on.

“I will be back. As soon as I get the chance, I will be back here with you. It may be a few days and it may be the middle of the night, but I’ll be back.”

“I know you will.”

Calum transferred out of my room.

I got it. Nothing had ever been easy for me, and I shouldn’t have expected anything else.

Of course, I was born with a heart condition that caused my father to treat me like an injured bird that needs to be protected at all times.

Of course, the love of my life is engaged to another.

Of course, I am going to have to watch them together for possibly the next three months.

And, like always, I had to sit back and accept it all. I had no power. I was from a realm where females were only good for one thing: lying on their backs. I’d been taught to submit to everything that was given to me.

I’d felt weird tonight, though, ever since I was late to take my medication. I felt angrier, more confident with my thoughts, and more articulate in putting those thoughts into words. I think it was from the near-death experience, but I even stood up to Calum, which I’d never done.

I’d always been able to say what I felt around him, but he always had the final say in everything. If I didn’t like something, I told him my opinion and he would listen, but in the end, he made every decision.

But now . . . fuck it.

7

Chapter 7

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