Page 44 of Obsession & Oath

“It’s beyond your control,” I rest my forehead heavily against his. “You let me have this. It’s enough.”

“Is it?”

I pull away and his hands trail down my arms, not quite clinging but unwilling to let me go. It’s hard to put the distance between us, but I do so anyway.

“I don’t know how much time I have here, but?—”

“Months.”

The answer comes out of his mouth so quickly I’m temporarily blindsided. “Months?”

“Leon is biding his time. I got the call yesterday, for obvious reasons, I can’t tell you much more.”

Something breaks inside me. A suspicion long held suddenly confirmed, plain as day. I laugh bitterly. “It’s not Leon.”

Dante looks like he’s about to pry but thinks better of it.

He sighs, leaning back on the bench. “That’s why I thought you might appreciate your new room. You also have my permission to come out here or explore the castle if you’d like. May as well if we’re going to be here a while.”

I quirk an eyebrow. “On my own?”

“You’re never really alone in this place.” He looks over his shoulder, through the canopy of vines, toward the sound of a nearby gardener shifting around. “And it’s not like you can go anywhere else.”

“You trust me not to run?”

“I trust that you’re not that stupid,” he counters easily.

I walk forward to capture his lips once more. “I’m not so sure about that.”

Dante freezes this time, and I can see by the way his knuckles grip the side of the bench that I’m not going to like whatever he’s about to say next.

“I think, perhaps, we should stop.”

And yep, that stings a bit. “Right.”

I try to shuffle back, but he snatches at my wrist. “It’s not you.”

“It’s okay. I asked for too much.”

“Carmen,” he tugs at my arm, forcing me to look into his eyes. The fire that burns behind them takes my breath away. “If you kiss me again, I won’t be able to stop.”

“Oh.”

Fuck.

“I’m going to give you some space for a while,” Dante continues, jaw clenching and unclenching. “This won’t end well otherwise, and I need to just…sort out a few things.”

I swallow down the disappointment and force myself to smile back at him. “Well, if you’re going to be all gentlemanly about this, you can at least escort me back to my room.”

The tension eases from his shoulders as he sees my offered arm. “You’re only asking because you can’t remember the way back.”

“Dickhead.”

* * *

True to his word, I don’t see Dante for the rest of the week, which is, honestly, fine. Truly an absolutely fine thing for him to do.

Because I understood what he meant. I knew already that kissing would only lead to more trouble down the line. Logically, there’s nothing that can happen between us. At least nothing more than what has already happened.

---