Page 89 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

Her eyes widened when he inched closer, and the blush that had warmed her skin must now have been near purple.

“The world is painful.” Merrick’s gaze drilled into hers. “Yours perhaps more than most. But it’s time for you to stop cowering before it. Make mistakes, and forgive yourself for them. Get hurt, and fight back. You’re a good person. A fucking great person. Stop letting guilt dim your light. I told you once, it’s time to shine…” His hands tightened their grip, and Lessia’s breath caught in her throat.

“It’s time to fucking burn, Lessia. If we’re taking on the threats of this world, you’ll need to be willing to burn it down. Love. Lose. Hate. Win. They all come together in the end. Use them to fuel that passion to make this wretched world a little better.”

Warmth shot through her veins.

Not like the warmth from the liquor.

But courage, determination, and fiery conviction that Merrick was right sparked through every nerve when he dropped his hands.

If she didn’t know better… she might have thought it was Merrick’s emotions flowing through her, for how quickly they drove any lingering worry away.

But… he didn’t manipulate or manage emotions.

Her muscles relaxed as she placed her hands on the beach, leaning her weight on them.

“You’re right.” Lessia nodded to herself. “Still, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to kiss you.”

Merrick’s brows twitched. “I know.”

Lessia inclined her head, and as she pushed her hands into the sand and got up, Merrick did the same.

Walking in comfortable silence back the short distance to the house, that gratefulness she’d felt the past couple of days provided comfort against the nightly wind beginning to pick up, and a small smile tugged at her lips as she reached for the doorknob.

But before she could twist it, Merrick’s hand gripped her own.

Confused, she glanced over her shoulder at him.

“You should know.” Merrick’s breath hit her mouth when he leaned in over her. “I don’t regret it.”

“Regret what?” she asked.

“Kissing you.”

Lessia’s eyes rounded so much she was surprised they didn’t pop out of her skull.

“I know you didn’t mean it. But…” Merrick’s gaze drifted over her. “You don’t need to feel guilty.”

Her mouth fell open when Merrick’s hand squeezed hers as he opened the door and threw a curt “Night” over his shoulder before stalking off toward his room.

Her jaw remained slack the entire time she got out of her clothes and washed her face in the bathing chamber, and when she slipped into the cool sheets of the bed.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Lessia realized why Raine never let go of his bottle as she gripped the wooden bucket with both hands, vomiting bile and whatever liquor remained in her stomach.

Wiping her mouth with a shaky hand, she forced her equally trembly legs to straighten.

She needed a bath.

Preferably an ice-cold one to drive the thickness in her head away.

Without bothering to put anything else on besides the undergarments she’d slept in, only grabbing a towel from the small closet in her room and half-heartedly holding it against her chest, Lessia sneaked out of her room.

It was still early, dawn probably an hour or so away.

But she’d awoken with a racing heart, and even though a somewhat hazy memory of Merrick telling her she didn’t need to feel guilty floated around in her mushy mind, she couldn’t help but still feel it.

---