Page 144 of Rising Out of the Darkness
“That’s alright, darling, I’ve always liked my women with a little bite,” he spat.
My mouth gaped open, only for his lips to smother the words. He raged against my tightly clasped lips, trying to rekindle a fire that was no longer there. Disgust swirled around my stomach, and every muscle in my body cringed to escape.
I leaned into his body, partly as a distraction, but mostly so I could use his weight to lift my legs to prepare for an attack. A satisfied growl rippled through him as I pressed against his chest. However, it didn’t last long.
I lifted my knee and crashed it into his groin. As he keeled over, I used my other leg to kick his legs out and he fell onto his ass. Will rolled on the ground, cupping his groin as he whimpered.
“Looks like you were right. Iamstill capable of knocking men on their asses.” A smirk danced across my face as I looked down to the man at my feet.
“Come on, Elena—you can’t actually like him,” he snarled. “He doesn’t know you like I do, doesn’t know how to take care of you like I do. Declan will never love you like I can.”
The sharp sting of his words radiated. Squeezing my trembling hands into fists, I planted my feet firmly into the ground before I spoke to Will for the last time.
“Do not act as though you understand the meaning of love, Will.” My voice was strong and stern. “Love is being there for someone unconditionally. It doesn’t waiver, or falter when lifebecomes too difficult to handle. When you love someone deeply, you’d give up your entire being to help guide the other out of the darkness and back into the light. It means you’d fight for that person, for every moment until your last breath. True love is an unbreakable bond that can be felt in the deepest depths of your soul. This”—I motioned between the two of us— “this is not love, Will. It never was.”
He sighed, dropping his head down. He still cupped his injured groin. I smothered a snicker and wiped a palm across my face, trying my best to wipe away the taste and the memory of what had just occurred.
I started to walk back towards the castle when I paused and looked back over my shoulder towards Will. “Oh, and Will? You were right about one thing. I don’t like Declan…I love him.”
Will’s face turned a deep shade of scarlet. I savored the fury in his face for a few moments before whipping around to crash into a solid body.
Declan
As she swiped the hair away from her face to get a better look at who she’d just crashed into, I tried my best to stifle a smile. Lena was unbearably cute when she was flustered.
Sparkling eyes with swirls of blue and green widened with the realization of who stood before her. A beautiful, rosy flush spread across her cheeks and danced along the smooth curve of her neck.
Her bottom lip sank beneath her teeth, and at that moment, I couldn’t decide which of those I desired the most. Was it herdazzling eyes, her soft skin, or the plump bottom lip now buried beneath her teeth? Why choose?
The boy stood up behind her, cupping his groin. I raised a questioning eyebrow towards her.
“Don’t ask,” she mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes. Inwardly, I groaned. When would she ever learn what that did to me?
I leaned into the shell of her ear, my lips barely caressing the tip. The breath caught in her throat as a shiver shook her body. It would be unnoticeable to anyone else except me. Since we first met, I’d always noticed the way her body reacted to mine.
“Wildfire, this is a story that you will definitely be telling me soon, in detail.” I chuckled darkly, letting my lips brush against the side of her temple. “But not now. Right now, you and I need to talk.”
She nodded meekly, hands trembling, quite the opposite of the blazing inferno that had just showed the people of Ehora how powerful she really was.
“Leave,” I yelled around her.
Will lowered his hand and rolled his shoulders back while straightening his spine, a challenge stirred by the woman in front of us. Unfortunately, both he and I knew he didn’t have a chance in Hells of winning that battle ever again. No matter how fancy his little fire show was tonight, he would never survive the wrath I would bring down upon him if he ever touched her again.
“If you were smart, you would leave us alone now. She may have only bruised that pathetic excuse for a cock between your legs”—my eyes dipped to his pants and back up— “but I, on the other hand, will remove it and feed it to the fish behind you. I’m no fisherman, but I hear they enjoy worms.”
Elena’s mouth gaped wide open, and I could tell she was struggling not to become consumed by mirth. Even my own lips twitched.
“You wouldn’t dare!” he barked, puffing out his chest.
“Look at her one moment longer, and you’ll find out just how serious I am.” My voice was laced with venom.
He stormed past us both, knocking my shoulder as he passed.
“Careful,” I growled. Tracking him closely, I pinned him with my glare until his silhouette disappeared into the castle.
Finally, we were alone.
Silence fell, but I could feel the sizzle of energy electrifying the air, that charged feeling that had always surrounded us whenever we were close. The flush of her skin, and the rapid increase of the pulse in her neck, was evidence enough that she felt it too.
