“I wish that I could trust in you,” Thiago whispers. There’s a storm in his eyes, and he captures my surprise on my lips. One long heated kiss that steals my breath. Then he’s kissing my cheeks, my nose. “But I can’t help thinking that you were never meant to be a gift. You were meant to be my destruction.”
The moment is gone, a portentous shiver running through me. “Don’t say that.”
His eyes darken. I almost don’t recognize the look in them. “There’s almost a part of me that doesn’t care. Shatter me, Vi. Break me. Destroy me. I will love every moment of it, until we crash and burn.”
I shove him onto his back and then sling my legs over his hips. Pressing a finger to his lips, I shake my head. “Stop saying that. Stop tempting fate.”
“You don’t believe in fate.”
I shiver, and he smiles.
“Fate already fucked me once,” he whispers, his thumbs rasping up the outside of my thighs. “It can wait its turn. Maybe we can make our own fate.”
And then he flexes up and kisses me again, drawing me down to our ruin.
8
Iskvien
Iwish that I could trust in you….
The words spin around my head as I circle my small tent the following day.
I slept with the Prince of Evernight. Again.
It’s almost like I have some sort of weakness for arrogant, handsome males who are nothing like they seem to be on the surface.
But I can’t help thinking that Thiago and Etan are worlds apart.
Thiago was angry yesterday. Furious with the reveal of my identity.
And yet, not once did I ever feel threatened.
It’s a heady realization.
The evil Prince of Evernight—the one who murdered his queen and her heirs, the one who seeks to steal my mother’s rightful lands away from her—wanted to know why I have bruises on my wrists.
I pace and I pace and I pace.
There are thoughts churning in my mind. Dangerous thoughts.
I can see him again, the backs of his knuckles brushing against my cheek as our eyes meet, and he sinks deep inside me. I can feel my breath catching, feel that moment branding itself on my skin. Taste his kiss on my lips as he stills and lets me adjust to his size and weight.
It’s all starting to merge in my mind.
My mother digs the knife into the skin beneath Finn’s eye.
My hands shake as I sign the contract that will bind me to a monster.
And Thiago’s mouth captures mine as he hauls me against him, and I wilt into his arms, wanting nothing more than to lose myself in him.
I promised my mother I would sign the marriage contract.
I never promised her I would go through with the marriage.
“Fuck it.” I’m moving before I can think my way through the entire plot. The problem is this Finn. If I renege, she’ll kill him. Painfully.
But if he’s no longer here….