Page 76 of The Burning Mountain
“I’ve tried to hate you. I tried to forget you. I tried to stay away, andnothingworked. You asked me once, why you? I don’t know. But desire isn’t the entire truth. It’s the lie I’ve been tellingmyself for many years. Yes, I admit I married you because I wanted to teach you a lesson. And yes, I try to embarrass you.”
She moved back involuntarily when he reached her, feeling cornered like a prey he was hunting. “Because it is easier than admitting that Iwantyou. For myself. Have always done so. From the moment I met you. Nothing that has happened since then has changed this…this agonizing need I have for you. Not even knowing my best friend died from your hands has diminished it. Nothing except distance, and even then, merely to an echo.”
Her back hit one of the wooden bedposts and she leaned against it, needing the support to remain upright after hearing his words.
“Desire is a paltry word, Princess,” he whispered, looming over her, bracing his hand on the bedposts. “To describe my depth of craving.”
A shaft of moonlight fell on them, and she could finally see him clearly. She gasped seeing the desire so plainly written on his face, eyes burning with want, skin tight over the features of his face.
“So don’t tell me how hard it is foryou, Chandra,” he growled, “because it isn’t easy for me, either, to want you against all reason.”
35
WHEN THE WALLS COME DOWN
Veer stared at her as moonlight crept in, painting her in shades of indigo and white. She was an otherworldly nymph descended from the heavens.
And looked ready to bolt if he breathed wrong.
From somewhere, Veer found the fortitude for what he needed to say.
“The door is wide open, Princess. I’m sorry, but I didn’t intend for things to go this far. You’re free to leave now. You’ve asked me to keep my distance and I’m a man of my word,” he said, stepping to one side to let her pass.
Veer let his head drop when he heard her walking away, the doors slamming shut. The tinny sound of anklets floated in the wind.
Maybe it was for the best. There was so much between them, too many things that happened, too many unresolved matters, and if his suspicions proved true, then he didn’t know where to begin—to start apologizing for the way he had treated her.
But…Veer raised his head, his breath stalling. The anklets didn’t sound like they were moving away.
He turned suddenly on a scarcely credible hope. And found her leaning against the closed door.
Not so much leaning as plastered against it, he noted, as if she wished she could disappear into the wood. Her hands were tucked behind her back, and he suspected she was still fingering the deadbolt she had locked.
They stared at each other for an eternity.
Her eyes may be defiant, but the way she stood said otherwise. Apprehension radiated from her. But the pride that had first attracted his notice held her rooted in place.
“What are you doing?” he asked, surprised when the question came out harshly.
“I’m not leaving.”
A beat passed before he digested the implications of her actions. “You don’t know what you are doing.”
“Don’t I?” she asked, but he heard the tremble she couldn’t hide in her voice.
“I’m not in a nice mood, Princess. You don’t know what staying here means. I’m going to disregard your actions just this once. If you are wise, you would use that opportunity to make your escape.”
Veer called himself a fool. If she was the one who wanted to stay, then why couldn’t he keep quiet and take what she was so generously offering? But then he would have to look at himself in the mirror. But by the gods, he was pulled apart in different directions, between want and duty, guilt and honor.
“If I wanted to escape, I would have been out of this room already,” she persisted in her argument.
Why the hell was she so stubborn, and why the hell did he ever find it so attractive? All it did right now was stretch his control to a thin thread. “Damn you. Don’t you understand what I’m saying? You will not leave this room a chaste woman if you don’t go now!”
“I am not a child, Veer. I know what I’m doing. I know what I want.” She licked her lips apprehensively.
“What do you want?” he growled, trying and failing to modulate his voice. He sounded like a hungry beast. Perhaps, it wasn’t far from the truth.
“You. To be your wife. To be with you.”
