Page 56 of A Court So Dark
“I’m afraid you are correct.”
“It’s prejudice, isn’t it? Because you’re a shadowdrifter.”
Despite the fact that Daniella was new to my realm, she had a good understanding of how things worked.
Once more, she pressed her hand to my cheek. “I’m sorry. It’s so stupid. If they can’t see that you are the right choice, they don’t deserve you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What about Wölfe? Is he the right choice?”
She seemed at a loss for words at the question.
Her lack of response rattled me somehow, provoking anger and bringing the interloper forth.
WÖLFE
“What is it?” I demanded. “Don’t you like me anymore?”
She pulled her hand away from my cheek, her dark eyebrows drawing together and her gaze roving over my face.
“Wölfe.” My name escaped her lips as if of its own accord.
“Yes, melynthi.”
“I thought…”
“What? That I was gone?”
She shook her head, looking uncertain. “The last time we were together, you, Kalyll…”
I said nothing, hoping she would finish, but her words dried out. The last time we were together was at Naesala’s house. Then, Kalyll had managed to subdue me. No. Subdue was the wrong word. I hated to admit it, but it had seemed as if we both found a way to be present, to be one. Even if he had remained mostly Kalyll, I had felt satisfied.
A growl escaped me at the traitorous thoughts. If anyone should take backstage, it was him, not me. Dani watched me closely, not in the least intimidated by the guttural sound. Well, it seemed I had to set things right.
“The last time we were together,” I sneered, “you hadn’t nearly died, and I hadn’t nearly given up. He couldn’t have survived without me. If you ask me, that means he doesn’t deserve to live alongside me.”
“Oh.” A single exclamation left her lips, then unexpectedly, she was climbing onto my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck.
At first, I didn’t know what to do with my hands. She had surprised me. I’d thought she would push me away and be riddled with uncertainty the way she had been in the past. Instead, she was clinging to me as if… as if she had missed me.
Reluctantly, I pushed her away to look into her face and read her expression. Was she lying? Trying to manipulate me somehow? No. It didn’t seem that way. Her relief seemed genuine, and the tenderness in her gaze told me she cared about me.
“I’m right here,” she said. “I fought my way back, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“What are you doing?” I demanded. “You’ve never been this way with me. You’re trying to bring him back, aren’t you?” The realization dawned on me, cleaving me in half like an ax straight to the chest.
I stood up, and she spilled onto the ground. As I stretched to my full height, she looked up with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open, though her surprise lasted only a moment. In the next instant, she was on her feet, planting her hands on my chest and shoving me.
“You infuriating bastard,” she snapped, then she whirled and turned her back on me. “What made me think you had gained any sense? You’re the same jerk you’ve always been.”
Now, that was more like it. This was the vitriol I was used to.
She whirled back to face me. “You don’t deserve—”
I took a step toward her. Her hand was up, index finger posed to denounce me. I seized her wrist, wrapping my hand around it. She fought, trying to extricate herself, but I laced my other hand around her hip and tugged her to me.
My cock was instantly hard, and the rest of my body just as full of want. She set my blood on fire and made me yearn for the sweltering feel between her legs.
I leaned down to kiss her lips. She turned her head to one side to avoid me, but I wasn’t deterred. I liked her like this: fiery and wild. So I kissed her jaw, then trailed the path with my tongue down the column of her neck. She pushed, her hands flat against my bare chest, but her attempt was feeble. She was right where she wanted to be.
