Page 95 of Forged in Rain

Lifting my eyes to his, I raise a brow. “When?”

He grabs my arm and pulls me to his chest, his nostrils flaring like a bull. “I thought you understood.”

Laughing bitterly, I tip my head to the sky. “I understand, all right. You’re done, and I’m fucking alone.”

He flinches but grabs my hair, leaning into my lips until we’re pressed together. “I said I’d never leave you. Did you not believe me?”

“But you’re gone,” I whimper, placing my hand on his chest. “Here.”

He drops his forehead to mine and whispers, “My heart fucking beats for you, beauty. How do you not see it?”

Wrapping my arms around his middle, I say on a sob, “Because I don’t feel you anymore.”

He tugs me close and sighs, his breath parting my hair. “If you don’t feel me, it’s because you’re not paying attention.”

“How?”

“When you sleep at night, and your heart beats, it’s me. When you look at the sky, and you see a shooting star, it’s me. When you look in the mirror, and those gorgeous eyes stare back at you, it’s me. I’m everywhere, beauty, because I refuse to be anywhere else.”

“Promise?” I ask, my tears staining his shirt.

“Beauty, I’d never fucking lie. But you have to hold on for me. You have to let me make this right. Can you do that?”

“Can you keep your hands off your fucking harem?” I mutter, clenching his shirt in my hands.

He chuckles, and I lean back with a ferocious scowl. He’s smiling at me, and I start, opening my mouth to yell at him when he leans into me once more and growls, “Your jealousy is hot.”

“I mean it,” I say with a moan as he takes my lips in a brutal kiss.

I liquefy, my bones melting under the heat. He caresses my tongue before sucking it between his teeth, and I whimper into his mouth as he breathes me in.

Only when we need air does he pull away with a frustrated grunt, pushing my hair behind my ear. “I don’t want anyone but you, beauty. But I have to play the game, and so do you.”

“Oh? So, I should surround myself with a bunch of dudes?” I ask caustically, my stomach a hard lump at his insistence.

His brows slam over his eyes, and he pushes me back with a ferocious scowl. A sob escapes, and I wrap my hands around my aching stomach as he tugs at his hair, a tortured expression crossing his face. “I’ll kill anyone who touches what’s mine.”

“Then stay away from the bitches,” I warn.

He drops his hands and looks at me with an icy cold smirk. “I haven’t touched anyone since you.”

“Then,” I say, reaching out to touch him.

But he steps back, and my stomach falls as he says, “I’m doing this for you, for us. If you can’t fucking see that . . .”

He turns away, and I watch him go before stepping up and saying desperately, “Wait. Please. I’m sorry, I’m lost.”

His shoulders hunch, and he stares at the ground. “I’m lost too, beauty. Wait for me. Wait. And for fuck’s sake, eat.”

With that, he stalks away, and I sink to the ground, wrapping my arms around my middle.

Wait. For how long?

∞∞∞

Iris is quiet on the way home. She picked me up off the ground and brought me back to the car without a word. Back in my room, I lay on the bed with a groan and stare at the ceiling.

Cyn’s words brought me peace but also a sense of shame. I didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt and refused to see that he’s suffering too. Not only that, but he’s worried about his sister while I’ve been sunk in my misery.

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