Page 62 of Queen of Wrath

There was a spark of electricity between our lips right before he pressed his mouth to mine.

His hands moved from either side of my face to the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair as he pulled me deeper into the kiss.

I had never been kissed like this before. The only person I had ever kissed in my life was Jax, and the time it had meant something to me was too long ago. I hardly remembered how it’d made me feel back then, but I knew it hadn’t been anything like I was feeling now.

This kiss was kind and tender. It was given freely without a hint of demand—without an expectation to get anything more out of it. This was what a kiss was supposed to feel like. It tasted of raw acceptance, light, and promise. Things I’d once only been able to dream of.

My hands found his chest and moved up to cling to his shoulders.

I almost allowed myself to be taken over by the feeling of the kiss, of him, but my mind was flooded with thoughts of Diesel and Jax. I imagined them smirking at me as if they had won simply because I had given in to Lea’s wants for a mere moment.

I pushed him off me. “I'm sorry. I can't…”

I can't be Lea for you. That girl is dead and gone. She has been for a long time now.

“I understand. I appreciate you trying for my sake,” he said softly, forcing a smile to his face before standing up. “How are you feeling?”

I looked down at my hands, realizing the burns had cleared up.

My body also no longer ached.

My ribs even felt like they were in the right place again.

“I feel better than I have in a long time.” I brought myself to my feet slowly.

“That's good to hear. If you're feeling up to it, I have something to show you.” He glanced over his shoulder at me, his eyes cold now. It was as if he had given way to whatever dark shadows haunted him.

It wasn't exactly like I could blame him. I knew what it was like to deal with that oppressive darkness that always lingered no matter what I did to try and ignore it.

I gave him a quick nod and followed him. As we walked deeper into the building, I realized just how devastatingly rundown the place was.

I figured we were somewhere attached to his bar, which was outside of the city of Theskin. That would explain the dilapidation of the place.

I couldn’t stop myself from looking up at the ceiling, my brow furrowing with concern with every long creak and grind emitting from there. It was as if the whole building was about to collapse in on itself at any moment.

The wooden support posts in the walls we passed intermittently were warped from water damage, accompanied by the faint scent of mildew.

Regardless of how the place looked and smelled, it wasn't entirely unpleasant. In fact, I preferred this over the stinking cleanliness—and pretentiousness—of most buildings in Theskin.

What is Miller up to? No… Emory. He was no more Miller than I was Lea any longer. We’ve changed too much to go back.

I stopped in my tracks as Emory reached a large iron door. I was on guard in an instant.

I wasn't exactly sure what was on the other side of it, but I could sense a great number of people there. Not just any people, either. Magical beings.

He grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. The simple feat seemed to require all of his strength. “Welcome to our band of rebels.”

He held out his arm, motioning for me to enter.

I hesitated for a moment, smelling the air to make sure there wasn’t any obvious danger ahead. I gave myself a slight nod of reassurance before marching forward into the large warehouse-looking area.

No less than eighty people were there, who all stopped what they were busy doing to look at me. Most of the faces were unfamiliar to me, but there were a few I recognized from the bar that day.

My eyes lingered on the tall, muscular woman with pink hair. “Dai?”

She flashed a toothy grin and bowed her head to greet me. “So nice of you to finally join us. Emory here said you would, but we weren't sure if we could trust his opinion. We thought he was being swayed by his feelings too much.”

She let out a chortle, but Emory’s answering smile was more of the gritted-teeth variety. “Keep messing around with me, Dai, and we’ll see who’s swayed after a good old pummeling.”

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