Page 234 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Look at me, Tessa,” he ordered, violet irises immediately snapping to his. “Stay right here, okay? Stay with me, and focus on my words.” She nodded slowly before he continued. “You didn’t show up for training, but Dex had delivered a message that said you would be gone all day due to whatever Rordan had discussed with you. I wasn’t pleased, but I know this is a delicate balance between you, me, and the Achaz Lord right now, so I didn’t argue. It turned out I would have had to cancel traininganyway because while I was making my way back to the palace, Theon called. There had been an emergency Tribunal Hearing called to discuss the fate of Arius Kingdom with Valter still unaccounted for. Theon was required to be there, obviously. You can’t go to those meetings alone. You’ve seen them. They would all be against him. Axel is gone. I am still his advisor. You left, but I didn’t.”

Tessa nodded, and he thought it was in understanding of what he was saying until she said, “I am merely your responsibility. He is your family. I understand that.”

Luka was certain the look on his face was the same that Theon had sported when she’d accused him of lying to her. It felt like she’d hit him harder than she ever could. No, it felt like she’d punched him with the weight of her power behind it.

And the dragon beneath his skin had had enough.

She stumbled back as a gasp of surprise fell from her lips when his wings appeared, shredding through his shirt. He was prowling towards her, and with each step he took, she took another back until she was pressing against the wall.

He didn’t stop until his boots were touching the tips of hers. His wings flaring behind him, he planted one palm above her head and gripped her chin with the other, forcing her face up to meet his gaze.

“What are you doing?” she snarled, but there was a breathiness to it that made his dragon rumble in satisfaction.

“Making sure you are looking at me,” he answered. She rolled her godsdamn eyes, but she didn’t look away. “Do you truly think I have spent these last months in the fucking Achaz Kingdom out ofresponsibility?”

“I know you don’t want to be there,” she retorted. “I know you’d rather be here. With Theon. You didn’t want to go there.”

“You’re right. I didn’t.”

The slice of pain that flashed across her eyes was gone in the next blink, but the pang of hurt down the bond lingered.

He loosened his grip on her chin, instead cupping her jaw. “My place is in Arius Kingdom with Theon and Axel,” he went on, not letting her turn away at the words. “But it isn’t home unless you are there with us.”

“Please don’t give me pretty words right now,” she said, her tone so defeated it made his chest hurt.

“If you would fucking listen for once, you’d know they aren’t just pretty words, baby girl,” he chided. “Do you know how jealous I was when Theon Selected you?”

That had her eyes flying wide. “What?”

He gave her a knowing look. “We’d gathered all this godsdamn information about so many Fae, but you… Godsdammit, Tessa. It was alwaysyou. For both of us, and he may be a brother to me, but I hated that he was the one who would get to have you. For the years leading up to the Selection Ceremony, I forced myself to be indifferent, but I couldn’t help trying to convince him to Select someone else. I constantly told him you weren’t the one for this. Not because I had any inkling you weren’t Fae or were the grandchild of the most powerful gods, but because dragons are jealous creatures, temptress. If I couldn’t have you, I didn’t want anyone else to have you either.”

“You didn’t even know me,” she whispered.

“I know,” he growled in frustration. “That’s what made it so godsdamn ridiculous. Because I shouldn’t have cared. I shouldn’t have cared about the stormy grey eyes in a photograph that stared up at me on the screen of a tablet. I shouldn’t have cared that you wanted flip-flops. I shouldn’t have cared that you didn’t know how to defend yourself. I shouldn’t have cared because you were supposed to be his, but I did care because some part of me claimed you as mine from the moment I saw your photo.”

“But you’re too loyal,” she said in quiet acceptance. “And he is your family.”

“He is my family,” he agreed. “But you? You are my light.”

“You said yourself you are his Guardian, not mine,” she said, so much hope in those guarded words.

His hand slid along her jaw, slipping into the golden hair she so often abused. “Baby girl, I’ve always been yours. I just didn’t understand it.”

She surged onto her toes, her mouth crashing into his. Gods, he wanted to drown in her and never come up for air. He didn’t need to breathe if she was finally accepting what he had to offer. His entire life he’d been constantly trying to prove himself worthy of his place in the Arius Kingdom household. Worthy of being part of the St. Orcas family. Worthy of his bloodline. But when she kissed him, all he cared about was being worthy ofher. Ifsheaccepted him, none of the rest of it mattered.

Something in his soul slipped into place at the thought. A piece that he’d been trying to find for nearly three decades. Trying to belong when he didn’t quite fit in anywhere else. Searching for something and never knowing what exactly that something was.

Finally giving himself permission to understand it had always been her.

Luka gathered her up, lifting her off the ground and feeling her legs wrap around his waist as his tongue slicked over hers. A low whimper sounded, and everything in him became a frenzy of desire and possession. Because she needed something, and he could give it to her.

His mouth never stopped exploring hers when he Traveled them to his bedroom, not bothering with walking through the passage. He didn’t have time for that right now. Didn’t want to navigate around furniture and knickknacks.

They were both breathing hard, one of his hands tracing along the waist of her pants. Her shirt was short enough that it raised up, letting his fingers graze bare skin. The single touch had her pressing herself into him even more, both of them hungry and desperate. Sliding an arm under her ass to keep her balanced, he slid his other hand under her shirt because the small indulgent touches he’d allowed himself in the past weren’t going to be enough. Not anymore. Never again.

He found her breasts, snarling at the sports bra that blocked his access, and a choked laugh came from her.

Until he all but dropped her onto the mattress.

---