Page 83 of The Dragon King

“Calista.”

I started to walk off.

“Calista.” He came after me and grabbed me by the arm.

I twisted out of his grasp and shoved him in the chest.

He barely moved back. He didn’t reach for me again, but his eyes looked desperate to touch me. “Please just listen to me.” The irritation was out of his voice, and now there was a quiet plea.

I stared, still so angry I could breathe fire like a dragon.

He paused for a long time, like he was trying to find the right words.

I continued to wait. “Is it really that hard to talk to me?”

“Calista.” He raised his voice slightly to silence me. “Listen to me.”

“I am listening, Talon. I’vebeenlistening. But you continue to say nothing.”

His eyes looked so heavy as he stared, like he carried an invisible weight that only he could see. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Your life has already been so fucking hard, and I don’t want to make it harder.”

“How would you make it harder?”

He breathed harshly for several seconds. “By dying.”

“You don’t know what’s going to happen?—”

“Calista, the battle will claim my life?—”

“You don’t know that.” And I didn’t want to think about it. Not for a second.

“This was never supposed to happen.”

“What?” I asked.

“This.” He gestured between us. “This was not supposed to happen. We were supposed to fuck and then move on. I should have had a fucking spine and ended it before it got this far, but I was weak, so fucking weak.” He continued to breathe, his nostrils flaring. “I let my guard down because I assumed I was incapable of an ounce of feeling…and then you set my world on fire and made me burn.”

“So, you wish this never happened?”

“No.” He bowed his head and sighed. “I thinkyou’regoing to wish this never happened.”

I continued to stare, doing my best to keep my eyes dry.

“I’m sorry that I let it get this far.” His eyes shone with sincerity even though the campfire was behind him. “I meant what I said before. This is as far as I go. This is as much as I can give you.” He stood there in his trousers and nothing else, his chest rising and falling with the strenuous breaths he took. Longing was in his eyes, but it was guarded. “Let’s forget this conversation…and finish this together.”

I remained rooted to the spot as I soaked in those painful words. I’d given myself to him completely when he appeared outside Riviana Star, and my love continued to grow with every passing day. Now, I stood there with a broken heart, a woman deliriously in love with a man who refused to feel the same way. “If you couldn’t love me because you still hold a vigil for Vivian in your heart, I would understand that. But refusing to give me all of you because you assume you’re going to die…is just an excuse.”

He inhaled a slow breath. “It’s not an excuse.”

“If you really think it’s all going to end soon, then you should say how you feel while you still have the chance. You should cherish this time together because it’s all we have left. Because I’m already in love with you, Talon. The damage is done. I’m already stuck. You’re right. If this is how you felt from the beginning, then you should have kept your distance—but you didn’t. Now, here we are.” I raised my arms in defeat and dropped them again. “I’m not going to spend the time I have left pretending I’m not madly in love with you. I’m not going to hide my feelings like I’m ashamed of them. So, you can go back to your tent and lie and pretend all you want—but I won’t be joining you.”

He shifted his gaze away in disappointment.

“I want to love you every moment that I still have you, and if you aren’t willing to give me the same in return…then I don’t want you at all.”

“Calista—”

“I gave all of myself to you. Do you know how hard that was? After everything I’ve been through, all the pain you directly caused, and I still gave myself to you. And then you reject my love?”

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