Page 20 of Stained Protector

“Wedding rings are a pair.” He holds up his hand, showing off the band with a smile.

My heart stops, flatlines dangerously long, then speeds faster than a race car. My mind spins, unable to stop the hope for a whimsical future where we’re grossly in love and thrive in happiness.

It doesn’t irk me, the flustering feeling, and it builds a castle in the middle of the sky. After two weeks, maybe the emotions will leave, and I’ll laugh at the silliness.

“Anya!”

A bucket of ice water dunks on me. My sister appears in my sight, attempting to contain her excitement as her eyes gobble up the man beside me. Despite her best efforts to be disingenuously carefree, her body is leaning toward him.

“Who’s this?” she asks.

She’s not supposed to be here yet. Her job is further away, and she said she was going to be extremely busy today.

She clears her throat and introduces herself with a flirtatious tongue and all her coy glory. She sees the rings on our fingers. Still, she tries because she can, yetcourteouslyholds back for sisterly love.

Disrespectful. I should’ve called her out on her behavior years ago. It’s funny that I only care now when it’s happening to me and not when some scorned woman yelled at her.

“I’m new to the area,” she alludes and bats her hooded eyes.

She’s coming at Levi with her dimpled smile and primed charm.

Blood coats my tongue as I bite down harder inside my cheeks. Fall back. Leave, hurry while I still can—

“I’m married,” Levi states firmly.

The sheer amount of relief that washes through my veins is laughable. And I should laugh, loudly and stupidly, because marriage is just a word to her.

I don’t want her to have him. I hate how her eyes sink their claws into him. I hate her, and it’s the only time I’ve felt so much animosity toward someone I cherish.

I try to readjust and rediscover the love I had two days ago, but she’s a hollow-eyed creature.

She hums, akin to a snake charmer. She won’t give up easily, not when she ogles through heavy lids.

A firm hand, reeling in possessive strength, wraps around my neck and hooks under my jaw. He lifts my face and presses a hot kiss on my lips. I struggle against his chest, trying to push him away as I feel the tiny stretch of a smile forming.

Humiliation reeks. It stinks up the whole line of thoughts and fuses with the mockery in my quivering heart. My sister has left, and he draws my attention back to him.

I want to kiss him again and again until I know the shade of blue that I’m drowning in.

“What are you doing?” I ask before wishing to take it back to avoid the dawning dread. “The apartment, the ring, and now,this.”

“I like you,” he confesses, a storm brewing in the aquatic hues of his eyes. “No other reason.”

Chapter Six

Levi

Emotions are such a troublesome thing.

Discarding Anya would get everything back in line. There would be no more sickeningly warm sensations in my body, no additional voices whispering depravity to confine her to the basement, and no more impulsive urges to open her legs.

That is, if I’m not holding onto this dream.

A fond smile tugs my cheeks when I reminisce about her soft lips. It’s a fading memory, leaving my lips tingling for more. The crass moment of her sister’s appearance resurfaces, and a miffed sigh rumbles in my chest.

There is no denying the want in her eyes, the unabashed gaze marking its territory while she’s short of calling me a trophy out loud. Well, she served a purpose. It brought out subtle possessiveness in Anya; her body tried to be innocuous when she curled herself to my side as the ringed hand unknowingly held mine.

A faint clink between rings resembles a keen chime among the chattering crowds.

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