Page 109 of A Rising Hope

My brows furrowed, jaw tense as I glowered at him, fully aware that there were only seconds until my anger would evaporate at his touch as he gently caressed my back, my arms, my shoulders and thighs.

“I am sorry it had to happen that way, my little wildfire. I am. Truly. There are a lot of things I have done wrong, a lot of questionable choices I have made, but I have never regretted anything more than that letter, than leaving you even if it was just for a moment. I am forever burdened with the heaviest weight of the guilt I feel for leaving you that morning, for evenallowing such the possibility of Insanaria laying a finger on you. There is no amount of words you can say that I haven’t already told myself a thousand times worse. There won’t be a day I shall not spend regretting it,” he paused, his solemn gaze meeting mine. “Just as there won’t be a single day where I’d rather agree for you to die, Finnleah.”

There it was. The incontestable truth.

His biggest flaw. One I hated and yet loved even more.

“You left, and I lost my mind, Gideon.” My voice a whisper. “Istabbedyour brother. I went to find the Queen with no regard for the people left behind. I was going to burn the world until I found you.” His fingers brushed my hair back in gentle strokes. Air caught in my lungs as a truth that I didn’t want to admit to myself spilled out with a soft brush of my lips. “And if my vision came true . . . if I had found you dead, I was going to have my dagger pierce my heart next to yours.” I knew the words were foolish. I bit the inside of my lip. My gaze dropped to my hands as I picked on my fresh scabs. “And when I’d die, I’d scorch the heavens and hells for you. I’d wage wars and infernos until I had found you.”

“Finnleah—”

“And when I’d find you, when I’d see your handsome face, probably chained in some obscure part of hell, I’d slap yousohard for leaving me.” My throat bobbed and I looked at him, no walls, no hidden locks or doors. All of me devoted to him. “And then I’d never let you go.Never, Gideon.”

The dragons near us puffed a cloud of smoke. Their warm breath, like white fog, settled in the valley. His intimate stare was overwhelming, his gaze settled in the deepest corners of my soul. Weighted silence intertwined our souls into one, silver threads making intricate designs of what was and what were to come.

We were one, as if time itself, with no beginning, no end.

“On heaven or earth, in light or darkness, worlds shall end, and new ones shall begin, and I’ll still find myself loving you even from the depths of the agonizing jaws of hell, Finnleah. I love you, my little wildfire, for the eternities and far beyond.” His lips brushed mine. “Forever.”

“Forever.” My lips touched his, eyes closed, as each cell in my body cried out for more.

He kissed me then, once more, this time longer, more keenly as I nudged my hips closer to him. My body ready to burn at his caress.

He paused. I stole a look only see him smiling, my arms wrapped around his shoulders.

“Why are you smiling?” I managed to say between my short, surfaced breaths.

“I thought you promised you were going to torture me first?” he chuckled gently, his hand slowly slid lower until he gripped the low of my back. “And yet here you are, molded by my touch.”

“Simply because you must suffer doesn’t mean I must too.” The corner of my mouth lifted at seeing that arrogant smile grow on his perfect face. “But don’t get me wrong, I fully intend on making you suffer.” I let my mouth utter nonsense; all thought lost as his hand slid even lower.

“Is that so?” he whispered into my ear, his lips trailing down the curve of my neck. “One might think you are practically begging me to fuck you.” His fingers slid past the low off my backside until his whole hand greedily grabbed my soaking core.

“One might think someone is rather delusional then,” I shot him the snarky reply, as my mind drowned in lust.

“Such a terrible liar.” Vicious laughter escaped from his lips as I moaned at the feel of his hand. My entire body craved more as I leaned into him, my nipples perked up hard against the harsh linen of my shirt. And though I knew it was a terrible idea, I hoped he’d incinerate my clothes right this moment. My lungsfilled with his scent, making me feel lighter than a feather, and I floated in pleasure at his caress.

“Lucky for you, I, too, had a lot of time to think on things.” His lips found mine, and I dove for the kiss as if I’d suffocate without it. Hungry, starved, desperate. I didn’t care. I wanted him more than air, more than life itself.

“I am most definitely going to make you suffer for this.” Jagged words escaped from me between my uneven breaths as he worked through the ties of my corset. One by one.

Too long. Too fucking long. My patience ran out.

“Fuck it.” I yanked the small knife from my outer thigh, slapping it against his palm. “Burn it, cut it, I don’t fucking care.” My skin felt scorched, every inch sensitive even to a fleeting trace of wind.

“Beg,” he ordered, his wicked smirk too prideful as he watched me wither in anticipation. My body not able to contain the desire that pooled at my core.

I kissed him, dragging my teeth against his lip.

“How about I stab you in your little selfish heart instead?” I threatened. Both of my hands pushed him down, earning only a brief second of reprieve as I ground against his rock-hard cock.

“I’ll fuck that stubbornness out of you one day.”

“Never took you for a procrastinator.” The corner of my lips tugged upward in a wicked grin.

“True,” Gideon said, with a swift move rolling me over until he was on top once more. “I thought of you each day, each passing moment I was away from you,” he murmured, his voice a dangerous whisper. The sharp blade cut through the lacings, and he used both of his hands to rip my shirt, exposing my chest to his beguiling sight.

The mocking charades were gone now.

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