Page 41 of Own To Obsess

Shaya’s eyes were drawn back to eyes.

“You were applying a complex potion on him that smelled similar to ones I've seen Rozalia make, and you had petal dye all over your forearms.” He ran his fingers along her forearms while she watched him. “So I knew it was you who had mixed it and not anyone else. You applied the potion to him with such care… I knew it was wrong.”

Shaya cleared her throat. “What was wrong?”

Kardos growled at the memory. “That your hands were on him and not on me.”

Shaya stared at him, searching his eyes, but said nothing.

“I thought that maybe, with the intense care you were applying, that he was special to you,” Kardos continued, annoyance creeping into his tone. “That was the only reason why I did not approach you when I first saw you.”

Shaya’s mouth twisted as she bit the inside of her lip and Kardos watched her, glad that something else was there other than the cold blankness from the last few days. “But he had his Omega.”

“Yes, but he is greedy,” Kardos stated. “And I had to be careful in another man’s land.”

“You would have taken my sister,” Shaya murmured, a tone of finality in her voice. “Not me.”

“No,” Kardos said firmly. “Your sister was offered, I did not accept.”

“You didn’t say no,” she pointed out. “You only made your decision when I offered myself.”

Kardos smiled at her. “Exactly.”

Shaya’s eyes flicking down toward his smile and she huffed out a breath. “If I didn’t offer myself what would you have done?”

“I would have bartered for you. King Malloron owes me a great deal. I would have used that to get you.”

“And what would I have been then? A slave? A servant?”

“You would have been mine,” Kardos said simply.

“I was never going to be yours,” Shaya said shaking her head. “You were preparing to give me away.”

“You admitted you were an Omega in front of everyone in that room, including my guards. I was going to take you anyway and I thought that you being an Omega would meet both needs.” He paused. “I wasn't expecting you to be as perfect as you are, Shaya. For the Lands or for myself.”

Shaya was quiet for a long moment.

“You are a true beauty,” Kardos continued. “Nothing can change that, regardless of what happened to your hair. You are still extremely beautiful.”

Shaya's face contorted. “Do you think that is what I'm worried about,” she said, tears filling her eyes.

Kardos watched her closely. “I know you were very proud of your hair because of your sister.”

Shaya jerked and shot him a sharp look. “How do you know that? I never told you that.”

Kardos nuzzled her face and then kissed her. “You think I don't pay attention?”

Shaya let him kiss her for a moment and then pulled away, staring at him quizzically. “How did you know?”

“I watched carefully what Treska was bringing in and out of your cabin, and I questioned her everyday, sometimes five times a day, about what she was doing and what was happening in the room. I learned a lot about you.”

Shaya thought for a moment, her eyes darting down. “But I never told Treska about my hair. It was private.”

“You didn’t have to say everything to Treska for me to figure things out. You were very protective of it, and the way you care for it is very specific, Shaya. It’s something you would have learned from someone, and your sister is the one whom you gave yourself up for without hesitation. You were honoring her, and I respect that. But what has happened does not take away that honor.”

Shaya's eyes lifted back to him, filled again with tears. “But it's gone,” she whispered. “All the care and time it has taken is lost.”

“It is not lost,” Kardos said. “Just because there is no evidence of something doesn't mean it didn’t exist. There is very little physical evidence of Az Eshra, yet we know they existed.”

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