Page 101 of Pain

“Look at me,” she ordered.

I lifted my gaze up to her face.

“Tell me.”

Exhaling long and slow through my nose, I swallowed. “I’m just thinking about the fact that you wanting to get to Melissima again and get me more tablets means you’re nowhere near close, or ready, to mate-bond with me. That I messed this up more than I ever thought possible.”

Understanding flickered in her green eyes, which shone with more gold flecks than ever with the way the sun hit her face. She was, and forever would be, the most gorgeous thing I’d ever laid eyes on. “Ah,” was all she said in response.

“But that is my cross to bear. Not yours.”

The faintest of smiles curled her mouth for just a moment, before falling again. “You’re right. You thought you were being all noble, letting your pride rule your decisions. And now you’re suffering the consequences.”

That I was.

Her gaze turned soft. “I still don’tliketo know you’re in pain. I’ll try to be more mindful now.”

That was exactly what I didn’t want. Why I didn’t tell her. I didn’t want my pain to dictate her decisions. Her moves and choices. She had free will. She was the Queen, for crying out loud. The last thing she needed was my discomfort being an ongoing factor in the choices she made.

“We may not be bonded, but I can read your face like a book. And I know you don’t like it, but it is what it is. I don’t want to see anybody in pain, least of all, those I care about.”

I snapped my eyes up to hers from where I’d been studying her throat and the way her carotid throbbed so beautifully along the side of her neck.

“Yes, Drak, despite not being ready to forgive you yet, and the fact that youdrive me nuts most of the time, I do care about you. Deeply. You’re my Fated Mate and a part of this little weird foursome the Fates have decided we are. It seems like the most reluctant person to join our rag tag crew though, is you.”

I blinked at her, absorbing her words.

That crooked half-smile was back, as was the softness in her eyes. Her thumb rubbed rhythmically over the back of my hand and contentment filled my chest. She glanced toward the way we came through the mountain. “We should get back. Hopefully Maxar hasn’t started a forest fire.” She took a step toward the wall, releasing my hand, but I didn’t let go.

I pulled her back to me, taking her mouth with mine and swallowing her gasp of surprise. Holding her there, kissing her, erased every ache in my body. She was the balm for the burn. The salve for the scrape. She was soothing and soft in my arms. And the best part about it all was that she kissed me back. Her hands came up to my shoulders, wrapping around my neck, where she played with my hair at the nape, twirling it around her fingers.

Our breathing grew more ragged as my erection prodded against her thigh. I could have easily taken her right then and there among the wildflowers, but as much as she was into the kiss, I wasn’t sure she’d be into more.

Cupping her jaw and feeling her pulse speed up against my pinky finger, I deepened the kiss. She opened wider for me, pressing her body tighter to mine until there wasn’t room for even air to be trapped between us.

It was all going so well. Then suddenly, she pulled away, breathless. “Will Maxar be able to travel through the mountain the way we did?” she asked, her eyes starry, lips swollen.

She was kissing me and thinking about the mage?

I did my very best to squash my initial reaction of hurt and anger, and cleared my throat. “Um … I suppose not. He’s not highborn.”

Her eyes widened, and without hesitation, she stalked straight toward the flat side of the mountain. “Come on. We need to figure out a different route of escape then.” With zero hesitation, like she’d being doing this kind of thing for centuries, she walked right into the wall and disappeared, leaving me standing there with my cock thick in my pants, confusion in my mind, and that familiar ache in my heart.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Maxar

“But we’re mate-bonded,” I argued, when Omaera came back through the mountainside with panic on her face. I fell thirteen trees, and with the help—sort of—of the bear, we created a much more open space that would be harder to set up an ambush.

“Apparently that doesn’t matter,” Omaera argued. “Drak said because you’re not of royal blood, you can’t go through the wall.”

“That’s not exactly what I said,” Drak corrected, coming back through the mountainside as well and joining us.

She narrowed her brows and glanced at him. “You said because he’s not highborn, he can’t.”

The vampire nodded. “I did say that, yes. But it has more to do with blood than nobility. All he needs is a drop of highborn blood in his veins and itshouldlet him walk through no problem.”

I shook my head, cringing. “That’s your deal, man. Not mine. I’m not a bloodsucker. I’ve got kinks—oodles of them—some of them are freakier than drinking blood, but I’m not a leech.”

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