Page 38 of Space for More

Her assessment hits me like a slap to the face, stinging but bringing me to my senses. My feet carry me to the kitchen, and I tentatively reach out to touch Mezli’s arm. “Mezli, I should never have?—

She bats me away with a scowl. “Don’t touch me!”

I pull my hand back and do the only other thing I can think of to show her just how wrong she is.

I fall to my knees at her feet.

“What are you doing? Get up!” Mezli squeaks in surprise as I look up at her in supplication.

“I know nothing I do will ever make what happened that nightright. Goddess, I would never have said those things if I wasn’t so upset, and I certainly would never have said them for you to hear.” My voice trembles as I speak, and I beg her silently with my eyes to take me at my word.

Mezli stares down at me, mouth agape. Anger, surprise, pain, and confusion all flash across her face before she speaks. “Well, you did say them. And I heard them. Now get up off the floor and stop being so weird!”

I don’t move. I won’t move until she understands my sincerity. “No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Mezli shoves at my shoulders but I stay in place. “Get up! I don’t need your pity. I told you, I don’t care what you think of me. Yes, the stupid, weakxalaI was four years ago was hurt by your careless words. I’m not her anymore. I’m so much more than you could’ve ever imagined.”

A rueful smile forms on my lips. “You’ve always been a goddess, Mezli. From the moment I saw you, I knew. I was jealous of your lover and upset about losing my previous partner from my mother’s machinations, so I said some abhorrent things in a moment of weakness to my sister. But it had nothing to do with finding you lacking. No, my own deficits were to blame. I know I’ll never hope to deserve you.”

“What do you mean from the moment you saw me?” Mezli’s brow furrows as she glares down at me. “You looked at me like I was an abomination when we met! And what lover? You’re not making any sense, Phelix.”

“That wasn’t the first night I saw you,” I say with a sigh. “I was out at a bar with some colleagues to celebrate my impending mating, and you were there. You were there and hanging off of axala, drunk and begging for her to fuck you. I didn’t know it was you until I saw you the next day at the meeting ceremony. It felt like aslap in the face from the universe that my mate would be the most beautifulxalaI’d ever laid eyes on, but so disinterested in our mating that she was out the night before with someone else.”

Mezli blinks rapidly, her mouth opening and closing with unspoken replies as she processes my words. “Oh,” she finally says, her dagger-like glare melting into a begrudging understanding.

When she doesn’t continue, Eden lets out an exasperated sigh. “Ugh, you both are ridiculous! This only works if you let your guard down, too. Stop being a baby and tell him what you told me!”

Mezli scowls and crosses her upper arms over her chest. “Fine! She wasn’t my lover. We didn’t—I’d never been with anyone before. I was scared of committing to only being with one person for the rest of my life, so I got drunk and went out. Too drunk for anything to happen because I was so nervous. Are you happy now?” she asks, rolling her eyes at Eden.

Hearing her explanation makes me sag with relief. Unthinking, I reach out to touch her hips, needing to anchor myself to her. This time she doesn’t push me away. Now that I’ve laid myself bare before her, I can’t stop confessing. “I know I’ll never deserve you,” I murmur. “I know what I said is unforgivable. But will you at least allow me this one night to pay my penance?”

Tension fizzles in the air between us as she considers my offer.

“I think I’ll give you two some privacy,” Eden says softly.

Mezli and I break our staredown at the same time, heads whipping over to see Eden as she creeps toward the door.

“Where do you think you’re going, sweet Eden?” Mezli asks in a husky voice.

Eden freezes. “S-sorry, just thought it’d be better if I headed out.”

Mezli looks back down at me, and for once I can easily tell what she’s thinking. She wants Eden to stay. I nod, wanting that too.

“Come here,” I say in a deep command.

She obeys, walking over on shaky legs. When she’s close enough, Mezli snags her around the waist and pulls her close. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this so easily.”

I touch Eden’s leg, sliding my hand up to toy with the hem of her dress. “Please don’t go. Tonight is supposed to be about you. About giving you what you’ve yearned for. Do you still want that?”

“Yeah, who cares about our drama?” Mezli says, twining a finger through one of Eden’s curls. “You’re more important.”

“A-are you sure?” Eden stammers. “This feels…weird. Wrong. Like I’m getting in the middle of your potential happiness.”

Mezli and I exchange another glance, in unspoken accordance again. We’re not going to let our drama get in the way of giving Eden what she deserves. I finally stand, moving to trap Eden between myself and my mate.

“I want you, Eden,” I say, letting raw, honest arousal bleed into my voice.

“Wewant you, Eden,” Mezli amends.

---