Page 95 of Claimed In Darkness

I should have shoved Aereth away the moment her hands touched my skin, the moment her lips hovered near my throat.

But I didn’t.

Because needed to know.

I needed to feel if there was anything left.

And now I realized that there isn’t anything left.

Aereth is a ghost wearing skin.

But she is not mine.

And Naira is not fooled.

"You’re a coward," Naira murmurs.

The words lash through me, a cold, violent snap of truth.

I don’t argue. I just step closer.

Close enough that I can feel the heat rolling off her body, the tension coiling in her muscles, the way her pulse hammers beneath her skin.

"You think I don’t know that?" I rasp.

She tilts her head.

"Then why do you still want me?"

The question is a fucking dagger in my gut.

She’s not mocking me. It isn’t bitter.

It is genuine. That’s what kills me the most.

That she still doesn’t know.

She doesn’t see what’s fucking burning inside me.

She doesn’t understand that there has only ever been her.

How can I stop wanting her?

I try not to like her for making me feel this way.

I grab her wrist.

Not soft nor careful.

And I pull her to me.

Her breath catches.

I feel it against my throat, a warm rush of air, a shudder that gives her away.

She still wants this.

Wants me.

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