Page 119 of Emylia

The boy I loved.

The boy I hadn’t chosen.

Not yet.

The guilt struck like lightning. Sudden. Eviscerating. I was already standing on the edge of something I couldn’t undo.

Could I be here with Sebastian instead?

Yes.

Gods, yes.

And that was the part that ruined me—knowing that even as I wanted Maalikai, I wanted Sebastian just as fiercely.

Maybe more.

But wanting Sebastian meant risking everything. It meant gambling with something sacred.

And I wasn’t ready to lose him.

Not him.

But then I looked at Maalikai—reallylooked at him. And in the way he waited… the way he gave me space to choose… I saw something I hadn’t dared name.

Something fierce.

Irrevocably, categorically mine.

Something that had belonged to me from the moment he looked at me like I was the only question he'd ever deemed worth answering.

I drew a trembling breath and closed the distance between us, every inch pulling me further from reason and deeper into him.

Unable to break from the intensity of his gaze, I threw caution to the wind and let go.

“Yes.” The word cracked as it left my lips. But I meant it.

Gods help me… I meant it.

“Yes?” His body pressed flush against mine, the heat of him blooming against every sensitive inch. A breathless moan escaped me before I could stop it.

“I want you.”

His eyes darkened, hooded and hungry, dragging slowly over the length of my body. A sharp breath whooshed from his lungs—relief and need unspooling all at once.

“And what do you want from me?” The question left him in a whisper, like he was bracing for the answer.

I hesitated. Just a second. Then I let the words fly.

“Everything.”

There they were. The ones I’d never dared speak aloud. Out in the open now. Unstoppable.

He didn’t reply. Just looked at me like he was drowning in the sound of my heartbeat. Like I was the only thing anchoring him to this world.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, my voice scraped raw.

His answer was a vow. A brand. “Everything.”

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