Page 112 of A Promise of Peridot
“Arwen,” Kane warned, voice like ice but eyes as hot and rich as firelight.
“Kane,” I challenged, pulling the silken fabric down until I was kneeling before him, bare save for my ripped undergarments.
He groaned softly at the sight of my naked breasts, gripping the boot in his hand so hard I heard the leather crack. Still, though, he said nothing. Did nothing.
Fine, then.
I hooked my fingers along the sides of the remaining fabric at my hips.
“Please don’t do that,” he gritted out.
But I had come too far now to back down. I wanted him to claim me. I slipped the undergarment off easily, ignoring the heat in my cheeks that mirrored his.
When he still said nothing, I flushed deeper. “You’re really going to make me beg?”
“You know what seeing you like that does to me.”
“What does it do?”
“Your body makes me see stars.” He released a slow, tight breath. “When you’re on display for me like that... The things I want to do to you. Unspeakable, Arwen. They’reunspeakable.”
Heat gathered between my legs and I pinched them together. His eyes followed the movement and I whimpered. “Then do them.”
But he only crossed the room to my discarded nightdress andhanded it to me. My cheeks went hot, and I pulled the dress over my head like I had been scolded.
“You needed comfort last night.” He ran a hand through his waved hair. “I don’t blame you for seeking release like that. I’ve done the same. Far too many times.”
“That’s not what—”
“But I made a mistake.”
“A mistake?” My blood boiled with shame and hurt. “So you finally got between my legs and now you’re bored?”
“No—what? Arwen—”
“What, then? Is this revenge? For everything after Siren’s Bay? Kane.” I took a breath to calm myself. I didn’t want to fight with him anymore. “I never should have—”
“Arwen—”
“I know, I know. We have to leave. Maybe to you nothing matters more than getting this blade, beating your father, but to me—”
“You do,” Kane interrupted, still holding his boot.
“I do what?”
“You matter more to me. More than revenge, redemption—anything. Don’t you know I love you, Arwen?”
His words slipped out like an admission of guilt. All the emotion that had been welling inside me, creeping up my throat, ready to lash out at him, vanished like steam from a boiling pot.
“I’m in love with you.” His laugh was rough and tired. “Desperately so. The way those sailors lost at sea love the bird that guides them home.”
He pulled his shirt on, still unbuttoned, before sitting on the desk across from the bed. “I know your feelings for me aren’t the same as they used to be, but it doesn’t change anything for me. Nothing could.”
On the verge of crying or laughing or pressing my lips to his, I sucked in a lungful of air.
“It was never my intention to burden you with this, but...” His voice was too quiet. “I just can’t be that release for you. I hoped I could, but I think... I think it might actually kill me.”
I merely nodded, all of a sudden feeling very fragile and confused.
