Page 66 of Rejected Moons (Rejected Moons 3)

And, honestly, it feels shitty to know that Nate wasn’t who I thought he was. Because I really did like him. A lot. That conversation we had about our emerging harem—I wasn’t messing around. I was really excited about this.

I still have Emlyn, of course. But it’s different now. It’s as if some fundamental building block of our foundation has been taken away.

Can it be that weneededNate? That the two of us aren’t complete without him?

When we stop for the night, I take her in my arms and kiss her. She returns my kiss passionately, almost frantically, and I get the feeling she’s just as desperate to drive away the day’s events as I am.

The first time we were together, we took our time with each other. We enjoyed what we were doing. It was slow and patient and almost playful.

This time, it’s not like that. We’re just both aching to feel something other than pain.

I feel her nails dig into my back as I take her. I bite down on her shoulder and know I break skin because I can taste the blood in my mouth. We’re lying in the dirt, rolling around like animals and making each other bleed because that’s less painful than focusing on Nate’s betrayal.

She rolls her way on top of me and rides me hard. Her face is set in a kind of grimace, and it almost doesn’t even look like she’s enjoying this. And suddenly I’m overcome by the misery of the whole situation, and I don’t want it to be like this. No matter how good she feels, I don’t want her when our minds are so far apart.

I flip us over so that she’s pinned to the ground beneath me.

She stares up at me.

“Emlyn,” I murmur, stilling my body inside her, stroking her cheek. “Emmy, hey.”

Tears are streaming down her cheeks. I brush them away with my thumbs.

“I just don’t want to think about him anymore,” she whispers.

I nod and lean forward to kiss her cheeks. Then I kiss the place on her shoulder where I bit her.

“Did I hurt you?” I murmur.

She shakes her head. One of her legs wraps around me. “I liked it.

She’s so hot and swollen with need, even now. Even in the midst of her distress. I fuck her slowly now, locking eyes with her, not letting her give into her grief or pain.

“Stay with me,” I tell her softly.

She nods and pulls me down to her, and I feel her breathe in deeply, taking in my scent.

“I’ll never leave you,” I whisper. “I’ll never turn my back on you.”

“I’ll never betray you,” she answers.

And then we’re kissing, with the same passion as we shared last night. All my worries are flying away because the only thing in the world is Emlyn—her body on mine, her warm, small hands, that lemon-fresh smell all around me.

“Emmy,” I gasp, and she curls closer into me somehow.

I feel her start to come a second before I lose control of myself. We cling to each other in the night as our bodies come apart, mouths pressed together to muffle our cries.

When it’s over, though, she rolls away from me and presses her hands to her face.

It’s heartbreaking.

I pull her against me, running my hand up and down her side. “What can I do?”

She shakes her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry. I’m being awful.”

“You’re really not,” I say. “I hate what he did too. I wanted it to be the three of us too. It’s natural that you’re cut up about it.”

“It doesn’t mean anything about how I feel about you,” she says.

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