Page 18 of Gods & Angels

I smirked at him. “One day soon,” I promised him, “I will be your goddess. And you will bow before me.”

“I will never bow to you,” he snarled.

I leant towards him, daring him to close the gap between us. “I’ll have you on your knees, Valk,” I purred. I took his chin in my hand with a brazen confidence I didn’t remember ever acting on before as I leant my lips to his ear. “And you will worship me.” I pulled back to look into his eyes.

He was breathing hard. I couldn’t tell if he was trying not to kiss me or hit me. Wishful thinking made me imagine it was the former. I almost believed that there was as much desire in his eyes as I felt deep in my soul whenever I looked at him.

I wanted him. I wanted him so badly that I felt like it was going to rip me apart, shattering me into so many pieces no one would ever be able to put me back together. I hated him with every fibre of my being, but so intertwined with that was blatant want. Carnal need. I couldn’t tell the two apart anymore.

“You’re playing with fire, princess,” he said, his voice was low, husky, almost strangled like he was losing the fight against suppressing some inner emotion.

Feeling emboldened by the sound, I nudged my nose with his. “Good. Because I like it hot,” I whispered.

He growled as he pushed me away. “You wouldn’t know heat if it engulfed you.” His voice dripped with disdain, contempt, hate.

My heart thudded painfully in my chest.

No.

He didn’t want me.

Of course not.

No one wanted me.

Not like that.

And they never would.

“Tell yourGodI’ll be in my room,” I said, dropping my eyes as I pushed past him, hoping I didn’t look as crushed as I felt.

He didn’t follow me. He didn’t call after me.

As I turned to take the walkway to the girls’ dorm, I surreptitiously snuck a look back to the steps, but he wasn’t there. He hadn’t even bothered watching me walk away. That was how little I meant to him.

It was for the best, obviously.

I didn’t like him. I just wanted him to do unspeakably pleasurable things to my body. There was no reason to feel dejected by his obvious rejection. But it wasn’t just him. It was the stark reminder that my life was mapped. In a few years, I’d be Apollo’s wife. I was watched over and protected. Everyone in our lives knew this. Even if someone did catch my interest enough to make me forget about Valen, no one would dare risk the wrath of a Callahan or a Vanguard, let alone a Kincaid.

“Are you okay?” Florence asked as I trudged into our room.

I nodded dejectedly as I face planted onto my bed. Well, not so much face planted as full body planted.

“Are you sure?”

I lifted my face from the bed only long enough to tell her, “I walked in on Apollo and some Magdalen.”

“What happens when you two get married?” she asked, taking me totally off guard.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, does he still get to fuck around while you sit around having no fun?”

I snorted, but without humour. “I don’t know. I doubt it.”

“You mean you’d get to fuck around, too?”

Now I laughed as I rolled onto my back. “No.”

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