Page 19 of Hostile King

When her lashes lower in sorrow, I cover her beautiful lips with mine and kiss her. I kiss her knowing it’s the last time we’ll ever see each other. So, she’d never forget who I was to her, or what she’ll always be to me.

Lust prickles down my spine and coils in my core when she moans into my mouth, releases my wrists, and wraps her arms around me. With this meaningful kiss, I breathe her in, deepening the pressure with a hunger so unsatisfied I could die from starvation.

Every muscle braces beneath her roaming hands, the scraping sensation of her nails tests my tightly reined desire. She curls into me, hitching up her knees until we’re more skin to skin than apart, more slippery, wet saliva than oxygen.

I wedge my forehead to hers, our lips begrudgingly separating. “Time to go.” Inhaling hard, my fingers bite into her cheeks, locking her pretty face before me so she reads the sincerity in my eyes. “I won’t put you in any more danger than I already have. Not from my enemies and not from me. Go home and live the life you deserve.”

“Tomás.” Her eyes spring tears. “You’re the only one who understands me.You’remy home. Leaving you means I’ll be homeless…I’ll be that girl again. A lost soul searching for her place in the world, when I know it’s right here, with you.”

I attempt to smile, forcing myself to be the invincible king everyone expects me to be. To walk away from her even though my heart tells me to lock her away in a tower and never let her see the cruel world again. This path we’ve taken would either destroy us or eventually reunite us.

“It’s not up for debate.” I break away, giving up the thrill of her warm skin and shunning the taste of her devotion. “This is my choice to make.”

“What about my choice?” she snaps, her sadness chasing danger. “Surely I have a say in this too?”

I draw back my shoulders and let her arms fall away. Ripping my greedy stare away from her nakedness, I collect the fallen shirt by my feet. The comfortable darkness I know so well covers me like an intimate friend, resurrecting my exalted position on the throne I’d toppled from, fixing my callous crown in place, and tainting my veins with black ice.

To survive this brutal rupture, I abruptly shut myself off and close down the cyclone of emotions making this unbearable rift difficult.

“Put on the shirt. That's an order,” I mutter under my breath, angling away from her harrowing gaze.

She reaches out for me in the empty space I’ve created, but it's too late. I wince on impact, my bare feet hitting the tarmac. I’m sending her away, because misfortune brought us together. Now she has an element of freedom, albeit under the watchful eye of my armed soldiers.

The next time I see her it would be under happier circumstances. That's the belief I'll carry with me when she finally rises into the starless sky and disappears from sight.

“Tomás…” I do my best to ignore her, aware of the wall I’ve erected around her and how I’d bulldoze through it in a selfish heartbeat.

She’s living proof that life is unpredictable. My wretched heart wins the onslaught of back and forth. I spin around to watch Spitfire slam the passenger door, cutting her off from the cold world I had sucked her into. The very same desolate plantation where she first arrived wearing filthy denim shorts and innocence.

And now, after all this time, I finally understand why she had turned up in my life.

Carina is my queen.

Which means I’d always put her first, even if it means I have to be without her. I grit my teeth at our reality, swallowing pain and justification for this cruel move.

What am I doing?

This is fucking insanity.

I need to focus.

No distractions.

I’ll figure out a strategy to mend the rift with my rivals and win her back.

I will succeed—or I’ll die trying.

“Are you okay, Tommy?” André appears beside me, his concern penetrating my inner turmoil. “Where the fuck are your shoes?”

Nausea flips my stomach and a bead of sweat trickles down my spine like an icicle. I’d been so preoccupied; I had even noticed I wasn’t wearing my dress shoes. Christ, I’m a mess.

“It’s for her own good.” Intentionally, I stuff my hands into my pockets and keep my back to the helicopter. “Fuck!”

An ache spreads across my chest, it’s either a heart attack or the ice-covered organ has finally shattered. What if they go after her once they’ve killed me?

“Dré…” My breathing is all over the place. I seize his arm and instantly catch his full attention. “Go with her,” I growl, scraping at rationality. “Stick to Carina like glue for a few days to make sure she’s safe. Protect her with your life. I need this from you as my brother.”

His hand swathes my nape, butting our foreheads. “You’ve got it, Tommy.”

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