Page 38 of A Clash of Stars

He had some nerve to stand there and not even answer the question truthfully. I stood there, staring at him for what felt like an eternity, but it was peaceful to look at him. Once I realized he wouldn’t leave, I thought I might mess with him a little.

“How do you know that Madok and I didn’t sleep with each other the night before the Variance?” I asked him.

I slowly sat on the bath’s edge and removed the lace-heeled shoes. “I could smell him on you if you did,” he said smugly and matter-of-factly. I wanted to chunk the heels at his chiseled face. I continued by unraveling the ties to my dress.

“Madok is great at other things that don’t necessarily involve needing to bedme.”

I felt my face blush and a burning radiating from my eyes. I knew without seeing that my eyes were glowing their new signature color, purple. I stood from the side of the bath and began sliding down the top of my dress when I noticed Evander’s eyes becoming heated and dark. Internally, I was praying to the gods that I looked the slightest bit sexy doing this, and another part of me screamed at myself for what the abyss I was doing. This man was the one who put me here. I still long for Madok. Yet, here I am, getting naked in front of my enemy in a dimly lit room.

The dress fell and puddled around my ankles, exposing that I did not have anything under my dress. I was completely and utterly naked in front of Evander. Revealed.

With new confidence, I turned, stepped into the oversized bath, and sank to lean my back against the side. I swept my hair off the sides of the bath, revealing my neck to him. I finally glanced over to where Evander stood, he was no longer there.

Instantly, one hand grasped my shoulder, and a whisper leaned close to my ear as the other hand slid down my torso.

“Clara Bear, you will be the death of me,” he sighed, breathing his warm, enticing breath over my neck as he continued.

“I want to touch every curve of your skin and etch your body into my memories, but you also provoke the darkest parts of me. You make me want to hurt you, bind you, and never allow you out of this castle. Everyone has their reasons for what they do. Mine just might be a little jaded.”

As he said this, his hand drifted to my inner thigh under the lavish, warm water, and his lips softly touched my neck, his favorite spot, as he whispered, “But just because I hate you doesn’t mean I don’tdesireyou.”

His right hand squeezed my inner thigh closest to the apex of my body, and his left hand grabbed my chin, turning my head to meet his gaze. I could sense theburning desire and arousal from him as the feelings of intoxication took over my body. His lips were so close I could feel his breath on my quivering lips.

“The next time we are this close, there will be no stopping. You will be completelymine,”he declared.

With a few blinks, he was out of the bathroom and my room. This man was insanely infuriating, and I was a traitor. How could I be affected by him and be okay with it? My new powers may be messing with me, or maybe his powers are. Either way, I could no longer let him enter my mind.

He was my enemy. He stood in the way of my success as Queen of Carondelet. I wouldn’t allow my womanly urges and emotions cloud that vision of my future. No matter who was tempting me.

Chapter 8

Iawoke with a pounding headache and was startled by a loud knock on the door. The knocking was continuous and unfaltering until I finally reached the door and opened it.

Madok.

I quickly grabbed his light blue buttoned-down shirt and pulled him inside the room.

His eyes pierced into mine with the most profound sadness, almost as if he felt like he had lost me. The wild hair I grew to love was falling over his face while his deep breaths pushed the blue buttoned-down shirt out and in. His power marking was glowing, but it was different from mine. His markings held every kingdom’s marking. He was the only one with that marking, but he never told us why. Maybe he didn’t know. I never tried to find out either.

His golden eyes were illuminated, and his pupils were dilated with fierce determination. It wasn’t clear why he visited my room until later.

He pushed his body into mine in a split second, grabbed my face with both hands, and kissed me hard. My thoughts were yelling at me that we needed to talk, but my treacherous body responded differently. I kissed him back.

Before I knew it, he had pushed me back to the edge of the bed and had my body pressed firmly into him. He lifted me into his arms, and my body naturally responded to him. It was familiar.

The urge to lift my legs and wrap my arms around him instinctively made my body react. When my head told me to stop, I pulled back instantly. I heard Evander’s voice warning me that Madok knew who my inamorato was and that it wasn’t Madok.

My resolve hardened like stone.

Madok looked at me with confusion when I pulled my arms back and slid my legs to the ground. I glanced towards my feet, almost feeling ashamed. Madok grabbed my chin and tilted my face toward his. “Why’d you stop?” his soft voice questioned me, full of hurt.

I closed my eyes to try to come up with the right words.

“It’s a bunch of reasons, Madok. We need to discuss what just happened and what is currently happening. Like how did you get into my room? I have been so worried about you. After you said nothing at dinner, I thought maybe they wouldn’t allow you to speak.” I started to feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

He sighed, “Everything has changed now. Griffin was able to get me out of the room, and he filled me in on how we are going to get you out of this castle, but what I don’t understand is why you had to come here in the first place if all we were going to do was break you out of it.”

I shook my head, “I’m not sure, Madok, but I know we need to focus on getting out.” I sighed. “Are you okay?”

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