“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” I add softly, looking down at the floor. I just want him to accept me, to want me, but I would never say this out loud.
“You couldn’t, even if you wanted to,” he replies arrogantly. I raise an eyebrow at him. “I didn’t mean it like that. What I mean is, if you kill me, you kill him too and we both know you wouldn’t want to kill Jonah, right?”
“Huh?” I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
“Blood bound. Our lives are tied to one another. Without one, the other dies.” Kyan whispers.
“Well, handy to know for next time,” I tell him, and Kyan laughs.
“There won’t be next time Ella, I will do it; just give me a second,” he says before coughing.
“Do what?” Oh god, don’t say it.
“Let you be with Jonah.” His words sting and I look at him, hurt. Then do it.
“Fine, bleed to death then, see if I care,” I tell him as I move my hands and stand up. I turn my back on him and cross my arms.
“Why are you angry? Would you actually still want me after what I just…” He stops, his eyes move down my body and I look down to see a trail of blood running down my leg.
“You mean what you tried to do? Yeah, I’m crazy to still want you, right? You are my mate. I couldn’t hate you even if I wanted to, even if you deserved it, and you do deserve that,” I tell him, pointing to his wound.
“Ella, you’re bleeding I…” He looks at his hands but both are drenched in blood from his wounds so I don’t know what he is looking for. His eyes go back to my legs and I turn slightly, well aware of the burning sensation.
“I guess you’re right, I kind of do,” he groans, trying to get to his feet. I grip his arm as he clutches his stomach and leans against me. I help him through the hole and back to the couch only when I go to leave, he pulls me on top of him, his hand goes to the back of my neck.
Kora shoves forward when his grip tightens, his other hand slips beneath my skirt and cups my aching core. He whispers something in a foreign language I can’t understand. A strange coldness seeps into me and I moan at the sensation, falling into him while he groans in pain. My toes curl as pleasure rolls through my body when it suddenly recedes.
“Stop, Kyan!” I whimper as my muscles contract and my inner walls flutter.
“I’m taking it from you,” he mutters.
“I will fry your ass, if you try anything,” I warn him, and he laughs as my threat turns into a moan.
“Not that, your pain, I’m healing you,” Kyan groans before his hand slips away and the sensation leaves. I’m left panting and his fingers caress the back of my neck softly. “I’m sorry Ella,” he whispers, and I push off him only for him to grip my chin.
His eyes go to my lip, which is bleeding, and then to my chest and neck. His eyes flicker, then glow, and his grip tightens. He closes his eyes as he speaks in that foreign tongue, then gasps.
So do I when I see his lip suddenly start bleeding. “Kyan?” I murmur, only to recognize what he is doing. He’s taking it and bearing my pain, stealing it from me. “That’s enough,” I tell him, and his eyes open.
“It will never be enough after what I just did,” he whispers. His grip loosens and I lean back, watching him warily, but I feel fine, although Kyan looks anything but.
I watch him for a second. “Don’t feel bad for me. I deserved it.” For the first time, we are actually just talking. “You know I did,” he chuckles. Just coexisting without tension or drama. And this feels comfortable. It feels nice to hear him laugh, to see his guard down.
“Do you have any idea what you just did?” he asks, and I look at my hands.
“Tossed you off,” I offer, since it is the obvious answer.
He shakes his head. “You immobilized my magic temporarily,” he answers, and my brows furrow in confusion.
“But you just used it?” I tell him.
“It stunned me, momentarily. Then you dropped the power.”
“Jonah will be here soon. I can feel him getting closer,” Kyan says before checking his wound, which is now almost completely closed. I nod, trying to get off him when he reels me back down. He becomes serious, and he takes a deep breath.
“I…”
“Don’t, Kyan,” I whisper, knowing what he is about to do.
“You can’t take it back once you do,” I tell him. A sliver of anguish builds inside, and fear envelops me. Fear of losing him. Don’t do this.
“I should, though, and you know it. I will just keep hurting you, Marabella, and you, me.” Kora whimpers in my head, and pain radiates through me when Kyan sighs heavily. “This is best for both of us. I, Kyan Octavian, reject-”
I shut his words off with my lips. Sizzling sparks course through me as I slowly move my lips against his. This feeling – my lips pressing against his feels right, yet also wrong on so many levels; it isn’t meant to be like this. And I should have let him reject me, rip the bandaid off if you will.
I can call it a moment of stupidity, one of weakness, but I can’t handle any more right now. Can’t handle the thought of losing him, and can’t handle the way Kora mourns her mate. I need this, something, just a moment of his presence.
Kyan doesn’t move, but I don’t miss the way his heart is racing faster, and even though he doesn’t kiss me back, he doesn’t pull away either. I slowly move back, only for Kyan to grip the back of my neck and finally, kiss me back.
A whimper leaves my lips, half startled that I did it, half startled that he kisses me back, but when I feel his tongue scrape across my bottom lip, my body answers straight away. It is yearning for him, yearning for what could have been.
My lips part, and his tongue brushes mine hesitantly. Sparks rush everywhere, and I kiss him back hungrily, needing him like I need air, and he groans, pushing me on my back. He hisses at the movement yet ignores his pain as he pushes between my legs, his hands gentle, yet demanding when he bites down on my lip.
A moan escapes me. His hand moves up my side to my throat as he turns my face away from his, kissing down my jaw and down my neck. My breath lodges in my throat when I feel his teeth graze the spot where his mark should lie on my skin, but then, he suddenly freezes. Kyan pulls back and looks down at me.
Something flashes through his gaze as he stares at me before glancing at his hand wrapped around my throat, and it is like something shifts within him.
Kyan jerks away from me, and pain radiates through me at his rejection; his eyes soften for a second when he suddenly stands. “I should go,” he murmurs, looking anywhere but at me. I sit up and reach for him, but he takes a step back.
“Kyan!” I plead, my voice coming out so distant, weak, and needy.
“I won’t let history repeat itself, not with you,” he says while shaking his head, confusion written on his handsome face. He turns, walking toward the door. His hand grips the doorframe leading out as he stumbles, and I get to my feet to help him when he takes off, smashing the fire exit doors open and rushing down the steps, leaving me alone.