‘You know that’s not an option.’
‘But -’
‘I can’t let you leave.’
‘Then I’ll run away!’ I say desperately. ‘I just can’t stay here, seeing you everyday -’
I hear the sharp intake of his breath, barely inches behind me.
‘Do you really hate me that much?’
I give a bitter laugh and keep my eyes focused on the darkness ahead.
‘If only it were that simple. I love you, Kael, so much it hurts when I’m close to you, because I know you’ll never feel the same.’
There is a long beat of silence and then he spins me around so quickly, I stumble against him. His eyes are a dark, almost olive hue as they bear down into mine.
‘You think I don’t feel the same?’ he demands, digging his fingers painfully into my shoulders. ‘You think it doesn’t kill me every time Tristan touches you or that I don’t wish it was my ring you were wearing right now? You think I don’t want to hold you and taste you?’
With a strangled curse, he takes my mouth with his. His lips move with a hunger that stuns me. His hands touch the bare skin at my back and wrap around me, drawing me tight against the heat of his body.
My arms wind around his shoulders and thread into the hair at the back of his neck as I respond, trying to burrow closer into his warmth and meeting his kisses with a deep passion of my own. My insides turn to molten liquid and that familiar, deep ache begins to build, as it always does between us.
I want to hold onto him forever, to let this golden heat build and weather the crescendo that we’re building toward but Kael tears his lips from mine and I’m left gasping for breath.
He stands, for a moment, one finger on my lips to keep me at bay, breathing deeply with eyes closed. When his heartbeat has slowed a fraction, his eyes flicker open and he looks down at me.
‘I love you, Shaylee, more than you could ever know. I don’t know how it happened, it’s not even supposed to be possible, but you’re my reason for existence.’ He pauses, and the spark of joy I’d felt at his confession dims.
‘There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there?’ I ask.
Kael nods once and the pain in his expression splinters into me.
‘But… You’re the Chosen one. Your destiny is to fulfill the prophecy and mine is to protect you so that you can. There’s only one way to keep you safe, for sure.’
‘I can’t marry Tristan,’ I whisper brokenly.
‘But you have to.’
‘But I love you.’
He shakes his head.
‘It doesn’t matter how either of us feels, Shaylee. What matters is keeping you alive. That night, when the vampire attacked you -’ His voice breaks. ‘I couldn’t face it if something happened to you again -’
I step forward quickly and press my lips against his again, this time softly, pouring my heart into the kiss. His lips move against mine in unspoken symphony, but then he pulls back again and puts me at arm’s length.
‘Kael, nothing’s going to happen to me,’ I try to reassure him.
‘You’re right,’ he says, with a steely note in his voice, ‘because I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive.’
My heart skips a beat as I see the resolve on his face, but somewhere deep inside me, a hope begins to burn, a slow blaze, gaining in strength as my own resolve solidifies. Kael loves me. He really loves me. And now I know what I have to do.
I grab his chin in both of my hands and lock my gaze with his.
‘And I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you,’ I whisper and kiss him again. He gives in, kissing me back with such intensity that the world around us ceases to exist and I know, no matter what tomorrow brings, we’ll face it together. I will break down Kael’s defenses. It may take me the whole of the year ahead but I vow, silent and firm that by the end of the year, Kael will realize that his sense of duty doesn’t stand a chance against the force of our love.
Five: A Maor Novel (Maor series) Page 31
