Chapter 3
Briar
I wait for the fear that once held me hostage to steal my courage again, but it never comes.
Heat crawls up my neck and settles from the tips of my ears to the high points of my cheeks. The muscles of Kane’s arms flex, reminding me that this is a creature that could tear me to pieces in one fell swoop. And yet I’m not afraid, at least not how I was before. He is ice where I am fire. He is the darkness that surrounds me even as I reach for the light. Black consumes the whites of his eyes and I lose myself in his stare.
This time it is me who steals the kiss, helpless to deny myself the pleasure any longer. Like a moth to flame, I am drawn to him in a way that is beyond my control. But I don’t want that control. I submit to that alien feeling inside of me that wants to be a willing victim of Kane’s passion. His lips sear me to the marrow of my bones and I let him. I gasp and feel the sweep of his tongue as it dips inside the moist cavern of my mouth.
Hands grip my flesh in a bruising hold and the thought of being marked by him sends a thrill rushing through my body. Wetness trickles from my core as Kane traps his erection between my thighs. He hisses through his teeth and pulls away from the kiss to suck and nibble at the side of my neck. I want his bite...the thought is both frightening and appealing, but I can’t deny that it was mine.
Mine. The word roars inside of my head, but it’s not my voice that I hear. It’s Kane’s. His deep rumble reverberates in my head like a scream echoing through a cavern. My attempts to shake it away only make it louder, diving deep into the very pit of my being, intertwining with my own lust and desire until I cannot tell what is foreign and what is mine.
Kane ruts against me as my hands scramble for purchase. I drag my nails down his back, listening to the dangerously erotic sounds that escape him. I am the one that can reduce him to this. Kane’s hands hoist me up. He slams my back against the brick and I thank him with a startled moan. I don’t care that I hate him or that he hurt me in this moment. I just never want him to stop touching me. My legs wrap around his narrow hips as his fingers stray toward the place I need him most, but as he grows closer, I reach down and grab his hands, pulling my head away, shaking it wildly.
“Wait,” I manage to get out through breathless gasps. “Wait.”
Kane sets me on my feet and steps back. I feel as though I am lost in a cloud of lust and desperation. I put my hand to my head and try to clear the fog all around me. The deepness of need and want are so strong, but these are not my feelings. These are not my emotions or my attachments. There is a very stark difference in what is pulsing through me and how I felt just moments before he entered the sanctuary.
I am angry with Kane even though I might not hate him as much as I want to. There are still so many secrets between us. I can’t trust him. I won’t trust him. I’m tired of being vulnerable while Kane, Willem, Aiden, and the other creatures of this world seem immortal. They underestimate me and that’s the only advantage I have.
Kane reaches out to touch me but I move around him. “What’s wrong?”
“I feel strange.” Shaking my head, I slowly move back toward the fountain.
“Wonderful,” Kane replies dryly. “Exactly what every man wants to hear after they’ve been intimate with a woman.”
There’s a bit of humor in his voice, but I see right through it. He is not as unaffected by that kiss as he pretends.
“I’m feeling emotions that aren’t mine,” I explain. “I hear thoughts that sound…”
Kane tilts his head to the side and narrows his eyes as he walks toward me. “Like what?”
“Like you.” My face heats up out of fear, embarrassment, or something far more sinister than I am willing to unravel in my mind.. I don’t know what I feel anymore or if what I’m feeling is actually me.
Looking down at my twisted and unruly dress, I quickly straighten myself. Without a word, Kane steers me toward the door. I thought for sure he would take me back to my room without another word, but he has other thoughts, surprising ones.
He takes my arm and guides me through the narrow passages of the castle, telling stories as we go about his time before he was Death. .
He shows me a hidden passage beneath the staircase that leads out of the castle as well as a few rooms that were concealed with wards like the garden. “The castle didn’t look like this when I first became Death. I made it in my own image. If there’s anything you want or need, just ask. I’ll make it for you.”
His offer is at odds with the man I’ve grown to know as my betrothed. There are several sides to Kane that I never expected. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”
I try my best to smile at him and hope that
