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“Very funny,” I mock.
“I don’t joke when it comes to getting away from the thought of you. Get back in bed, and I’ll tell you.”
I sit on the bed and mimic the way he is stretching out on the bed.
He pushes off and leans close. His eyes glide slowly over my face. “Azriel is my little brother. My mother died giving birth to him. My father blamed it on him and disowned him. Since he is technically the son of one of the founding fathers of Kenya, he is still entitled, but not in my father’s eyes. I was too young to take care of him until I turned fifteen and took matters into my own hands. Azriel lived with the housekeeper my mother employed to take care of us before her death until I was able to step in.”
My heart aches for Azriel. It’s why he feels so alone.
“I asked Azriel to bring you here and look out for you at the hardware store. That's why he was ready to defend you against that prick of an ex-boyfriend of yours. Why did he agree to go wherever you asked without making it obvious? They thought they would be able to kick my little brother’s ass.” Valen grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I taught him how to defend himself, and I made a promise to him. No one would be able to hurt him, but he needs to keep to himself and not show up in places where they will recognize him. Azriel is a Vikiar, Melody. He’s the legitimate son of a Kenyan."
“I thought you were the last son of your generation.”
“Not the case for Azriel. Most people don’t know he exists, and I plan to keep it that way. And he doesn’t need to attend Kenyan.”
I have so many questions I want to ask, but I start with, “Is this your house?”
“One of them. This is my main home. Azriel lives where I do, and for now, this is it. He wants for nothing, and he likes working at the hardware store.”
“Who owns the hardware store?” I ask.
The suspicion of how everything is falling into place nags in the back of my mind.
“I do, Melody. I own the hardware store where you work, and it was my idea to have Azriel offer to have you live with us. It’s not safe in the trailer. I didn’t want your brother to find out what I'd done. I didn’t want him to know how I felt about you.”
His words nag in the back of my mind.I get what I want. You’ll see.
I can see in his eyes that he’s ashamed of his addiction. Everyone knows he sleeps around.
“Did you set me up? Mr. Crosby. The job at the store? Azriel?”
His eyes fall to my lips. “Not in the way that you think, but yes. I want you, Melody. Since the first time I saw you fighting for the wrong man, I’ve wanted you. I told you that.”
Fear and anger wash over me, but the intense way he is looking at me has me holding back. I want to yell and scream at him. He doesn’t have the right to control my life. I don’t understand his motive. Is it sex? There is some twisted game he is trying to play.
“What do you want? Sex? A thrill to get you off? Is this a game you want to play? A campus prank for fun?” I shake my head. “I don’t get it. Look at you. Look at me.”
“I’m not following. I want sex, but not on a one-night stand. I brought you to the party the other day to show you my impulses.” He pauses and goes on, “I’m not playing a game. Yeah, I did some shit to get you into Kenyan and away from Ohio. There are things you don’t understand, Melody. All you need to know is that I want you. I want a normal fucking relationship with a girl. I’ve never had one that wasn’t focused on sex.”
“Explain it to me.”
He leans over me. Everything is bright from the sun streaming between the curtains. The blue in his eyes is bright. My heart beats faster than a freight train.
“It is true that I suffer from hypersexuality, Melody. I like sex because it gives me a high, like a drug. I wasn’t lying when I said it the first time.”
“So the person who’s with you has to accept...”
He rests his elbows on the side of my head. “No. I’m not saying that. I don’t want to cheat on the person I’m with. That's what makes it so hard. After my mother died giving birth to my brother, my father spiraled. He blamed my brother for her death. My father can’t look at him without remembering that she died. In his eyes, it’s like he killed her.”
“That is awful.”
Poor Azriel.
“Mrs. Mallory took him in until I was old enough to send her money and provide for him. I had to keep him away from everyone, or my father would get angry. He would do anything to make him suffer because, in his eyes, he’s suffering because of Azriel. My father never loved me again. My mother was the love of his life and still is, but he spends his time having meaningless sex with random women. It’s all I have ever seen. Different women.” His eyes lift. “When I had sex for the first time with a woman my father brought, I liked the feeling. I was fifteen, and it was the only thing that felt good. The only thing I didn’t have to work hard to get. I don’t know what love is because my father never showed me what it’s supposed to be like. The closest I have to love is caring for my brother. I don’t know how to love a woman in the real sense. The only relationship I know is through sex, and when I’m done...
“You move on to the next.”
He nods. “Except with you. I don’t want that. I want to...”
