Her shoulders were back and her chin up, but she emanated despair, exhaustion, and sorrow as her gaze went from me to the woman and back again. When her misery tugged at a heart I’d believed destroyed by her, I shoved it aside.
She’d chosen this course in our lives; our paths would have been different if it weren’t forher. And we certainly wouldn’t be in this place.
Her long, dark mocha brown hair dangled in a braid over her shoulder. In the dim red light, the hues of chestnut and chocolate interwoven through it took on an almost auburn hue that didn’t exist in those strands.
I’d spent a lot of time running my fingers through those silken tresses while marveling at their color. I’d memorizedeverythingabout this woman, andallthose numerous, small details haunted me.
Despite her cheekbones standing out more and her paler coloring, she was still achingly beautiful with her golden skin and smattering of freckles over the bridge of her pert nose. I knew every location of them on her.
She’d laughed over my fascination with them. Buried beneath the sheets on my bed, and with her eyes sparkling, she’d beamed at me while I kissed each one of those spots.
The memory was a dagger to my heart, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe as I struggled to suppress it. I’d been so happy, and now… I was simply surviving, but not very well.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Ryker
Unable to lookat her anymore, I shifted my attention to the woman on my lap. I’d chosen her because she looked nothing like Ellery.
Her pale blonde hair fell to her ears, and her soulful eyes were a warm, dark brown. Petite, her breasts were on full display, and only a thin strip of cloth covered her below.
She leaned closer to whisper, “We can have her removed.”
“Have who removed?”
The woman smiled before resuming her dance. I should enjoy this, but she did nothing for me.
Allthe women I’d touched since Ellery didnothingfor me, but I refused to give in. I refused to letherbe the last woman I fucked. One of these days—no, today, after she left, I was going to bury myself in this woman… or another… or maybe all of them and screw Ellery Marian out of my system.
However, that apple scent wouldn’t get out of my nose, and I could feel her watching. I refused to acknowledge her; she’d made her choice when she gave up on us.
We had nothing left to say to each other. If she’d come here to explain what happened, I already knew what it was.
A week after we last spoke, and after my initial rage and anguish ebbed a little, it dawned on me that my father probably had something to do with her decision to end things between us. I’d gone to check on my mother’s estate and returned to her telling me to leave.
While our relationship hadn’t been as carefree as before my father discovered her in my apartment in his castle, it was still strong, and things were good. I could understand if we’d only been a casual fling or if there was someone else, but none of those things were true.
I would have accepted her decision to move on if she didn’t care for me, but she did. We’d never exchanged words of love, yet I saw her care in the way she touched me, her tears when she saw my scars, and when she learned what happened to my mother. I relished her care in the tender way she looked at me.
I’d felt secure and loved in a way I hadn’t since my father forced my mother and me apart. It couldn’t have all been a lie. I couldn’t have imagined it all.
Yes, we were from two different worlds and trapped in Tempest. Because of that, we were at the mercy of the assholes who’d imprisoned us, but that had always been true. It wasn’t a new development.
No, it was my father. I was certain of it. He’d done something, and instead of coming to me about it and fighting for us, Ellery had caved to him and tossed aside everything between us.
He may have threatened her, but if so, she should have come to me and told me; she should have trusted me enough to keep her and her family safe. She should have loved me enough not to throw it away.
That hurt more than her closing the door in my face. I would have given upeverythingfor her; I would have fought to thedeathfor her, and she’d walked away without looking back… until now.
Now she was here, only a few feet away, and her sweet scent engulfed me. The woman on my lap smelled of spices, but I couldn’t detect it anymore, which pissed me off.
Ellery moved closer; she stopped a couple feet away and folded her hands demurely before her. She didn’t fool me; Ellery was anything but docile.
“I know you’re angry with me, and I’m sorry. I really am.”
That fucking mellow voice reached from the past into the present. My teeth clenched against the anger rising in me while I battled a wave of lust. The mostly naked woman on my lap hadn’t been able to excite me, but hearing her voice and smelling her again did.
I didn’t look at her. I didn’t want her apologies.
