“You don’t owe me anything,” he cut in, jaw tight. “ButIoweyouthe truth. And by all the fucking gods, I will make you listen. I don’t care that you’re one of them.”
Esmyra tried to push off him again, tried to break free, but he held her firm. It was thewayhe held on to her that had her considering. It wasn’t with force, but with something heavier.
Grief. Rage. Desperation, even.
“Syrena crept into my room the morning you found us,” he rushed out, as if he didn’t know how long she would cooperate.
Her eyes slowly widened. That wasexactlywhat Naerysa did to Irah. She had waited for Kaelypso to leave before she crept in.
“She tried to seduce me,” he continued. “Several times, if you would like honesty.”
Nausea rolled through her, a sickening wave that made her stomach clench.I think Draevyn tried to seduce me,Syrena had said that day at the lagoon.
His confession was nearly word for word.
“What did you just say?” she whispered.
“First it was at night. I had been walking about the halls when I heard…moaning.” The last word came out as if it disgusted him. His fiery gaze lifted back to hers as she remained straddling him. “I…I thought it wasyou, Esmyra. It sounded like your voice. So, I went to investigate.”
She lifted a brow.
His laugh was bitter and raw. “I can’t even lie and say I wanted to make sure you were okay. I was jealous. There’s no other word. The thought of you with someone else sent me into a fit of rage, and I nearly stormed through those throne room doors to haul your ass out of there over my shoulder myself. But what I saw when I got there was something else entirely.”
“Well, what was it?”
“It waseveryone. Nearly the entire castle staff was participating in a scene I’ve only heard of occurring at brothels. And Syrena sat on her throne, in the arms of several of them. Their mouths, hands, and tongues were all over her.”
Esmyra’s head reared back, jaw falling open. “What?”
“I didn’t believe my eyes at first either.” He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as his other hand remained on her hip. “When Syrena noticed me, she invited me to join.”
Esmyra’s jaw locked, her nostrils flaring as she stared down at him.
“There’s that Wildfire,” Draevyn said with a chuckle, but itfaded when her furious expression remained in place. He cleared his throat. “When I declined, she was less than pleased.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she shot at him, brows furrowing. She couldn’t even help the snippiness. He should’ve fucking said something.
“When exactly was I supposed to? The next thing I knew, you no longer wanted to speak with me.” He cocked his head to the side, and his infuriating dimple appeared as he smirked.
Her lips parted, realizing it was because she never gave him the chance. Because of whatSyrenahad said to her that day, lying about who came on to who.
Draevyn moved to sit up, but his arms wrapped around the small of her back, keeping her in place on his lap as he sat face-to-face with her. His eyes fell to her lips, and they parted as she sat beneath his stare.
“I meant what I said that day in my chambers, Esmyra.”
The way he said her name sent a shiver through her.
“If it was your sister I wanted in my bed, I would’ve made it known,” he admitted. “Though I thought I had made it more than clear that wasn’t the case.”
When she went to protest, he cut her off by pressing a calloused finger to her lips. She considered biting it off as her eyes narrowed on him.
“It’syou. It’s always been you. Since the moment I laid eyes on you in that tavern in this godsforsaken place.” Draevyn gestured to their surroundings. “You, Esmyra Blackwood, are all I want. All I need andcrave. Every waking and sleeping moment of my days.”
Esmyra’s breath caught in her throat at his confession.
“I told you before, those talons of yours sank into me, and they refuse to let me go. And I don’t want them to,” he continued.
Everything was too much. His closeness. His hands on her. The crackling energy between them. It all was becoming suffocating. Shehatedthis man. He was responsible for every heartache she’d ever felt.
