AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If anyone should decide, it’s you.” Tyreste went on, clearly still pondering the merits of naming his cock. “He is yours,after all.”
Anastazja froze as she retrieved her slip dress.Only you, Ana. No one but you.Her eyes burned to a soft blur, but there was little danger of spilling tears. Years at Magda’s mercy had trained her to keep her emotions safely contained, unless she wanted them weaponized against her.
“Ana?”
She wasn’t ready. She hadn’t been ready when she’d left Fanghelm Keep before dawn. She hadn’t been ready when she’d raised her fist, hesitating before rapping on Tyreste’s door. She wasn’t ready still, when everything inside her screamed to turn and fold herself into his arms, her only safe place.
A stretched tightness in her chest—the pricks of lightheadedness swimming up to greet her—reminded her she’dneverbe ready.
It has to be now. Magda knows I haven’t been going where I say I’m going. If she ever finds me here...
Anastazja shimmied into her slip and then her underskirts before answering. She lifted her gown to have something to hold on to for strength. Her words finally came as she stepped into it and worked it carefully up her body and over her arms. “This has been so fun.” She scrunched her face. Those weren’t the words she’d practiced. Neither was the fractured mess of rambling that followed. “Ah, what we’ve been doing, you and I, I mean. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our trysts.”
“Trysts.”
She was purposefully turned away, like a coward, but she felt the precise moment the joy left the room.
“Is that, uh... what this is, Ana? What we’ve been doing for almost two years?”
“What else could it be?” She bit down hard on her lip, but it was no match for the sorrow rolling forward.Imustdo this. I must do this forhim.“You’re apubkeep. It was never going to be more than secret afternoons.” Her thoughtless shrug was a gross betrayal of her heart. “Most distractions last half as long.”
Tyreste’s silence was brimming with everything she was thinking too. “I see.” He cleared his throat and laughed. “No. Actually, Ana, Idon’tsee. I don’t understand this at all... Are you...”
“Tired. What I am istired.Of this, of you.” She released the bold words in an outpouring of determination. Her gown sat unlaced, because like a fool, she’d embarked on the punishing task of breaking Tyreste’s heart before she could ask for his help. No, she was a fool for wearing a dress at all. She’d known her intent from the moment she’d awoken that morning. “I really do ca—”No, you can leave no room for hope. Only cruelty will protect him.“I’ve enjoyed the pleasures you give me.”
“The... pleasures I give you? What is this?” He moved closer.
She felt the warmth of him radiating when he drew near, the heady essence of sex and sweat.
“You sound like you’re repeating something you’ve rehearsed. Badly.”
“So I cannot speak my mind unless it’s what you want to hear? I’m not allowed to end an arrangement that no longer suits me?” She cringed at the false note of anger in her voice, but it was better than him hearing the heartbreak creep in. “It’s not like... not like we’re in love.”
The lie sent an invisible fist crashing into her gut.
“You...” Tyreste’s breaths came in a series of awkward, confused starts with premature ends. “Iknowyou. You’re not yourself. Something happened, didn’t it?”
“You know how I like to come.” Her feet curled into the soft fur rug. “You know how I taste. How I feel. But what do you know aboutme, Tyreste Penhallow? What do you know about Anastazja Wynter when she leaves your little cabin and returns home to Fanghelm?”
“I’vetriedso hardto know your world.” Tyreste started forward, shifting the energy once more. “I have, foryears, tried to be a part of it. Our differences don’t scare me, Anastazja. They never have. And until now, I would have said they didn’t scare you either.”
“My father has begun marriage negotiations,” she blurted. It was the first thing that had come into her mind, and though it should have been true, it wasn’t. At twenty, she should have been betrothed two years ago, but the north had fallen into three consecutive perilous winter seasons, and travel beyond or to Witchwood Cross was impossible for most of the year. Or, at least, that was the now-rote refrain her father repeated to those who asked. He couldn’t very well tell people he was under the thrall of an evil koldyna, the true authority of Witchwood Cross these days.
“Oh yeah? When?”
“He’s waiting for Vuk od Varem to pass, and then... then I’ll be matched with a man of my station.”
“The Season of the Wulf.” Tyreste scoffed. “You turn your nose at my honest profession, when the Vjestik have been sacrificing their sons to the wulves of the north forgenerations.Your ownbrother, Ana.”
“Sometimes they prevail.” Hot defense rose into her cheeks, but it was better than thinking of the way Stepan had left two years ago to face off against the wulf and never come home. “And our sacrifices keep this entire town safe. Your family included.”
“Safe from wulves we could take down with arrows and swords. Right.”
“You don’t understand the wulves of these forests! Stranjak don’t have any idea how hard my Vjestik ancestors fought, for generations, before any of you showed up.” Ana’s shoulders rolled forward in a defeated slump. “Doesn’t matter.”
Tyreste came up behind her before she could retreat. His fingers spread along the nape of her neck in a gentle trail. His hands slid down her shoulders, slowing when they reached the stays of her dress. With a wordless sigh, he laced her up. “Ana.”
All she could do was shake her head. If she spoke, he’d hear the regret, the weakness she couldn’t completely hide.
