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My eyes caught on those skinny, shadowy offshoots that crawled between his fingers. If she woke now and saw Malyr standing there, would she panic? Would her nipples harden? Would she grow slick, making the sweetest mess between her legs?
I would never find out.
Because I’d made a promise.
When his shadows reached for her, I grabbed his wrist. “Not while she’s with me like this.”
Malyr huffed, a forceful exhale of air that underlined the way he barred his teeth. “So you’re protecting her now? From me?”
Protect…
I ignored the dense pressure rising at my core. “Whatever you do when I’m not with her is your business, but I won’t let you—” I hissed at the biting pain of his shadows clawing into my hand, immediately releasing his wrist. “What the fuck, Malyr?”
He pulled his hand back, clenching and unclenching his fist where shadows stretched like black strings of molasses toward Galantia, trying to breech the distance. “They have become… quite erratic as of late.”
“Erratic? They attacked me.” They’d never done that before. “Why are they straining like this?”
“Because they want her dead, I presume.” He slumped back into the chair, frustration written all over his face. “Ihateher, and they know it. Hate how innocent she was allowed to remain while her father corrupted me nearby. Hate even more how I clearly cannot taint her in the same way without risking her death at the hand of my… capricious shadows.”
Beneath the furs, my fingers curled around Galantia’s waist. Perhaps I’d misjudged just how much he struggled to control his shadows around her. Perhaps Asker was right.
“Why not send youranoaaway when you’re around her?”
“You think I have not tried?” Scoffing, he threw a hand up. “That damn bird of mine hit her window trying to get back to mesecondsafter I sent him away.”
Not much of a surprise. Hisanoahad always been a high-strung jerk with the obedience of a mule and the docility of a kitten on a leash. That bird never separated from him for long, but it had never beenthisbad.
“Perhaps you should stay away from her.”
“Perhaps I should,” he said, but there was no conviction in his voice, the words like a non-committal statement at best, a question at worst. He turned his head, looking straight at me. “But I think you preferred if I didn’t.”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, come on…” Shaking his head, he rose and stepped toward the door. “The only reason she is in your arms right now, is because you love how innocent she appears, how inexperienced, how helpless. You want to know why?”
My stomach hardened. “Not particularly.”
“Because after all these years, you still refuse to forgive yourself.” He opened the door, glancing back at me once more before he said, “You love saving her where you couldn’t save them.”
The door fell shut, sealing me in with the same silence of that winter night. Only the even beat of Galantia’s heart made it through my stunned senses, standing in sobering contrast to the memory of Zaima’s still heart. Mother’s still heart. All the others…
Everyone I once loved, dead.
Because of me.
Galantia shifted in my arms, pressing herself tighter against me as if I was her shelter, if only for a night. As if I was a man capable of caring, saving, protecting. Yeah, that felt good.
Better than I deserved.
ChapterNineteen
Galantia
Present day, Deepmarsh Castle, Galantia’s chamber
Iwant you so badly.
The resonance of those words continued to carry me into restless sleep for several nights, always reshaping into forest-green eyes. I followed their line of sight and stared down at myself. Watched how I ran my fist down the thick length of Sebian’s cock.
