AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know.”
“And then you changed.”
“I know,” Kai repeats with distress as he drops his cool façade. He rotates toward me so fast, water flies off him in a circle. “You think I like being this way?” Wildly gesturing, he indicates the scars on his torso. “This is just who I am. I wish I could look better for you. By the stars, I wish it so badly it hurts but it simply cannot be.”
Realization sinks in. He and I are on completely different pages.
“You think I’m talking about your appearance?” I ask quietly.
“Yes?” His voice goes up at the end as if the answer is obvious.
In an instant, I see his cold attitude for what it is.
He isn’t uninterested in me.
He’s been quietly brooding. Sad. Insecure.
And I’ve been too worried about my own heartbreak to see his.
“Kai—”
“Everything about me is hideous,” he interrupts me. “My skin, my smile.”
“You have a great smile,” I contradict.
His eyes are downcast with defeat, and his shoulders slump. “Come on, Ro. I’m not a handsome man, and I don’t need for you to pretend I am.”
“Pretend?”
I’m almost at a loss for words. No one has ever outright accused me of being superficial before. That’s one of the reasons I don’t fit in with the fae. I simply don’t have it in me to be vain or shallow.
I thought Kai knew that, but clearly, he doesn’t.
Admittedly, I’m insulted, but in his defense, I was so eager to soak up his compliments and endless reassurance that I forgot to give him mine.
I haven’t told him that I like the way he looks. Just the opposite, I’ve been careful with my words.
I kept my feelings to myself because I wasn’t bold enough to expose them.
“This is my fault,” I say softly. “I’m so sorry.”
“Do not apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong—”
I hold my palm out to stop him before he can tell me how perfect I am again. “If you think you’re not good enough for me, or anyone else for that matter, I’m to blame because I didn’t tell you that you are. I didn’t tell you I’ve admired you since the moment we met in Armand’s throne room. I’ve never reacted to a man with such attraction. It was immediate and intense, and my feelings for you grew during the first challenge. Not because your scars were gone, but because you were kind, and safe, and sogiving. You reeled me in by giving me everything I needed, when and how I needed it, and I’m truly sorry for not doing the same.”
Vulnerability and hope swims in Kai’s eyes. He gazes at me as if I’m holding the suns and stars in my hands, and I’m offering them all to him.
But there’s still some doubt and wariness.
He thinks it’s too good to be true, so I just need to keep speaking with transparency until he’s convinced.
“When I say I like your smile, I mean the sight of it gives me this feeling of euphoria. It’s as if it physically tickles my heart. And when I touch your scars, there is no part of me that wants to recoil. I’m not disgusted by you. I’m enamored. I’m impressed. I’m infatuated. I’m… in love. I’ve fallen in love with you, Kai.”
His cock is growing. It’s going from half-mast to sticking straight out. That’s a good sign. At least one part of his body is reacting the way I’d like, but he’s too quiet. Standing in the downpour, he’s totally still and silent while the water washes away the rest of the lycan blood.
“Well.” Frazzled by how unresponsive he is, I lift my arms and drop them again with a shrug. “That’s the point I’ve been trying to make. Do with it what you will. If you don’t return my feelings, then I’ll try to respect that, but don’t avoid me because you think you’re doing me a favor.”
“You love me?” he finally rasps, his chest expanding as his breath hitches. “You love me as I am now?”
