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Tensing, he prepares to drive forward, and—
“Rowan!” The shout comes from down the hall.
Kai freezes, and alarm widens his eyes. The color drains from his face, and his expression mirrors mine—we both look like we’ve seen a ghost.
Instantly, I go from shaking with arousal to trembling with fear.
Because I recognize the voice. It’s a voice I never thought I’d have to hear again.
“Zarid,” I whisper, my heart skipping with panic.
“But he’s dead,” Kai growls.
“Not in the past,” I say with building terror as I realize what Armand has been waiting for.
That asshole has been waiting for us to have sex.
This whole time, it wasn’t aboutwhenthe challenge would happen, butwhatwould happen to cause it.
Sexual intercourse was the catalyst, andenjoying itis officially over.
Ro
“ROWAN!” My nightmare is louder. Closer.
My eyes go to the closed door of the bedroom. Any second, Zarid could come bursting in here, and then what?
Kai will have to protect me.
Hewillprotect me.
Withdrawing his cock from me, Kai gets up onto his knees, tucks his erection into his pants, and starts buckling his belt. At the same time, I push my dress down, cover my legs, and pull my top back into place.
We’re quick about it, almost like a couple of teenagers who are about to be caught in the act.
I have to remind myself that we’re not doing anything wrong. Zarid doesn’t own me. Even if we are in the past, it doesn’t make me his. I never considered myself his property. He might’ve forced my compliance, but he didn’t have my loyalty.
Suddenly, Kai bellows with pain and his entire body jerks. He collapses onto me once again, his weight heavy.
“Wha—what’s wrong?” I struggle beneath him, flailing a bit.
With his face buried into the mattress next to my head, he cries out a second time, and it’s one of the most anguished sounds I’ve heard from a person before. It’s the kind of noise someone makes when they’re in excruciating pain.
“Kai? Talk to me.”
I’m answered with blood. It’s dripping down his arms and over his shoulders.
The red spots rain down on my arms, my dress, and the bed.
He yells a third time, and more blood follows.
After a lot of wiggling, I manage to slip out from under him so I can see what’s going on.
When I get onto the bed next to him, I gasp and sob at the same time when I see his back. Three thick lines of split-open flesh are there, and the wounds are deep. The white of bone peeks through layers of muscle in his shoulder blade.
I clap my hand over my mouth in horror. “What’s happening?”
“The past,” Kai answers through gritted teeth. “To be specific, the day I was flogged.”
