Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
I clung to that anger to help bury the loss I already felt. Chided myself for ever getting attached to someone I never really thought I could hang on to in the first place.
I shouldn't be surprised or shocked, especially since the sensation wasn't new to me. Rejection, loss. It was literally my lot in life.
Talon spanned the distance between us, but I took a step back, not wanting to fall prey to the physical chemistry we couldn't deny.
He had the gall to look hurt by my retreat.
“I'm sorry,” he said, and my eyebrows rose at those two words. I'm sure he wasn't used to saying them. He shrugged, sliding his hands into the pockets of his sweats as if it would stop him from reaching for me. “It's difficult denying the concerns of someone I've trusted my entire existence.”
“I can understand that,” I said, folding my arms over my chest like that could protect my heart.
My heart which only I now realized was in pain. The kind of pain that made me even angrier. He had no right to hurt me like this, and I had no right to have allowed him in enough to do so.
“But I argued with him,” he continued. He stepped closer, and I didn't retreat. “I argued with him, Cassandra,” he said again. “I never argue with Zachariah when it comes to a mission. I've never had to, but we are of conflicting minds on this one.”
I swallowed around the knot in my throat. “On whether I'm trustworthy or not,” I said.
Talon dipped his head, which was confirmation enough, and I shook mine.
“I don't know what else it's going to take to get you and your pack of hunters to trust me. I’ve managed to earn the trust of most of the assassins and their mates. Short of letting Alek fully into my mind and giving him access to every single one of my memories, even the ones I’ve never shared with anyone but you, what else can I possibly do?” I asked, unfolding my arms and letting my hands smack against my thighs, the frustration vibrating from my very bones. “Will it take me murdering my own mother or summoning my brother here under false pretenses so you can kill him before we even have a chance to get information? Not that he would come even if I somehow made him believe I was in danger, because he doesn't care about me. No one does. I was abandoned at that court and Alek could have easily killed me and he didn't and yet still you don't trust me—”
Talon embraced me, his powerful hands on either side of my face as he held my gaze. “I’m here with you,” he said, emotion making his voice sound raw. “My trust is limited…not because of you, but because of my mistakes in the past. Ones I've shared with you. I lived with my brother for centuries and never once suspected him of the betrayal he dealt us. I’m sorry that my issues with opening up and trusting people are coming down hard on you, but I’m here. I have not left. I have not abandoned you to this mission alone. And I will not,” he said. “I will not leave you. Not because I'm being ordered to by our king, or out of some need to watch you. I will not leave you because I can't.”
Tears threatened to blur my vision, but I held them back.
“I think it would’ve been less terrifying if you would’ve just said you were waiting to kill me.” I released a dark laugh, and Talon joined in, the tension between us breaking as he softly pressed his lips against mine.
The kiss wasn't out of a desperate need for release or because of an itch he couldn't scratch. It was tender and comforting and that scared me.
“I think it would have been less terrifying if you would’ve tried to murder me in my sleep any one of these nights we've been here,” he countered.
I looked up into his eyes, unable to express the emotions storming through my soul in that moment.
“What do we do now?” I finally asked.
“We carry out the mission,” he said matter-of-factly. “And the rest?” He shrugged. “I'm here. You're here. We take it one night at a time. I know that's not exactly fair to you, but it's all I have to offer.”
The smallest of smiles shaped my lips as I shifted against him, smoothing my palms over his muscled chest. “So I get to play with a snarky vampire Viking with trust issues?”
“Don't forget gods-like in bed,” he added.
I laughed. “I could never forget that,” I said, shaking my head.
He slid his arms around me, drawing me flush against him, holding me in an embrace that had nothing to do with our need for each other.