Page 112 of Throne of Ice and Blood
Which means that I will need to help the humans pull off this heist, start a rebellion among the entire population of Frostfell, and then escape with Isera, Alistair, and Lavendera. And leave Draven to his fate. Because no matter how much I have tried to convince myself otherwise lately, Draven and I are on opposite sides in this war.
We are, and always will be, enemies.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
My heart aches as I stand there awkwardly on Draven’s bedroom floor, watching him strip out of his armor. The beautiful black and gold dress that I wore tonight is already back in his closet. I brush my hand down the short silk nightgown I’m now wearing again.
This somehow feels like the beginning of the end. We have all the information we need for the heist and our escape. Now, all that is left is carrying it out.
Back in that ballroom, I made the decision to cut ties with Draven. To leave him to his fate and return to my own people. To my own side in this war. But making the decision still doesn’t make the actual act any easier. Especially when my feelings for Draven are already tangled and complicated as it is due to this Goddess damned mate bond.
“Is none of it real?” I find myself asking, my voice coming out much more confused and desperate than I had intended.
Draven drops the final piece of his armor onto the stand with a thud and then turns to face me, now only wearing a pair of black underwear. His brows are furrowed in genuine confusion as he meets my gaze.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“The… emotions,” I begin uncertainly. “That you have for me. Are they real or just the product of the mate bond? And how do you know the difference? How do you know which ones are real and which ones are forced? Fake? Or is all of it fake?”
The words just tumble out of my mouth one after the other. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. My heart aches, for multiple different reasons, and I just want someone to hold me and tell me that everything will be okay. But not even my own mother has done that for me, not once, since the day she found out about my magic. The only one who has ever come to save me is Draven. He has saved my life three times already. And the thought that he only did it because of this mate bond, and not because he truly cared about me, threatens to crack something fragile inside my chest.
Because if all of his feelings are artificial, something forced upon him by the universe, then that will mean that I have been right all along. That I am on my own. And I always have been.
Draven’s expression softens, and he closes the distance between us.
Tilting my head back, I draw in an unsteady breath and meet his gaze. “Is it all fake?”
Pain flickers in his eyes. Then he slides his hands over my cheeks and into my hair as he holds me steady while his eyes sear into mine. I barely dare to breathe.
His serious eyes burn through my soul. “Does this feel fake to you?”
And then he kisses me.
Slowly and deeply and achingly passionately.
A broken noise comes from the back of my throat. Sliding my hands up his bare chest, I lock them behind his neck and yank him closer. A moan rips from his chest as I kiss him back furiously.
He drops his hands from my hair and instead grabs the hem of my nightgown. With a firm pull, he yanks it upwards. I gasp in a breath as he breaks the kiss while pulling the fabric over my head. His eyes are wild with lust as he tosses the black silken garment to the floor and then closes the distance between us again.
Fire licks through my veins as he slips one hand around the back of my neck and the other around my waist and then yanks me back to him. My tits press against his bare chest as he holds me tight while his lips ravage mine. I moan into his mouth and rake my fingers down his muscular back.
His wings flare wider. I smile against his lips and move my hands up to his wings, gently tracing my fingers over the soft membrane.
A shudder rolls through his entire body, and he slides his hand up from the back of my neck and into my hair, taking it in a commanding grip and tilting my head back further. My heart flutters as he tangles his tongue with mine, completely dominating my mouth, while I trace my fingers across his wings. The most delicious moans rip from his lungs when my fingers brush the soft surface.
He releases my hair and waist and pulls back from the furious kiss. The sudden loss of his mouth against mine leaves me disoriented for a second. Then a jolt shoots through my body as his fingers curl over the top of my panties.
A devilish glint appears in his eyes as he takes the thin fabric of my panties in a firm grip.
Then he rips them open.
My heart flips and heat shoots straight through my core as my torn panties fall to the floor around my ankles.
Locking eyes with Draven, I grab the top of his underwear and try to do the same to him. But apparently, it’s not as easy as he made it look.
A dark laugh rumbles from his chest, and he grips the back of my neck and yanks me into a possessive kiss. Still laughing against my mouth, he slides his other hand underneath his underwear and then just pushes them down his legs instead. Once he has stepped out of them and kicked them aside, I immediately wrap my hand around his thick cock and slide it up and down before teasing his tip with my thumb in retaliation.
To my satisfaction, it draws another one of those delicious moans from his throat.
