The moment I reach my bedchamber door, I yank it open and hurry inside. I lean against the solid oak and release a shaky breath.
I yearn to rewind time, to once again be the little girl who found comfort and affection in her mother’s embrace. Those days are gone, though, lost like grains of sand slipping through my fingers.
I sag against the door and sigh. She shakes me, rattles me to my bones, and yet, I still long for her love, but she doesn’t give it to any of us.
A bone aching pain settles in my chest as I turn to observe the moonlight winking at me through the open windows. Usually, this space brings me comfort, but tonight, my mother’s hateful words etch into my thoughts over and over again.
I close my eyes, willing them away.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Slowly, her words fade, and I focus on the happy memories. Like Asha throwing a ball in my honor and Jasce showing up to give me a beautiful necklace. Those are things I can cling to like an anchor in a storm-tossed sea. Not my mother’s hatred.
I push away from the door and move toward my bed, discarding layers as I go. Each piece of clothing that drops to the floor feels like shedding a little part of her disdain. By the time I’m down to my undergarments, my mother’s hatefulness has faded completely.
A sudden noise shatters the silence—a scrape, a soft thud. My focus snaps to the window as Jasce climbs through. A wide smile spreads across his mouth, as if climbing through my window is as natural as walking through the door.
I take him in, from his short black hair, disheveled from the climb, to his eyes. They gleam with an intensity that pulls me in, holds me, captivates without even touching me.
“Jasce,” I whisper as I back up a step and think about covering my face and hiding my scars from him.
His eyes rove over me, taking in the sight of me standing in only my thin chemise. “Hello, Annora. You are even more beautiful than I imagined.”
“Y-you imagined me?” I lick my bottom lip as he continues to stare.
His gaze holds no pity, no scorn, only pure adoration that takes my breath away. Usually, I turn away and hide my face from others, but with Jasce, I find myself unable to look away. It’s as if he sees past my scars, straight into the very heart of me, and cherishes every imperfect piece.
“Every single day,” he says.
Without another word, he crosses the space between us in two long, purposeful strides and pulls me into his arms. One hand slides possessively around my waist, molding my body to his, while the other cradles the back of my head. I melt into his touch, my skin tingling where it meets his.
“I...” My voice trembles as I try to find words that can say all that I’m feeling—the fear, the joy, the sheer absurdity of this moment. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Where else would I be?” he asks, his words low and earnest, as if the answer is as clear and immutable as the stars in the night sky. “Where you are...that’s where I belong.”
I want to argue, to insist on the danger, but then he leans back slightly to look down at me. The tenderness in his eyes undoes me. It peels away layers of doubt and self-consciousness until I am exposed—seen in ways I never thought possible.
Slowly, giving me time to move if I want, Jasce lowers his head. My lips part in anticipation as his mouth claims mine with a gentle yet insistent pressure that sends sparks racing through my veins. I grab his shoulders, feeling his hard muscles beneath my fingers flex as he pulls me tighter. My body molds to the planes of his, curves fitting against angles, as if we were made for each other.
He tightens his grip on my hair and tilts my head back as his tongue teases my bottom lip in a silent demand for more. A breathy moan escapes me as I clutch at him, wanting more, but uncertain if I should allow myself to cross this line, to surrender to the desire pulsing between us.
Every part of me knows that this is madness. That he shouldn’t be here. That I shouldn’t be responding to him like this, but there’s something in me that wants to embrace madness. For an entire summer, I have held myself back, forced myself inside an emotionless tomb to survive missing him.
Now, he’s here, kissing me with a desperate hunger that mirrors my own, and I never want him to stop. I want to lose myself in this moment, in the feel of his lips moving against mine.
I want this to be forever. For him to be mine. For our houses to set aside their hatred and allow us to be together. But I know it’s nothing more than a wishful fantasy. Our families will always be enemies, forever divided by a feud that runs deeper than the blood in our veins.
I force myself to pull away first and drag in a shaky breath as I try to regain some semblance of control before I drown completely.
Jasce straightens and grazes his knuckles along my jaw. “I have missed you.”
