“Yes.” I felt my eyes flash with the memory, and my body burn.
“You, you tried to turn away and I…” She looked horrified. “I seduced you!”
“I was gladly seduced.”
“You tried so hard to do the right thing.” Tears filled her eyes. “And I just ignored it!”
“I told you not to touch me.” I kissed her again, tasted her. “It hurt my heart, it made my soul shake in my chest—and then you did. I was brought down by one touch, to my very knees.”
She trembled in my arms. “I was selfish.”
“You were terrified,” I corrected her. “My father was going to murder you.”
Kyra shook her head. “No we were going to get married and…”
“Murder. You still had the soul of a goddess thanks to your father. Trust me when I say he was going to use you to buy himself more time… innocent of body and soul.”
Kyra gasped. “And my parents knew?”
“How could they? They were blinded by the thought of peace.”
I released her soul and waited while she stumbled back and sat on the edge of the bed, my bed.
It was like existing in two times, I was remembering everything but at the same time was still Timber, still my old self.
The only difference was the power I felt surging through my veins and the very real need I had to strip Kyra naked and keep her that way for the next decade.
I assumed it would be easy to get her to see.
Instead, in perfect Timber ridiculousness, I’d made it worse.
Once a demon always a demon, lucky me.
“I um…” She looked up, and I knew, this was what rejection felt like, when all you wanted was the person looking at you with regret and pity in their eyes knowing you would sell your soul for just one taste—and do it again and again until you were sick with it. “This is a lot right now.”
I clenched my teeth, took a deep breath. “You should sleep.”
“But this is your—”
“Don’t argue with the cranky boss, Kyra.” I smiled sadly. “I’m going to go shower and pray that food finally tastes like something other than sand.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Sadly, you get used to it.” It was painful, taking a step away from her, leaving her in that room, my room, knowing what I knew.
It was like my soul was getting ripped apart all over again. I’d assumed it would be easy.
I forgot—about free will, about fear.
What a cruel twist of fate, that all would work out in the end, only to find out that the one woman I gave everything up for.
Didn’t feel the same way.
KYRA
I didn’t sleep.
Instead, I sat in that room, with my arms hugging my knees to my chest, wondering what was wrong with me.