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He’s trying to distract me from my original goal and he’s been succeeding, because my body is fucking desperate for his—for home.

I don’t realise I’ve frozen in the middle of this church until his hand grips mine and spins me around, large hands resting on the small of my back as his other cradles my wrist between us, rubbing soothing circles over my scabs. As much as I don’t want to, I force myself to look at him.

“Will you stop running from me?”

I’ve had enough of him acting like this is normal, like us being lovers before this was okay. “We used to be together, viper. Now we’re siblings. You need to stop. Get over what we had.”

“Had?” He abandons my back, gripping my neck and yanking me to his forehead. “This doesn’t change anything. You can’t look me in the eyes and tell me everything is just gone.” His pupils bore into me; prayer etched in the very abyss of them.

I shake my head. “No. We need to stop”—fuck, why does that hurt?—“we will never be what we were again.”

His head drops and the hand that was gripping my wrist leans on the altar table behind me.

My breathing works overtime and my heart threatens to rip out of my chest.

It seems like he’s contemplating something.

“You have to let me go, Kain.”

His eyes snap to mine, eyebrows lowering. “I would… if I knew how to fucking survive it.”

There’s a Kain sized lump in my throat that I struggle to swallow past.

“What we did last night… it was wrong.”

“You didn’t tell me to stop.”

He notices his grip on me loosened and he pulls me into him again, but this time, I can feel the evidence of his thoughts trailing off to last night. My throat grows dry at the feel of his hard member pressing into my stomach.

“But I should’ve,” I snap, all the while I can feel arousal gathering in my panties.

No. You can do this on your own. He’s just another person thinking he can claim what’s always been yours.

“You’re lying.”

“You betrayed me.”

“No, I didn’t.”

I shake my head rapidly and fold my arms across my chest, attempting to put space between us.

I hate that he has this effect on me. I hate him. I fucking hate it all.

Pushing his chest, the action makes him stumble back. “Stay away from me. I mean it.”

The cool air freezes my skin over as I step outside into the rain. I left my jacket inside, but I need to get away from him.

He’s meddling with my feelings. Throwing me off track.

I can’t let him near me again.

I can’t.

A servant walks past me as I reach the staircase to my bedroom. She looks frazzled, with dark circles under her eyes like she hasn’t slept in days. And because not everyone in this castle is a dick, thanks to the lady who helped me the other night, I ask, “Are you okay?”

She freezes and slowly turns to look at me, her features pale as if she’s seen a ghost. Her frightened eyes flick to someone—my guess is a guard—behind us and she rushes forward into the left wing.

There’s no chance of getting back into the bedroom in broad daylight, especially with guards following me, so I decide it’s a task for later tonight.