“What do you want? To hurt me? You’ve already done that.”
“I did want to hurt you. Now…” He shrugged, a frown marring his brow. “Now, I just want you.”
Rhi didn’t move when he closed the distance between them and brought a hand up to her face. His touch was light, his caress gentle as his thumb stroked her cheek.
“All I’ve thought about for years was you, pet,” he whispered. “I loved you before I went off to war with your brother. I was going to tell you when I returned, but you took his death too hard. Then you met—”
“Don’t you dare say his name,” she ordered.
Balladyn’s gaze lowered to her mouth for a moment. “It killed me to see you with that dragon. The Dragon King never deserved your love. Not then. Especially not now.”
“He never tortured me.”
“Really?” Balladyn asked. “Isn’t seeing him every time you go to Dreagan torture? Isn’t knowing he’s there, but he chose to let you go torture?”
How she hated when Balladyn was right. Rhi swallowed as his head dipped a fraction. She’d gone millennia without a kiss, and then, in less than two days, she’d kissed two men with a third about to be added.
“Choose me, Rhi,” Balladyn urged in a soft voice. “I can give you everything you need. I’ll never stop loving you. I’ll always be here for you, and I’ll never hurt you again.”
His thumb was at her bottom lip, slowly tracing it. She blinked, just noticing that sometime while he had been talking that he had removed her sunglasses. They were perched atop her head.
Rhi looked into his red eyes. The love was visible there, though it seemed odd that a Dark could love. That emotion was part of the light, not the darkness within a person.
“Choose me,” he said again as his other hand came up to cup her face.
Then his lips were on hers, tenderly nipping at her mouth until she opened for him. Then the gentleness vanished. He held her tight, pressing her body against his from shoulder to hip.
He kissed her as if there were no tomorrow, as if he were releasing thousands of years of desire.
And to her shock, she wasn’t unmoved.
There was a spark of … something … that flared to life within her. It scared her so badly, that she abruptly ended the kiss.
“I love you,” Balladyn said.
He took a step back and dropped his arms to his sides. There was a sad smile as he took another step away. “I’ll not force you to come with me, pet. That choice has to be yours. You broke the only chains that I knew would hold you.”
Rhi drew in an unsteady breath, unsure of what to do.
“You’ve no idea of the power flowing within you, do you?” Balladyn chuckled. “I didn’t either until you leveled my compound. We can rule the Dark. You’ve had my heart for years without knowing it, but I’m freely handing it to you now.”
They stared at each other. The expectant look on his face only confused her more. She didn’t know what to say. So she chose not to speak at all.
“You know how to find me,” he said before he stepped back through the doorway and disappeared.
For long moments, Rhi stood staring at the doorway, Balladyn’s words running through her head over and over again.
She compared Balladyn’s kiss with Henry’s, which had been pleasant. She knew it had been wrong to kiss the mortal, but the way Henry looked at her had been too much. She missed being a part of something special with someone else. Henry was sweet, and he kissed well. Still, she wasn’t one to dally with mortals.
As for Ulrik—his kiss had been swift. She’d barely realized what he was doing before he pulled back. Which was too bad really. She would’ve liked to know more of his kiss.
Which brought her back to Balladyn. There was only one other man who stirred such a reaction in her. But her King didn’t want her anymore, and hadn’t for some time. Perhaps it was time to move on.
Unrequited love was the worst. It killed souls, slowly destroying all hope until all that was left was a hollow shell. A soul that was withered and dry. Like hers. It was also the reason the darkness was able to enter her as it had.
Just another reason to resent her Dragon King. If there weren’t hundreds already.
She dropped her face in her hands and let out a shaky breath. There was no way to force love any more than there was a way to stop loving someone.
But when did the time come to let go of the past? When did she stop longing for what could never be and look to the future?
Now. Do it now or you’ll never let go.
Rhi lifted her head and squared her shoulders. Yes. She had to let go now. It was the right thing to do.
Why then did her heart feel as if it were shattering all over again?
CHAPTER
SEVEN