Chapter 159

Zezi didn't have the time to prepare for all the emotions that flooded her veins, including the pain that certainly wasn't hers.

Before he could claim her lips in a hungry kiss that would certainly lead to more, she pulled away, gnashing her teeth in pain, her hands clutching her lower belly before darting to his and seeing it bandaged state, as she yelped.

Valerick's dazed eyes widened. The fogginess was immediately cleared out of his head when he realized what had happened.

Quickly, he shut down their link.

"I will get Nicholas."

"No, you need to leave." He was tying a towel around his waist. So there was a towel in this bathroom after all. "Don't come back."

In a second, he was out of the bathroom. Determined, Zezi followed him.

Despite Valerick's protest that he didn't need to be cared for, Zezi had found a way to force him to lay in bed while she straddled him so he wouldn't move. Her face was pulled into a frown, as she tried to do some damage control and wrap a fresh bandage around his injury.

He should have healed by now, but it seemed killing all those Volakys in the den below had affected him more than she had thought.

"Why is it so hard for you to answer?" His question met the silence in the room, and her rhythmic heartbeat that had just picked up its pace.

"You allowed the Joining Ceremony. You bare my mark, you gave me yours." His fingers skimmed over his mark on her and it took everything in her not to roll her eyes back and forget all about treating him.

"You let me touch you." His hands slipped into her skirt, his claws grazing her thigh. Her brows furrowed, as she pretended not to notice until his finger skimmed over her panties and her gaze locked with his.

The world might have as well stood still at that moment.

"Really touch you."

"And you always come back but up till now, you still hate me?" He pulled away, placing his hand back on her warm thigh instead. Thank the Moon for that because now she could think again, not so straight but at least, she was thinking now.

"I don't understand."

"What is there not to understand?" She tossed the used cotton wool on the side table, giving his injury a final wrap. She could feel every brush of his skin against her exposed arms as she did that, the feeling of his towel against her inner thigh, the feeling of him. It made her all too aware of his warm hand on her skin. "I love my people. You do not love my people. How can I love someone that does not love my people?"

"You hate mine and I love you."

"You love your people more." Done with the wrapping, she held his gaze, looking away the next moment.

This was such a distracting position, she needed to get up. The pleading in his voice wasn't helping either. She really needed to get up.

"Zezi..."

She sighed, frustrated. Her stormy gaze finally holding his. "You command more strength in this relationship, and you use your power over me without mercy."

"You think I am the strong one here?"

"Well, I am not the one with the power to turn a whole kind into some alternative creature in order to fill up the gap lacking in my army." Her voice quivered and she jammed her finger against his chest repeatedly for emphasis. "You know what you are doing is breaking my heart and yet," her hand slipped away from him, "you do them anyways, and then you play this helpless card." She snapped her fingers, before throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "It drives me insane! I am the helpless one. You have the power of choice and you chose them over me."

"I am their King. What will you have me do?"

"Oh," her eyebrows shut up as she folded her arms across her. "You know what I would have you do."

Silence reigned and his hand on her thigh slipped away.

She smiled, a sad one.

"It is settled then, we both love our people more." That was what she said but what Valerick had heard was different.

She loved him...

Maybe not more than her people, but still she loved him.

She loved him!

That was a win in his books.

Zezi was quick to get off him, carrying her warmth with her and the electric feeling that her touch spread through him.

That feeling of being alive.

Quickly, she packed up the first aid box and returned it to a corner of the room.

She headed to the door but Valerick had gotten there first, his hand holding the towel that almost slipped away, while the other held the doorknob.

"The towel couldn't handle the speed." He chuckled. His humour was infectious and she had smiled before she kept a straight face once again.

"Get out of my way, I want to leave."

"Stay with me tonight, tomorrow we can go back to choosing sides."

"Valerick."

He pulled her into an embrace, burying his nose in her hair before she could protest.

"By the Blood, I have missed you. I hate it so much when we fight."

"You were the one fighting me."

"I was stupid."

It was her time to chuckle. They pulled away and her hands combed through his hair as she stared at him lovingly.

What a betrayer she was, to fall in love with this one that she shouldn't love.

When did it even happen?

"You killed a lot of Volakys. That was so brave of you. You did so well."

"I did?"

"Yes. My strong brave King."

"They gave me nightmares. Reminded me of how my stepmother and father used to torture me in his den." When he saw her expression change, he cupped her face in his hands. "I didn't tell you. They locked me up for two centuries. Took me too long to be fed up, don't you think?" He smiled.

Her eyes welled up with tears of guilt and his smile dissipated.

How did she get into the castle and end up fighting on the worse side? How unfortunate was she to have joined the White Circle?

"No one hates my father as much as I do. I am sorry for the sorrow he brought to you."

"He stole so much from you too."

He shrugged. "Well, I killed him and his precious crazy mate. I think we are even. I killed all the Volakys too. All of them." He chuckled. "I am sure he is throwing a tantrum in the flames right now."

They laughed.

"The ones that came tonight, I don't know where they came from. Someone is behind this, but Riza is dead and I can't question her. Oliver is dead too, including Basit."

"Do you suspect anyone else?"

"My sister." He paused. "This enemy wants me to suspect her, but I am not a fool. Laura would never do such a thing, but if there is something I am sure of, it is that this enemy is within my walls. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Is there something you know?" He asked with a gentle and knowing smile. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

She was about to panic that he knew about the poison but she stopped. If he knew about the poison, he would have said something about it a long time ago. She wouldn't even be here but in his dungeon.

"No, I don't. Well, I must leave you to rest now."

She was pulling away from him and he was pulling her back, trapping her between the wall and him.

"Leave if you want, I shall go with you."

"Like this? You are practically naked." When the look in his eyes didn't change, she added. "You will not."

"I will and you know it."

Fuck.

"Valeri--"

This time he didn't let anything stop him from claiming her lips.

His kiss was hungry, and his hands went feral in undressing her. When his towel slid away, he let it, letting her feel his aching need against her skin, fueling her response, shaping it into insanity.

Claws, skin, lips, and need.

They went at each other like starved and crazed beings, gentleness thrown right out of the window.

They would feel the effect of this madness later.

"My Heartbeat." He groaned, when she fit against him like a second skin and he thrust into her. "My Soul."

"My Valerick." She moaned, as they rode to ecstasy. "Mine."

When he sank his fangs into her neck, she let him, just like he let her dig her claws too deeply into his back and tugged at his head recklessly, when the pleasure hit.

They would go back to being enemies in the morning, choosing sides and hurting each other... but tonight?

They were lovers. Soulmates. They belonged to each other.

Tonight.

___

((Today's Update - Posting it now because I'll probably get really busy soon. It's my birthday!))