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And there, right beside her, sat Malyr’s anoa… … preening her damaged feathers.
“You, Galantia, are Malyr’s fated mate. You were supposed to die together in Valtaris under boulders and shadows, with your little hand clasped inside his the way—”
But that was before… Before I’d had her blood on my lips, her scars between my teeth, her throat in my clasp, her moans in my ear, her reddened ass beneath my palm, her tongue gliding along my blade, her cunt tightening around my cock in pleasure and pain. It was before she’d spent cold winter mornings on my lap at my desk, the both of us wrapped in a blanket, practicing her gods-awful handwriting. That was before I fell in love with her…
Rationally, yes, I understood why he’d done it, but understanding didn’t equate to forgiveness.
“Hear me, Galantia. No matter where you go, no matter what form you take, I will find you. You cannot outrun me. You cannot outfly me. Every path you tread, be it north, east, south, or west, I will chase after because… you… are… mine.”
“Deception’s most profound irony is how it can make the realest truths look like the greatest deceits.”
You are quite extraordinary, Galantia, in a way that is not obvious, unless someone looks closer. I looked closer. And what I saw, I loved.”
“I’m not oblivious to the hardships Malyr endured.” But ones suffering in the past could not excuse every misdeed of the present. “Maybe fate made a mistake.”
“Now that I know everything, where does that leave us?” I asked. “Because I’m telling you, I’m done begging for scraps of affection, just to find out they were nothing but hollow bones to begin with.”
“That kiss was long overdue, and there will be a lot more in the future, if you’ll have me. But just for the record, because I’m not going to risk your doubt again over three fucking words,” he tugged the back of my head, pulling my mouth back to his as he rasped, “I love you.”
Malyr arched a brow at the speed of a snail crossing a continent. “I have no idea what you are talking about, but I do know you will most definitely fight it.”
It took a good man to take care of a woman, but only the best would recognize what she truly needed, even if it meant embracing what he couldn’t provide.
“I might not be able to bond myself to you,
but I want you to know that I’m yours until the end… whenever that might be. I will forever treasure you. I will forever provide for you. I will forever fly with you. I will forever care for you.”
Whatever this thing is between us three, it’s not going to keep either one of us from loving you right, do you understand?”
“What I’m trying to say is that Galantia never knew love. And when it came, it was the best feeling, until it broke her heart. Now she’s scared of getting hurt again.”
“Whenever you look about the city, remember that it sparkles because of you and only you. Every Raven who calls Valtaris his home is in your debt, but none so more than I. Without you, I could not have given my family a proper burial. You are… a miracle, my little white dove.”
“I don’t want to be needed; I want to be wanted.”
“Loved you when I told myself I did not. Loved you when I told you that nobody ever would.”
“My love is not gentle, or tender, or easy. But it is real, grown from hate and pain deep inside a chest sullied by shadows. It is cutting and biting, leaving behind scars as unfading as my love for you.” His warm lips scathed my jawline. “And once we are gone from this earth, I will continue to love you among the stars. I will be the night, the darkest patch of sky around you, just to ensure that everyone can see how you sparkle. And once your light starts fading, I will take you into my black embrace, and that is where I will love you beyond death.”
“I don’t want there to be discord between us,” he whispered between featherlight kisses. “I’m no easy man—I know this—but I am irrefutably yours, heart and soul, left with a lifetime to strive to walk in your light.”
Malyr had been raped in the dungeons, hadn’t he? A despicable act that leaves many women feeling tainted and ashamed, I understood full well—now more than ever. Why would it be different for a boy? A man?
“I refuse to give the perpetrators of my past any control over my life by letting this sully my thoughts, my feelings, any part of my life going forward. Shame and hate are heavy burdens, Malyr, and I won’t let them drag me down.” A deep breath. “And neither should you.”
“Only the deepest love is capable of bringing about the deepest pain.”
Who was anybody to judge the way we enjoyed each other?
