Between Wrath and Mercy (The Divine Between, #1)

by Jess Wisecup

“Lady Emmeline, stand up. You’ve never once knelt before me—why start now?”

“We are going to find her. And then I’m going to kill your husband.” The voice belonged to the Bloody Prince, but his soft expression belonged to Rainier. It belonged to Rain. My Rain.

“No, that’s the thing Em. I—I didn’t hear you screaming. I know this sounds crazy, and I know it’s impossible, but I’ve re-lived it for years—awake and in my dreams. I could hear your heartbeat. I followed it to find you.” “That’s impossible,” I whispered. “I know it is. But I found you, didn’t I?”

“Sleep, dear heart.” He whispered and laid me back down.

“It has been, is, and will always be you. And fuck, if that hasn’t complicated my life enough already.” “Then let me simplify it for you. I don’t want you, Rain!” I shouted at him, grateful no one would hear me over the storm. Grateful that if the angry, hot tears spilled from my eyes, they’d be lost in the rain on my face. He leaned closer and spoke quietly into my ear. “Kingdoms and years and utter devastation.” “What does that even mean?” I pushed him back to look at his face. “It means I’ll wait.”

“What if I make a rift, and we just sit here and look? Would that be something you could handle?” I smiled up at him, struck by the thoughtfulness, and I felt a tightening in my chest.

“I love you, Emmeline. I have loved you from the start, and I will love you until we are both just a whisper on the wind. It’s your eyes I see when I close mine, your heart I want to hold, and I’d set this whole damn world on fire if you wanted to watch it burn.”

“Sometimes, I wonder if maybe my life would’ve been easier if I never met you, Em. But the fact is, I did. I met you, and my heart has beat for only you ever since. My heart is yours to break, borrow, and bruise. The only way this ends is death. There is no one else for either of us. You know it, I know it, our friends know it. Mairin just met me, and even she’s said as much!”

“I hope I don’t have to spend the rest of our lives convincing you, but I will if I have to. I will tell you every single day how I feel. I do not need a child from you to love you. All I need is you. I will kiss every stretch mark, every freckle, every single part of your body. I will suffer through watching your exquisite ass jiggle because of how much I love you. It is a price I am willing to pay.”

This man makes me feel.