The Last Storm (Rogue X Ara #1)

by J.D. Linton

This exact reason was why I read, to escape into stories of adventure and lust and soul-consuming passion—everything lacking in my real life. I lived through books, and they mended me for a time, but once they were finished, the hole in my soul returned, the emptiness in my chest that comes with crashing back to reality, reminded of duty and responsibility, rules and confinement.

She stood out like stars against the night sky, commanding attention.

How can every man in my life be this determined to control me? Determining where I go, what I do, who I marry, when I marry?

The sky had cleared, and the setting sun left a blazing red-orange haze in its wake. All the land to the west was cast in its warm glow, and I suddenly found myself jealous of the sun. It got to see the entire realm every day, every exciting event and person, settling in each night with a peaceful embrace by the land.

“You wicked little thing,” he purred,

“That should not turn me on.” A vicious grin pulled at his lips. “But fuck…it does.”

Ever the moth to his flame.

“Eyes on me, little storm,”

“You can be angry. Hell, you should be, but you’ll be angry here. With me. Take it out on me. Take out every ugly, suffocating emotion on me, because I am not letting you go out there to shoulder this alone.” He brought his hands to my cheeks. “You are not alone, Ara.”

Thirty-nine years. Thirty-nine years of darkness and rage and hurt. I didn’t know what this was, but it wasn’t that. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, her eyes following their movement. “Yes, quite beautiful,” I whispered back, my eyes never leaving her.

It seems I’ve underestimated you, little storm. That will not happen again.

“Ara, you could not be more wrong. It is I who shackled you, and it is a regret that haunts me every day. Every day, I see the hurt I caused you, and I wish I could take it back. I wish I would’ve told you and courted you and convinced you to like me with pretty words and false promises, but I can’t, and I know that. But I also know that it is more than this tiny, insignificant mark on your skin that binds me to you. It’s you. All of you. Your strength and resilience. Your determination to endure no matter what fate throws at you. Your love of love and stories and hope. You are entirely the opposite of everything that I am, and I would gladly wear your shackles if it meant I could have you.”

“If I’m fated to live a life of longing for someone who will never return my affection, I’m glad to long for someone so…worthy.”