Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 52: The Kiss.

Leilani.

His lips found mine in a tango that was both hot and frantic... and punishing, it had my toes curling in delight.

And when he thrust his tongue into my mouth, claiming me, yet in a tentative manner, everything around me disappeared, disintegrating into nothing but stardust.

The kiss was urgent, like he was in a rush, but slow, as if taking his time while he was in a rush— as if that was even normal.

I moaned when his tongue teased mine, sending a shiver jolting down my spine. And gosh, I could almost feel the emotions he wasn’t saying, pouring into every movement. I could almost sense the way this wasn’t just passion; How it was need, longing... How it was a thousand unspoken words.

Words that would never be heard... words that I never wanted to hear.

His hands slid up my back, underneath the thin fabric of my blouse, pulling me close, and as soon as his skin met mine, sparks erupted. Against my best judgement, I moaned again, squeezing my eyes shut as a fiery flame, like magma shot to my core. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Every inch of my body throbbed, every fiber of my being wept. I pressed into him like a wanton, completely lost in the intensity of his hold, my heart pounding in time with his, my breaths coming in short raw gasps.

The connection between us was undeniable. Electric. And I feared I would drown in the array of sensations it was sending jolting through me.

His lips grinded against mine. Rough. Possessive. But careful at the same time, and I found myself sinking deeper into the moment, momentarily forgetting that I should hate this man.

That he was my arch enemy.

My nemesis.

Suddenly, my head tipped back and I could feel the world around us go blurry, fading into nothing but the feverish heat of his lips and the sweet sweet weight of his body pressed against mine.

My fingers found his hair in a desperate attempt to ’control’ something, holding on as if I was afraid to let go, like this kiss was the only thing keeping me tethered to sanity.

Like if I let go, I’ll lose myself completely,

Utterly to the ruin his lips promised.

And when his hands slowly began to trail up my legs, slipping into the spot between my thighs, my eyes suddenly snapped open.

Reality crashed against me like a tidal storm.

My entire world tilted in its axis, and I realized to my utmost horror that I had allowed Zevran— the motherfucking Zevran— to touch me— not innocently but intimately.

Horror and angst mixed together, replacing my earlier wantonness, and without a thought, I pushed him off me, my hands shaking, my entire body trembling from the mistake I’d just made.

Zevran stumbled away from me whilst licking his lips, and from this vantage, I finally saw it: He didn’t regret this one bit, if anything, he enjoyed it.

He wanted it.

He smirked at me. "How long do you intend to keep lying to yourself?" He muttered, a strange smugness slipping into his gaze; And so help me God, I wanted to punch him square and clean.

I wanted to wipe off that smile and any future smiles off his face.

Goddess, I wanted to murder him.

I squeezed my eyes shut, in a desperate attempt to curb my anger; But after several seconds, my attempts failed— mostly because I could still smell him on me. Because I could still feel the ghost of his touch on my skin.

And because I was still aroused by him.

Fuck me!

"How long are you going to pretend like you don’t feel it? Like you don’t experience this desperate need to claim me... to claim us?"

My anger boiled. I saw nothing but red hot rage. I balled my hands into fists, my voice grating out of my soul like sandpaper on rusted metal, rough and raw. I spat; "Stay back!"

"Leilani, come on! Come back to the pack... come back to..."

"Stay away from me!" I growled, angrily cutting him off. My voice shook— it shook too much, I hate it.

And tears; maybe out of rage, or maybe it was frustration, began to well up in my eyes.

He shook his head at me, his expression almost pitiful, and that riled me up. When he leaned close again, to brush my bottom lip with his fingers, I slapped him.

And I slapped him so hard, my hand made an imprint on his face.

He gasped in shock and so did I, because I hadn’t expected to hit him, but I didn’t regret it.

"LEAVE!" I seethed; my voice low. Dangerous.

That finally got him to move. He took small steps away from me, his eyes wild in a way that I have never seen them before. He didn’t look like he was about to hit me. If anything, he looked like he wanted to eat me.

I pressed my thighs together to stop the throbbing ache going on down there and shakily pointed to the road. "Get out."

"Leilani."

"I said leave...!"

"Don’t regret this. I’m giving you an opportunity to return. To clear your name. To take you back to your family, your pack..."

"I’ll slap you again!" I spat, "...and I’ll slap you to the fucking moon if you don’t get the hell out of my sight!"

Zevran opened his mouth to speak again, but before the words could slip out, I stormed into my house and slammed the door in his face, cutting off whatever gibberish he had to spew.

—And after trying so hard, but failing, to calm my raging heartbeat, I slipped to the floor, shaking as a nerve wracking sob tore through my very soul.

—

After several hours of binge-watching ’Euphoria’ and faking scenarios in my head where I was Maddie while Chalice was Cassie (I also compressed all triplets into Nate’s character), I had a shower, ate breakfast by 3:39pm and ordered an Uber— my car was still at the parking lot in Frostclaw. Inc so I couldn’t drive around yet— and then, my Uber drove off to the restaurant from yesterday.

Jean-George stood against the street like some dreamy spot from ’Barbie: Big city, big dreams’, but as soon as I paid for my fare and stepped into the fine space, my mood dimmed like the street light across the road.

I frowned. "Stormborn."

The three brothers sat across from me, their arms crossed over their chests as they watched me approach. None of them rose to greet me— not like I expected it

But it still stung.

I, on the other hand, didn’t try to sit because I hadn’t been asked to. "It’s not a pleasure to see you today." I drawled, ignoring their sharp eyes and handsome faces.

And blissfully ignoring the red marks still shining on Zevran’s face like the pack’s flag.

"You asked us to meet you today." Caelum drawled, and as soon as he opened his mouth, a strange sense of annoyance flooded my veins.

Out of the trio, Caelum hated me the most. And the feeling was mutual.

I shrugged. "Yes, I did. We’re to reject ourselves today so that I can get to live my life freely without your constant interruptions, and so that you all can now freely wed our darling Chalice without fearing what I would do to sabotage your relationship."

At the sound of my words, they all froze. But Zevran seemed to be the most affected. He slammed his fist against the table so hard, the drinks on it shook perilously, and then he rose to his feet slowly, his predatory eyes boring holes into my skin as he drawled;

"No."

My eyebrows shot to my hairline. I snorted; "Huh? No, what?"

"No, everything..."

"Zevran!" Kael and Caelum barked simultaneously as if in warning, but he ignored them, his eyes firmly drawn on my body.

"You have to come back to the pack, Leilani." He seethed in a commanding tone. But instead of feeling intimidated, I was utterly annoyed.

I rolled my eyes. "I’d rather die than do that."