The Bride He Hates-Chapter 62: But It’s Love!

Next morning, when she went to the dining hall for breakfast, Azrael as usual was already there, and like always was reading reports. She couldn’t sleep and by looking at him, she could tell he hadn’t slept either.

"Good morning." He said without looking up from his reports.

"Morning."

Lyanna tried to read his expression but without the empathic connection, she was blind. It made her feel helpless.

"I have meetings all day about external threats." Azrael said casually. "You’re welcome to attend if you want."

The offer was polite, but his tone hinted that he expected her to decline.

"I have training with Adrian." Lyanna replied.

"Of course."

"Azrael..."

"I should go." He stood up and gathered his reports. "The council is expecting me."

He left without looking at her. The rest of the day passed in a haze. In the evening, instead of going to their chambers, she wandered aimlessly in the castle and ended up in the library pretending to read.

"Your Majesty?"

Lyanna looked up and saw Victor standing at the door.

"Victor? Do you need something?"

"A moment, if I may." He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "I wanted to discuss a sensitive matter."

Lyanna put down the book she was pretending to read.

"What matters?"

"I know there are problems between you and His Majesty because of the empathic bond."

"He told you about that?"

"He didn’t need to. The entire castle can feel the tension between you both. May I speak frankly, Your Majesty?"

"Sure."

"The bond between maker and progeny is powerful, but it’s not what you think it is."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it doesn’t create feelings. It can’t create love on its own. If you feel something for him, it’s real."

"How do you know that?" Lyanna asked.

"I’ve studied vampire bonds for two centuries. The bond just amplifies what is already inside you."

"But how can I be sure?"

"Ask yourself what you felt before the bond formed. Did you care about him then? Felt drawn to him?"

Lyanna thought about the months before her transformation, when she had been a scared human but slowly had started to see Azrael as more than just her captor. That was why she even risked her life for him.

"Yes. Even before I turned, I felt something." She admitted.

"Then the bond didn’t create it. It just made it impossible to ignore. I just wanted to make things clear to you." Victor said. "Your feelings are for you to interpret." He bowed and left.

After he left, Lyanna sat alone in the library with her thoughts.

I need to talk to him.

When Lyanna went to their chambers in the evening, she saw Azrael in their chamber’s study surrounded by documents like always.

"Do you need something?" He asked as he looked up.

"I want to know the truth. Do you love me or not?"

Azrael didn’t answer, he just kept looking at her.

"Answer me. Do you love me?" She could see him struggling.

"Yes." He confessed, almost in a whisper, but it hit her hard. "I love you. I’ve loved you for months. Since before I turned you, to be honest."

Lyanna felt her walls crumbling as she heard his confession.

"I’m falling for you too, and I hate it because you don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve my love after what you have done to me."

"I know."

"But I still can’t seem to stop feeling this way." She reached up and touched his face. "Even knowing how we started, knowing what you did, and knowing I should hate you, I still want you. I still care about you, and that makes me feel weak, stupid, and..." She couldn’t finish.

He suddenly leaned in and kissed her, cupping her face. The kiss started soft but it quickly deepened. Lyanna kissed him back with equal intensity. She fisted her hands into his shirt pulling him closer. She needed to feel his body against hers, needed the physical confirmation of what they had just admitted.

Azrael’s mouth grazed on her skin, making her gasp. Her head fell back to give him better access.

"I love you." He murmured. "I love you so much that it terrifies me."

"Show me." She whispered. "I need you to show me."

They reached the bed, lost in desperate kisses and fumbling hands. Azrael’s shirt had disappeared somewhere near the door, while Lyanna’s dress was lying at her feet.

When they were completely naked, Azrael paused and looked at her with such intensity that it made her breath hitch.

"You’re beautiful. I knew it the moment I saw you, six years ago."

She pulled him back for another kiss. His mouth moved from her lips to her jaw, her neck, her collarbone. Each kiss was slow and reverent, like he was literally engraving her body and etching every inch of her into his memory. When he kissed her breast, she leaned into the touch, gasping.

"Azrael..." She moaned.

His hand traced down her body, finding the heat between her thighs. Lyanna’s hands ran through his hair, pulling him up for desperate kisses. She then wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him even closer.

"I want you."

Her words broke his control. The gentleness changed into raw need. He entered her, and they both gasped at the sensation. They moved together with wild intensity.

"Mine." Azrael whispered in her neck.

"Yours." Lyanna agreed breathlessly.

He bit her down, just enough to cut her skin. The sharp pleasure and pain made Lyanna cry out. She bit him back on his shoulder, tasting his blood. It was a different kind of intimacy; a claiming, a promise written in blood and pleasure.

Lyanna could feel her climax building. He could also feel how close she was to the edge and felt the tension rising.

"Let go." He whispered into her ear. "I know how close you are."

His hand went down between their bodies, finding the exact spot that made her explode. The orgasm hit her like a tidal wave. Shortly after, he came as well.

Then they collapsed together, breathing hard, with their bodies intertwined.

"I love you." He whispered into her hair again, showering kisses on her temple, her cheek, and everywhere he could reach. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Lyanna moved even closer, savouring the warmth of his body. "I love it, but... it scares me."

"Why?"

"Because I’m still not sure if loving someone who forced me into a revenge marriage makes me strong or broken." She felt tears brimming in her eyes despite the afterglow. "What if I’m just making the best of a bad situation and calling it love since it’s easier to admit this rather than to recognize I’m trapped?"

"You’re not trapped. If you ever want to leave, I won’t stop you. You’re free, Lyanna. You’ve been free since the moment I fell in love with you, even if I didn’t admit it then."

"I don’t want to leave, and that’s what scares me." She pulled back to look at him. "I want to stay, to be with you, and I want to build something real from this disaster of a beginning. But I don’t know if that’s love or..."

"It’s love." He cupped her cheek, and his thumb gently wiped away a tear she hadn’t realized had fallen. "I know you’re scared. But it’s love, Lyanna."