Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Luke nods, locking his eyes with mine. “So you must understand the value of freedom better than most…” He kisses my lips, as if trying to sweeten the bitter fruit he’s just handed me.
I know what he means. I just… I hoped he might have changed his mind after his escape attempt.
Still, I’m no coward so I meet his gaze and stroke his cheek. “Just say it.”
I hate that he seems frightened to do so. “I’m lost here. I don’t want to live in a place where my whole existence and safety depend on another person. No matter how amazing this person seems. It’s not fair for you to kidnap me and force me to stay here in a role you decided. I know I made a deal, but I was fourteen, and in… a really bad place.”
I’m at a loss, even though this is pretty much what I’ve expected to hear. Maybe it stings that the time we’ve shared does not mean to him as much as it does for me. But how could it? I’m hardly the first person he ever touched. There are likely people in his life he misses way more than he could ever miss me.
Does it make me weak that I want to be special to him?
“I understand. It must be scary, but I would never hurt you in any way. I want to give you everything. Fulfill your every whim.” I lift his hand to my lips and kiss his palm. “But you have to meet me halfway, sweet thing. You may have been young, but by that age, I already killed someone.”
Luke’s breath becomes shallow. “Are you suggesting I spend the summers here or something? I can’t—”
I shush him. “I don’t want you to feel trapped, Luke. But I need you to become my Dark Companion. There is no other way. But if you do this for me, if you wed me next full moon, I will let you go and only ever call upon you when it’s absolutely necessary. I will compensate you for that time, and you will otherwise be able to live your life in the human world.” He can never understand how much it pains me to present him with this offer. After last night, I was sure my Dark Companion would also be my lover, friend, and confidante. I thought I could keep him if I only tried hard enough. But entrapping him with brute force wouldn’t give me what I want. I would never want to inflict the imprisonment my family thrust upon me on someone else. Especially not the one person who knows the real me.
“Really? You’d take me back?”
“If that’s your wish,” I say, trying to make my voice stronger, so I don’t sound like a pet whining for love. “You’re also welcome to stay with me, of course. The door’s always open. Though you will need to remain at my side during courting and show your enthusiasm for it. No one needs to know of our plans.”
“So for a month.” Luke nods, as if calculating, and all I can think of is that I have one moon cycle to make him love me. “You saved my life three times by now. This sounds like a fair deal. Courting,” he says with emphasis and a little smile on his lips. “How will the prince court me?”
Oh, he likes that part. Of course.
“I’ll take you around my lands, introduce you to people, we might go dance at the annual Ardournalia celebrations, get our portrait painted, and engage in many courtly games meant to show how compatible we are,” I say and push my nose into his hair, to smell him. Ah, the salty scent of the sea still clings to his flesh. “It’s tradition. When the first Lord of the Nocturne Court took his Dark Companion, she was resistant to being in this new place, away from everything she knew, so he went out of his way to convince her that a life with him would be much sweeter than the one she had to leave behind. They spent many happy years together.”
“I’ve never really dated anyone, but I imagine it will be easy to pretend I fell head over heels for a prince.” He smiles, unaware that he’s driving a knife through my heart already.
I don’t want him to pretend.
But I will take what I can get for now, and maybe courting will fulfill its purpose and by the end of it, he will see that his place is at my side.
“Really? Never?” I ask, curious about the extent of his experience.
“I’m… not good with feelings, relationships and all that stuff.” He stalls as if he’s remembered something. “What about you though? Did you say you only got to touch people after your brother died? When was that?”