Chapter 63 Hopeless romantics
But Finn did not leave.
We stared at each other in the complete silence of the studio.
My heart was in painful shreds at this point and I wondered just how much guilt I could pile on.
I still had nightmares from that time I betrayed Hale, stuck a knife right into his trusting heart.
And now there was Finn.
Finn, who was even more vulnerable, holding nothing back from the night we met, sharing his vulnerability and insecurities.
I was trampling all over that right now. Selfish, selfish Lys who only cared about herself.
“Over the last few days,” he brought forward the left hand he had been holding behind himself the whole time, “I needed something more than recipes to keep my mind from…” his voice caught as he raised a polished wood box, big enough to fit just my fist.
He was breathing through his lips now, like me. And it was a struggle not to run towards him, hug him to myself till all that pain was gone from his eyes.
“I made this for you.” He held his hand out, palm open, and the dark walnut wood caught the light like a bar of dark chocolate.
“The music is quite simple,” he laughed at himself, keeping his eyes on the box.
I hurriedly wiped the single tear that broke free, before he looked up again.
Our eyes met. He looked like he was about to say something, but shut his lips again.
“I hope you like it.” He walked to a floating shelf by the wall, carefully set the box down, and walked out the studio without looking back.
I crumbled to the floor, hugging my knees.
The tears came fast, wretched and ugly.
I had never felt so alone. Not even after I fell from that building.
How could I save myself, lock my heart from loving when I was up against two men?
I loved one once, planned to be his wife, his forever mate. And there was the vampire, who I was ready to do anything to wipe off that deep sadness he was born with.
Worse was the dragon. I had this unreasonable urge to please and serve that man that I feared he could command me to fall in love with him, and I would do so without hesitation.
My alarm rang.
I shot up, wiping my tears as I hurried for the shelf where it danced in vibration. My eyes fell on Finn's gift as I turned the alarm off.
My hand shook in hesitation, but then I picked it up.
It looked manual, but the detailed woodwork was unbelievable. He carved this with his own hands?
Something moved inside the box.
I opened it, and felt an immediate stab in my chest. Unlike other music boxes that held a dancing figurine, this one carried a wolf.
The tiny wolf, carefully carved with such exquisite details it was impossible to mistake it for something else, was mid-step, head tilting back as if about to howl.
When I twisted the knob to the side, the wolf started to spin, moving to the three-note tune.
I giggled through my tears.
He had been right, it was a simple tune, an unfinished melody, like a question mark.
The wolf stopped spinning in time with the tune. I rewind the knob, and it started to spin again.
I picked my phone up and exited the studio.
In the bedroom, I had just placed the box on the nightstand Draki and I shared when the door burst open.
Hale walked in, a bright grin on his face.
“We have about an hour to get ready, fairy.”
I gave him a quiet nod.
His smile slipped, footsteps halting. “Have you been crying?”
“It’s nothing.” I swallowed and turned towards the closet.
But Draki walked out of it, hands sunk in the pockets of a pair of black lounge pants, grey tank top stretched across his broad chest.
My breath caught.
His hair was free flowing, flapping around his waist as he started to back me away.
I kept my eyes on him, hypnotized, unable to look away.
He looked every bit the god he was, a dark god, eyes hard and intense.
And then I backed into a hard barrier.
“Easy, fairy.” Hale held me up, pressing his lips to my neck.
I shivered.
Darki stopped right in front of me, trapping me between both of them.
He pulled one hand out of his pocket, and slowly, lifted it to my chin.
I stopped breathing.
Since that day they gave me the wedding gifts, neither of them had touched me.
We slept together as usual, naked. But they kept their hands away. Not a stray touch, not a kiss.
This sudden change, abstinence, after bringing me to multiple orgasms, using my clit till it hurt, and showing my full body pleasure I never knew existed, was a different kind of torture.
And despite my mounting problems, and intense training for South Korea in the studio upstairs, all I had been able to think about the past few days was their touch.
I ached for the slightest bit of attention from them, restless in my constant state of arousal.
And now, they were touching me. Both of them.
Hale wrapped an arm around me and lowered to sit on the bed with me in his lap.
Draki lowered to one knee before me, still staring up into my eyes.
“Did he touch you?”
I shivered. He knew. Of course, he knew.
Suddenly, that fierce jealousy sprang up within me. Why did he get to kiss Finn, why did he get to be with him when I could not?
I swallowed back the thought.
Ours was not a normal marriage dynamic. He owned me, in blood and oath and mind.
And from what I had observed so far, he owned Finn’s heart and mind.
As much as that vampire would hate to admit it, he felt this same need to worship the dragon. But again, he was better than I.
He fought that desire every day and was extra rebellious where I was… weak.
I was swallowed, finally responding,“No.”
My body jolted to Hale's sudden erection below me. He kissed my neck from behind and leaned in to whisper, “Such a good girl.”
My clit pulsed.
I forced my eyes to remain on Draki, but his face was unreadable.
“Did you want him to touch you, pet?” He moved his hand to my calf.
I bit my lip, hard.
That's all it took. Just a mere touch of skin against skin and I was shivering with need.
“You can be honest.” His voice was velvet, coaxing.
“Yes.” I licked my lips nervously, my cheeks burning in embarrassment.
“But you did not let him touch you.” He emphasized the word, a clear indication that he knew exactly what happened.
“I did not.”
He flashed me a bright smile then, and warmth bloomed in my chest.
Yes. It made me pitiable, weak, but I would do anything to have him always smile at me like that.
To smile so brightly because of me. To always have that pleased look in his eyes whenever he looked at me.
“Did you hear that, Mon amor?”
“Oh, I did,” Hale was sniffing my hair from behind, still holding me tightly to himself. “I’d say she deserves a reward.”
“And I’ll agree.” Draki stood up and started to peel his shirt off. “Give me your panties, pet.”