Chapter 95: Tangled.
Selena
"I hate you."
The words echoed in the space between us, sharp and final.
No one answered.
Not Kael. Not Ronan. Not even Edris.
That silence was worse than anything they could have said.
I kept talking anyway.
I did not even know why. Maybe because if I had stopped, I would feel it. The hurt. The confusion. The way something between us had twisted into something I no longer recognized.
"You don’t get to decide for me," I snapped, still struggling against Edris’s hold. "You don’t get to drag me back like I belong to you—"
He did not respond.
None of them did.
They just kept walking.
By the time we reached the cave, my voice was hoarse, my chest tight, my anger tangled with something dangerously close to breaking.
Edris carried me inside without a word.
Kael and Ronan stayed at the entrance.
Watching.
Guarding.
Or maybe just making sure I did not try to run again.
The moment we were inside, Edris dropped me onto my feet.
I staggered slightly but caught myself.
"You are unbelievable," I snapped immediately, shoving at his chest. "You think you can just—"
He turned away.
Like I was nothing.
Like I was not even worth the effort of a response.
That hurt more than everything else.
"Say something!" I hit him again, harder this time. "At least pretend you care enough to argue with me!"
He kept walking.
Something inside me snapped.
I grabbed his arm, trying to pull him back. "I am talking to you!"
That was when it happened.
His hand came up so fast I did not even see it.
One second I was standing there.
The next, his fingers were wrapped tightly around my throat.
A sharp gasp tore from my lips as my body froze in shock.
My hands flew to his wrist instantly, scratching, clawing, trying to pry him off.
But he did not budge.
Not even a little.
My breaths came shallow and uneven, panic flaring as I struggled against him.
"Edris—" I choked.
He stepped closer.
Slow.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Kael and Ronan at the entrance.
They were watching.
They saw me struggling.
They saw his hand on my throat.
And they did nothing.
"You said you hate us," Edris said quietly, his voice low and rough.
My chest tightened.
"Let’s see how much you mean it."
Before I could react, his mouth crashed against mine.
The force of it stunned me.
I stiffened instantly, refusing to respond, my hands pushing against him, trying to break free.
But he did not stop.
He deepened the kiss, relentless, demanding, like he was trying to take something from me.
I turned my head, trying to pull away.
He followed.
My nails dug into his arm.
I bit down on his lip.
Hard.
He reacted, I felt it, but he did not pull back.
If anything, it only made him press closer. His tongue went deeper inside my mouth, letting me his metallic blood.
My resistance began to falter.
Not because I wanted it to.
But because my body was betraying me.
Because Lyra was stirring.
No.
Not just stirring.
Leaning into it.
Welcoming it.
I shook my head weakly, my hands still pushing at him, but there was less strength in it now.
"Stop..." I whispered, though it came out broken.
He did not stop.
And worse—
I did not try as hard to make him.
My breath hitched as something shifted inside me.
That pull.
That bond.
That need I had been trying so hard to ignore all day.
It was there.
Stronger than my anger.
Stronger than my pride.
My hands slowly loosened against his chest.
My resistance softened.
And then, without meaning to—
I kissed him back.
Tentatively.
Uncertain.
My lips moved against his, slower now, hesitant, like I was testing something I did not fully understand anymore.
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
I did not even realize when they started.
I loved them.
That was the truth I could not run from.
No matter how cold they had been.
No matter how much they had hurt me.
I loved them.
And I did not understand what had gone wrong.
Maybe this would fix it.
Maybe this would remind them.
Remind us.
My fingers curled into his shirt, holding on.
Not out of anger anymore.
But something softer.
Something desperate.
Edris’s grip on my throat loosened, though he did not let go completely.
His other hand moved, pulling me closer, like he needed me there.
Like he was not letting me go again.
Slowly he worked his hand under my dress and started teasing me, touching me in places that made me moan shamelessly into his mouth.
He roughly pushed two fingers into my pussy, using his thumb to roughly flick my clit while he fucked me hard.
His fingers went in and out smoothly and they stretched me open with every thrust. He knew exactly where to touch and it was amazing.
My hips slowly starts grinding against his hand, unable to think of anything else but the intense desire that was stating to burn in my veins.
My breaths came uneven, my body leaning into his without thinking, like he was the only solid thing left in the world.
"You say you hate us," he murmured against my lips, his voice rough, almost accusing. "Yet you are dripping wet, and so fucking horny,"
I did not answer him. I didn’t know how to.
Maybe because at that same moment I felt him insert his third finger, picking up the pace at which he was fucking me.
"Oh!...gwad! Edris!.."
My eyes fluttered shut.
Streams of moans shamelessly escaped my lips, nothing felt clear anymore.
Only tangled.
Only overwhelming.
Only... them.
My thoughts blurred, my control slipping further as Lyra pressed forward, her presence strong, insistent, pulling me deeper into the bond I had tried to resist.
I clung to him.
And for a moment—
Just a moment—
Everything else faded.