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Arwin shook his head and buried his face in Brontes’s shoulder. “I won’t.”

“Good, because I need all the help I can get, and who better to help me than you.” Brontes pulled away and patted his brother’s young and handsome face. “Brother.”

Arwin’s chest swelled with pride. He nodded and cupped Brontes’s nape, pulling him down to press their foreheads together. “Brother,” he whispered, the word filling a void he didn’t know had been empty.

Arwin opened his eyes just in time to see his lover rise from his bed. The beautiful young woman stretched her arms over her head, the bedsheets falling from her chest down to her slender waist. With a deep chuckle, he draped his thick arm over her figure, pulling her back to bed. The woman resisted at first, but after receiving soft, open mouth kisses to her shoulder she settled in against his chest.

“I should really get going, Arwin,” she said, her hand lazily stroking soft circles to Arwin’s taut and bare chest.

“You are always so eager to leave, Rionach,” he groaned, pressing his hardening cock against her side. “Stay. Today is my free day, I can spare a couple of hours with you in bed.”

Rionach chuckled, touched his stubbled jaw and pulled away. “I have places to go, though.” She kissed the tip of his nose, so condescending and cold that it made the young soldier frown. “Oh, please. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like,” she motioned her hand at him. “Whatever that is!”

Arwin grunted and released Rionach before sliding off the bed and grabbing his pants. “Leave then.”

Rionach scoffed. “Are you really going to act like that?”

He shook his head, pulling the pants on and combing his hair with his hands. “Like what?”

Rionach laughed and shook her head. “Really, Arwin?”

“Listen. I have no idea what is going on. You have been acting off ever since I introduced you to King Brontes. You merely want to spend time with me. You have blown me off on more than one occasion. For fucks sake, Rionach, we are supposed to get married!”

“No, Arwin. You want to marry me. I haven’t accepted yet.”

Arwin stopped moving and stared at the breathtaking woman lying on his bed, his fucking bed.

“I’m an idiot.”

Of course, he was. He had ingrained in his head that Brontes was his brother, his only brother, his family, and that he should meet the woman he loved, the woman he should wed! But he saw the way Brontes’s eyes flared, he saw his hungry gaze fall upon Rionach, and he saw Rionach return the look.

How could he be so fucking stupid? He knew there was a possibility they were mates. But he pushed the thought aside, lied to himself. There was no way the woman he loved was his brother’s mate. Right?

“Why do you feel like an idiot?”

“Because I am, Rionach! Do you think I am fucking stupid?”

Rionach lifted her hands in defeat, grabbed her clothes, and got dressed as fast as she could. “I can’t deal with you right now.”

“You can never deal with me. You always run away instead of having an honest conversation.”

“Says the one screaming.”

Arwin grabbed his silver hair in exasperation. He opened his eyes and stared intently at Rionach. He needed to get a hold of his emotions and he needed her to leave. “Go, Rionach. Please.”

Rionach nodded, and without saying another word, she left…

Arwin stared at the closed door for what seemed an eternity. He understood that he had asked her to leave, but he never thought she actually would. He decided to leave his room, go out to Ophelia Plaza, maybe have a drink. He needed time for himself. Maybe he was just over thinking things. Brontes wouldn’t dare to come between him and Rionach.

Arwin had talked to him about her, about her beauty, of the day they met at the plaza. Of her gorgeous smile, long dark hair, of how headstrong she was, and how he felt each time she touched him.

He talked to Brontes of what they would do on their nightly visits, and although he knew it wasn’t proper, he just felt proud saying that he was able to catch a woman such as Rionach… Brontes didn’t seem interested until he met her; until his eyes fell on Rionach. Until he grabbed her hand and kissed it in greeting. Arwin could still feel the squeeze of his heart as his half-brother stared at Rionach.

Brontes wouldn’t dare, would he?