Page 17 of A Storm in Every Heart (Enchanted Legacies #2)

“Not everything is about me, but this sure as hell is. My mortal enemy, the man who organized the murder of my entire family and got me sent to Dyaspora, is going to marry my?—”

I suck in a sharp breath at the same moment as he breaks off mid-sentence, looking suddenly confused. My heart thunders against my chest as I tilt my head back to meet his furious gaze.

“Your what?” I rasp.

His mortal enemy is marrying his… what?

What am I to him?

“My best friend’s sister,” he finishes, on a growl.

His best friend’s sister. Of course.

I don’t think that’s what he was originally going to say, but I’ll never know for sure. I don’t think even Kastian knows what he meant to say.

Because until the day he dies he’ll never remember me…and I can’t ever tell him why.

I let out the breath I was holding on a growl and shove both hands against his chest. “Move. I can’t deal with this, and I don’t owe you any explanations.”

Kastian doesn’t move an inch, as if my shoving my entire body weight against him were no more than a light breeze. “Do you really think that Magnus will hesitate to hurt you too?”

“I think if you can’t already understand why it’s worth the risk to find out, then I’m not going to waste any more of my time explaining it to you!” I shove him again. “Now, move!”

“No,” he snaps back, shaking his head as if to clear it. “This conversation isn’t over.”

“Yes, it is. Move, or I’ll make you.”

“And how are you going to do that?” He smirks bitterly. “What are you going to do, Princess? Cook my brain like that damn shopkeeper?”

“Maybe!” I snap.

“Try. It won’t work.”

“Of course it would,” I hiss. “You’re not that special, Your Majesty .”

“Try,” he repeats, taunting me.

I let out a growl of frustration. I cannot do this with him. This is all too much; too familiar. One hundred years of pent-up anger is at risk of exploding everywhere, leaving me shattered in the process.

Like she’s rising to defend me before I break, the little voice in the back of my head that I always try to keep buried pushes to the forefront.

The voice is all siren. She feeds on fury and desire and often can’t tell the difference between the two.

Now, she wants me to forget about hurt feelings and stupid mortal problems and take what she’s always known belongs to her.

I lean forward until my mouth is barely a breath away from his. I hear myself speak in the same coaxing, seductive tone I used on the shopkeeper. The same tone I used on Kastian decades ago. “Move, Kastian.”

For a fraction of a second I hold my breath, thinking maybe he’s right—Maybe this time it won’t work on him—but then I hear his strangled voice repeating the same surrender as every other man. “As you wish.”

The siren inside me smiles with smug satisfaction, and I let out the breath I was holding. But before I can even think—before I’m sure if I’m glad or disappointed—Kastian follows my order and moves .

He leans in and captures my bottom lip between his.

For perhaps half a heartbeat I’m too stunned to react. Then, the shock sharpens into something molten, electric, and all too familiar.

I part my lips with a soft gasp, and that sound is like the opening note of a crescendo.

My back hits the wall, softened by his hand pressed against the stone, as he tilts his head to intensify the kiss.

Kastian’s tongue moves over mine, exploring with a slow, rough, and possessive fervor that sends shivers down my spine.

He tastes of sweet dark wine and something else, something untamed and metallic.

My hands slam against his chest, fingers curling and clawing as they slide upward, seizing the fabric of his shirt in a fierce grip. He lets out a deep, guttural groan from the back of his throat, a primal sound that reverberates through both of us.

We’ve kissed before, but not like this. Before was innocent and new.

This is anything but innocent.

His hand abruptly detaches from the wall, and he seizes the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair. My teeth catch his bottom lip, desperate and reckless. I let out a soft whimper, squirming as I push my hips firmly against his and feel the hard outline of his cock pressing into me.

I want his hands all over my body. I don’t want to be slow or romantic. I don’t need the foreplay—I’m already drenched in anticipation, and I just want to feel him inside me. I ache for it.

As if he read my mind, Kastian pulls back from my mouth, hunger flashing in his eyes.

He seizes the delicate fabric of my dress at the neckline.

The sound of ripping fabric fills the room as he yanks it down, exposing both of my breasts to the chill air.

My already-hard nipples pebble into almost painful points.

He growls low in his throat. “Fuck.”

I arch my spine as he traces kisses down my neck, moving lower, his lips searing my skin with fiery intensity as they enclose around one achingly taut nipple. A surge of electric pleasure makes my back curve even further.

I reach between us, fingers grazing over his belt. Reckless passion and excitement flood me, and the siren rises to the forefront of my mind. She feeds on this—on desire and control.

She wants to devour him.

Like a cold wave over my head, panic hits me all too fast, completely washing away my arousal. I shove hard at Kastian’s chest again. “Wait, stop!”

This time, he responds immediately to my shoving. He takes a step back, chest heaving with heavy breaths. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry!” I blurt out, scrambling to pull my dress back up. The thought of the siren sobered me all too fast, and now I’m reeling. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“You didn’t mean to do that?” he echoes slowly.

Oh no. He probably has no idea what I’m even saying right now, and it’s all my fault.

Shame and disgust descend over me in waves as the horror of what I just did fully dawns on me. Accident or not, I can’t believe I lost control.

I’ve never used the siren compulsion for its intended purpose. I’ve never —never— lured a man to my bed, and ultimately to his death. I’m revolted at the thought of purposefully doing that to anyone, even to Kastian. Especially to Kastian.

“It’ll wear off if I leave,” I mutter to myself, trying to push my way out from under his arm. “I’m so sorry, I?—”

Kastian shifts, blocking me from leaving. “Where the fuck are you going?”

This cannot be happening.

I only ever use the siren song for small, inconsequential things, but that’s not really what it’s for. If I wanted to, I could demand anything.

Love me.

Give your life to protect me.

Drown yourself…

Walk away and never speak to me again…

“Move, Kastian,” I demand, nearly crying now. “I’m serious. You need to get away from me, or it will only get worse.”

“What are you talking about?” he demands, wiping roughly at his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I bewitched you,” I wail hysterically. “But it’s going to be okay. I’ll leave, and it’ll wear off in a few minutes.”

Unless I somehow made him obsessed with me, in which case it won’t ever wear off.

No, I can’t worry about that right now. It will be fine; it has to be.

The sound of Kastian’s laughter jolts me out of my spiral of shame.

“You didn’t do anything to me,” he scoffs. “At least, not the way you mean it.”

“Of course I did. Why else would you kiss me like that? You hate me.”

“I can think of a few reasons.” He smirks. “And I don’t hate you, Dessa, even if you are the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met.”

I shake my head. “Of course right now you don’t hate me, because I just sapped you of all your free will. Oh my gods, what is wrong with me? Why?—”

“Odessa! Look at me!” he barks, his tone sharp and commanding. He grips the back of my head again, but this time instead of pulling me in for a kiss he yanks my head back so I’m forced to meet his eyes. “I’m fine . I mean, I’m clearly losing my mind, but not because of your magic.”

I blink in surprise. His eyes are clear. “How is that possible?”

“I told you,” Kastian says flatly. “Your power won’t work on me.”

I shake my head again, so confused and overwhelmed I can hardly think. “It works on all men.”

His smirk returns. “I’m not all men.”

Startled, I choke and almost laugh. “Arrogant prick.”

His hand tightens in my hair. “Spoiled princess.”

I shiver and for a long second we stand still and silent. Kastian lets his hand fall away from my hair, but he doesn’t step back. My breathing turns ragged once more, and my mind reels.

If I didn’t bewitch him, then this is just us, and somehow that’s even worse.

Holding Kastian at arm’s length, antagonizing each other, and convincing myself to hate him is the only way I’ve been able to survive the last year, but I can’t do it again. Another year of this might kill me…something needs to give.

“Once,” I blurt out.

Kastian’s face twists in confusion. “Once what?”

“We do this once. Just to…get it out of our systems, and then we never have to think about it again.”

His eyes darken, and his voice comes out hoarse and raspy. “You really think once will be enough?”

No.

“It will have to be because that’s all I’m offering…if you want it, that is.”

For a long moment, Kastian stays silent, conflict warring on his face.

My cheeks heat and my heart thunders against my chest so loud that I know he can hear it, just the same as I can hear the way his uneven breathing speeds up the longer he looks at me with indecision in his eyes.

If I was wrong and he still doesn’t want me, I might die of humiliation right here and now.

“Fuck it,” Kastian growls.

He moves suddenly, gripping my thighs and hoisting me into the air before I’ve even had a moment to realize what’s happening. He pins my body between the wall and his broad chest, and his hips press firmly into me, and I can feel the undeniable evidence of his desire, still hard and ready.

He doesn’t kiss me this time, instead pressing his face into my neck as his hands glide over my sides, tracing the contours of my body, before settling around the curve of my ass, pulling me even closer.

I writhe against him, chasing the heat of several minutes ago. My fingers tremble as I reach between us, feeling the cool leather of his belt beneath my touch. I fumble with the metal buckle, struggling to unfasten it.

He growls against my skin and shifts his hips, batting my hand away. “Stop,”

I whine in the back of my throat. I want to beg, but I force a teasing smile onto my face and keep my tone light. “Changed your mind already?”

In answer, he grinds his hips even harder into my core.

“Not a fucking chance. But if I only get you once, then I’m going to make it count.

I don’t want to fuck you fast against this wall; I want all night to feel you come over and over on my fingers and my tongue so when I finally fuck you, you’re begging me for it. ”

My eyes fly wide, and a tiny whimper escapes me. Oh, fuck. I’m in so much trouble.

Whatever happens now, I know once won’t be nearly enough. I know that it won’t matter whether I walk away or I drown in him all night long. In the morning, he’ll still have ruined me.