Page 47

Daimon

“Easy?” Daimon shook his head, wishing Evelina could see the years he’d spent throwing himself—mind and body—into being a soldier just to hold himself back from returning to her. From letting his selfishness win and ruining her life just to love her.

“I’ve held myself back for years,” he whispered. She deserved the truth—the full truth of how tightly his chains were bound. “From accepting Nyx’s fate, from ever allowing what happened to my mother to happen to another, and especially from making you love someone as unworthy as me.”

He wrapped a hand around her waist and brought the other up to slide into her hair. She leaned in closer to him, their noses nearly touching. They were tucked away on the edge of the pond and hidden between the trees, an escape from the war and pain that plagued their lives.

“You have always been worthy, Dai,” she whispered.

There was a time he craved to hear those words—hoped that if she believed in him, then he could believe in himself too. But it was more than that. The wound of feeling like he didn’t belong ran deeper than even her words could heal.

Growing up, he had always known something was…off ab out him. Maliena and Neve were great to him, but he knew he was not their real child, and he knew the depths of his shadows were something to hide rather than celebrate. It wasn’t until Nyx found him that he understood why he should feel so ashamed of them—that his very existence had turned his mother to ashes. His past so dark he could not bear to look at it, and his future promised to even more darkness.

But he had become a wyvern Rider, had bonded with a creature sent by Eurydice herself. He had lived a life where he could pretend he belonged. He had fought faithfully for the empire and resisted the call to be the Lord of Shadows. Maybe Eurydice had favored him for his resilience and faith.

The only reason he had done any of that was because of one person and one person only.

Evelina. The woman right in front of him.

He felt a sense of belonging with her in his life, felt understood.

He had always been afraid of what his future held. If he were honest with himself, he had always been terrified by the possibility of losing Evelina. So he pushed her away and lost her anyway.

But when he looked into her bright hazel eyes, he wasn’t afraid anymore. He’d always thought he had to do this alone, but now he could see just how wrong he had been.

A wave of emotions rolled through him: relief that she didn’t hate him for being the son of a dark god; gratitude that this perfect female could see past the stains on his hands; and a passion he had kept suppressed for so long surging free.

Fate had held him back his entire life, chains binding him, until he realized he was the one imprisoning himself.

Well, fuck fate, and fuck his father.

For this woman clothed in moonlight standing before him, he was at her mercy.

“No one can be worthy of you,” he murmured. “But I’ll damn well try. ”

His lips crashed into hers.

He was floating. Dreaming. Because it was impossible that this was real.

Her hands wrapped around his shoulders and she pressed her body against his. She kissed him as if she wanted him to feel her years of anger and grief. Like she wanted him to feel the repressed frustrations of twenty years without hearing a word from him.

Every kiss she gave, he met with his own grief of the years he spent hating himself over things he couldn’t control. But beneath the pain, there was undeniable longing. He drank the taste of her lips, drawing her closer and closer.

She pulled away from him first, her chest heaving. Slowly, she backed away.

His brows pulled together and he opened his mouth. Confusion marred his features as he watched her step closer to the pool of water.

“Join me?” she whispered.

Daimon froze. His eyes bounced to the water behind her, then back to her.

“Please,” she added, lifting the hem of her thin gown until it grazed the tops of her thighs.

His eyes lowered and studied every inch of her. Evelina’s fingers curled around the fabric and she took it off entirely. His entire body warmed.

She turned and stepped into the water. He sucked in a sharp breath and quickly stepped out of his pants and shed his shirt. He followed her into the water, his heart racing.

She kept swimming until she was treading water in the center of the pond. When she faced him again, he had already stepped waist-deep into the water. He waded toward her, his gaze heated. The water felt cool against his bare skin.

They moved in spellbound silence. She swam to the small waterfall on the other side of the pond. She was closer to the bank there, giving her space to stand. As she slowly stood, the waterfall crashed in front of her. She stayed with her back facing him, but turned her head to the side to look over her shoulder.

“Don’t make me wait, Commander.”

He moved toward her until his chest was against her back. With steady fingers, he tucked her wet hair behind her ear and slowly traced its pointed outline. She shuddered beneath his touch, leaning back until her entire body was pressed against his.

Evelina was his everything. She knew his sins and yet she still found it in her heart to forgive him.

Deep down, he knew he would lie awake tonight, thinking through what would happen next. But right now, all he could think about was the woman in his arms. Because she was right; their days were numbered.

No one knew what tomorrow held. Fear had ruled his life for too long. Shame had kept him quiet. Compliant. But his grand scheme of always keeping his bloodline to himself had gone to shit.

All at the hands of one very demanding female.

Without a word, she turned back to the waterfall and walked through it, straight to the other side.

There was so much water that it was like a wall had been placed between them, a curtain so thick he couldn’t see her anymore. But he would follow her anywhere. He took a deep breath and stepped through.