Chapter Fifteen

Idon”t know where we”re going, and I don”t care. I”m in Troy”s arms, and everything in my world feels right again for once. It hasn”t been right in what feels like an eternity.

The last two days have been hell. Every minute hurt. After fleeing the cabin, I stumbled through the dark for hours before finding a small cave. I curled up there until morning, sobbing uncontrollably. When I finally stopped crying, I replayed every moment with him, trying to figure out where it went wrong.

I kept coming back to the same realization—Troy wouldn”t try to kill me. Even if he hated me, he wouldn”t do that. No matter what that man said, Troy wouldn”t do it. I refused to believe otherwise. I couldn”t believe it.

The fact that I was still awake—that the curse hadn”t sunk its claws into me again—gave me hope.

I wanted to go back to the cabin to get my phone so I could call him. I wanted to hear the truth from his lips, but when the sun rose, and I tried to find my way back, the man was still in the woods.

He”s been back every day—watching me. I found the mine instead and decided to hide out inside until he gave up and left. Even if I was just waiting for Troy to tell me himself that it was over, I needed to hear it from him.

I never thought I”d see him again, though. When he showed up, the only thing I could think was that the man was going to come back and finish the job. He”d kill me for breaking my promise.

Hearing Troy confirm that he didn”t send him was supposed to allow me to move on…except even as I told myself that”s what I”d do, I knew I wouldn”t. A thousand lifetimes could pass, and I”d still love him just as fiercely.

I didn”t expect him to tell me he felt the same. I”d convinced myself that he couldn”t. I spent every freaking night huddled on my makeshift bed, praying the moon and stars I drew on the walls weren”t the only ones I”d ever see again, terrified they would be. Even when all the evidence said differently, I was still afraid. That”s what fear is—irrational, overwhelming, illogical.

I”m not afraid any longer.

I feel like I”m living in a dream.

Except, I don”t think this one ends. He loves me, and the curse is truly gone. I”m free in every sense of the word.

”Come on, angel,” Troy murmurs, bundling me into an SUV. It”s been so long since I”ve been inside a car. He kisses my fingers and then buckles me in.

”Where are we going?” I ask.

”Home.”

”Home?”

”Stonehaven.”

I bite my lip, anxious and nervous. Not ready to face the world yet. ”C-can we go to the cabin instead?”

”You want to go back there? Are you sure?”

”I want to be alone with you.” I stare up at him, pleading silently. ”I need to be alone with you.” One bad memory can”t undo the hundreds of good memories we”ve built inside that cabin. When we step through the doors, those are the things I”ll remember. Not the man who tried to shoot me. Not running for my life. But Troy. His hands on my body—his commands ringing in my ears. Him.

”Yeah, angel,” he breathes, need glittering in the depths of his eyes. ”We can go to the cabin.”

I nearly sob in relief.

”Troy?” I ask once he climbs into the SUV beside me.

”Yeah, angel?”

”Who was he?”

He”s silent for a long moment. ”My best friend, Samson. We grew up together.” He sighs. ”He was like a brother to me.”

My heart clenches for him.

”Why did he do it?”

”Before I realized who you were, I told him I was going to abdicate my position to marry you.”

I gasp quietly.

”He thought you were a danger to the kingdom, but it doesn”t excuse what he did, Thalia.” He brushes his lips across my knuckles again. ”He paid for it.”

My heart sinks into my stomach. ”Did you—?”

”No. I wanted to, but I promised you I wouldn”t become that man. I intend to keep that promise, angel. I broke his nose and fucked up his pretty face. He”s in the tower. My father can decide what to do with him.”

I exhale a tiny breath, relieved. Maybe his friend deserves death, but no one should have to be the one to hand down that sentence to someone they considered a brother.

”I may toss your fucking father in with him,” he growls.

”My father?”

”What he did to you is unforgivable, Thalia. He would have sentenced you to a lifetime of living with that fucking curse just to forge his alliance. And when you didn”t obey, he threatened to lock you in the tower.” A predatory growl vibrates in his throat. ”He”ll be lucky if I don”t do the same goddamn thing to him.”

I stare at him in awe, tears welling in my eyes. He gets it. Without me having to explain or argue my case, he understands exactly how I feel and why what my father did was so awful.

”I don”t want to forgive him,” I admit on a whisper.

”Then don”t, princess. You don”t owe him that. You don”t owe him a damn thing. As soon as we get to Stonehaven, I”m throwing him out on his ass. He won”t be welcome back in our kingdom. And you won”t have to step foot in Rosewood until he dies if that”s what you choose.” He strokes my cheek. ”I promised that you were safe now. I meant it, angel. You”re safe now. No one will threaten you. No one will hurt you. Not unless they want to answer to me.”

”I love you,” I blurt, tears welling in my eyes.

He smiles, his obsidian eyes soft and full of warmth. ”Not nearly as much as I love you.”

The drive takes nearly an hour. He holds my hand the whole way, bringing it to his lips again and again to kiss my ring. He touches my face. Tells me over and over that he loves me.

By the time we take the turn-off for the narrow dirt road that ends half a mile from the cabin, I”m burning with need.

Troy pulls me from the SUV, clutching me to him—and I know we aren”t going to make it. We crash together like meteors colliding, dragging one another to the grass at our feet.

”Fuck, angel,” he growls, twisting so I land on top of him. ”Fuck.”

I straddle his hips, my torn dress hiking up my thighs as I grind against his erection. A whimper rolls from my lips, pleasure already building toward a fever pitch.

”Troy,” I plead in desperation. ”Fuck me. Please, just fuck me.”

He growls wordlessly, rising up to take my lips in a ravishing kiss. He”s as desperate as I am, as needy. I moan into his mouth, rocking against him.

He pinches my nipples through my dress, sending electric jolts of pleasure straight to my clit. ”Goddamn, I missed this perfect body, angel,” he groans.

”It missed you!” I cry, clawing his chest.

He rips open the front of my dress, tearing it from my chest to my waist. I sob, loving how wild he is, how dominant. When he”s like this, there”s no stopping him.

It”s my favorite side of him—wild and unrestrained. Mine in every single way.

He leans up, wrapping his lips around my right nipple, biting and sucking. He”s rough—so rough. So perfect. The feel of his fingertips against my inner thighs sends shockwaves of ecstasy through me.

My panties tear as easily as my dress did, ripped away from my body in his haste to touch me.

”Get my cock out,” he orders, two fingers sinking deep inside me.

I scramble to obey, my fingers grazing his erection as I tug at his zipper, fumbling with the buttons. He groans when I delve my hand inside, pulling out his hard length.

”Jerk me off, angel,” he growls, fucking me mercilessly with his fingers. ”I want your perfect hands on me.”

A whimper escapes my lips as I struggle to wrap my fingers around his girth, pumping him in time to the relentless strokes of his fingers inside my body. I glide my thumb over the slit, collecting pre-cum before spreading it down the shaft.

”Squeeze me harder,” he commands. ”Make me feel like it”s your perfect little cunt.”

I do, squeezing hard with every stroke of my hands down his shaft. I match his rhythm so he feels like it”s my pussy wrapped around him, like he”s balls deep inside me, fucking me.

”You”re so fucking wet for me,” he growls in my ear, his voice strained as he slips his fingers from my body. ”Take me, Thalia. Ride my cock.”

I fall on him like a greedy, possessed thing, lifting up to notch him at my entrance. I slam myself down on him, taking him all the way.

We shout at the same time, our voices ringing out around us.

”Don”t fucking stop,” he growls—the same way he did the day he found me in the cabin, his fingers digging into my hips. ”Finish what you started.”

I don”t stop. I lift myself up and drop down on his cock again and again. His length fills me to the brim, every inch a delicious intrusion.

”That”s right. Fuck me like the good girl you are,” he groans, bucking his hips on every downward thrust to force himself deeper.

I bounce against his thighs, sobbing his name.

”Scream for me,” he croons, his voice low and animalistic. ”Let everyone know who you belong to, princess.”

My throat turns raw from the screams that slip past my lips. The world narrows down to this—him inside me, the rhythmic slap of our bodies meeting, our desperate breaths echoing around us.

”You”re mine. All fucking mine.” He leans up suddenly, his teeth sinking into the side of my throat. Marking me.

”Yes!” I claw his shoulders.

We move faster, harder, chasing the pleasure looming like a wall.

”Troy, I”m…I”m…” But I don”t have to tell him. He already knows.

He grips my hips tightly, driving up into me one last time, a primal groan ripping from his lips. The sound of it—the sight of pleasure contorting his handsome face—shatters me into a thousand tiny pieces.

My orgasm crashes over me like a wave, dragging me under. I writhe in ecstasy, in torment. sobbing his name. Stars don”t erupt behind my eyes this time, though. For once, they twinkle directly overhead, shining brightly.

I collapse against his chest, shaking. He tips my head back, claiming my mouth in a fierce kiss. We”re tangled together, a perfect mess of twisted desire and possession.

”I love you,” he whispers when he finally lets me up for air. ”I”ll remind you every day until it”s burned into your soul, Thalia.”

”It already is,” I whisper. ”I”m yours, body and soul, Troy.”