Chapter 16

I slumped onto the floor, pressing my hot cheek against the cool, blue mosaic tiles. Grimacing, I smacked my lips, the sourness of bile clinging to my tongue.

The door slid open, and Skrain walked from the master bedroom into the bathroom, bowing his head to fit underneath the doorframe. His gaze darted from me to the floor, tail flicking nervously at his heels.

"You ran out so suddenly, I wasn't sure if you wanted me to come in and be with you or if you hate me now and don't want to see me or—" He frowned, eyes meeting mine. "No. I'm an idiot. I should have followed you. Comforted you. Held your hair. I'm sorry."

His sleek ponytail fell over his shoulder as he grabbed beneath my arms and pulled me up, sitting me down on the lowest step leading to a massive, round bath atop a pedestal. He pressed into a small indentation on the side of the toilet, the sound of rushing water filling the silence.

If the party, the dress, and the lavish furnishings of the bedroom hadn't been a dead giveaway for his wealth, the running water would have done it. Even in Zeridia, only high-ranking nobles and the richest of the rich enjoyed more than buckets and basins brought to their chambers.

"I didn't think I was so repulsive that the mere mention of me as your husband would make you throw up." Skrain gave me a lopsided smirk, and my heart did a ridiculous pitter-patter dance. "Last night you weren't quite as disgusted with me."

I sighed at myself.

He had poisoned and kidnapped me, tied me to the damned bed. If only I could have found a spark of anger somewhere inside me instead of this mad, inexplicable infatuation.

"Not the time to fish for compliments," I said, running a hand through my messy hair. "Besides, I wonder how you'd react if you were told you died and came back as someone else reborn instead of who you thought you were."

His shoulders slumped. "I know it's a lot. But I ran out of gentle options."

"You mean the celebration, the things you said—those were subtle attempts to make me recall?"

"That, too. I hoped nudges would do the trick. Roses in your favorite color. The nougat you loved so much you got all grumpy when you went a week without it here in Xar'vath. A copy of the music box I gave you as a wedding gift."

Wedding .

The word knocked the breath from me. If he told the truth, it made sense why I recognized the melody, why it stirred bittersweet nostalgia within me. I fought to regain my composure when I realized what he'd just admitted.

" You are my stalker?" I croaked. " You climbed up to the second floor to sniff around my chamber and leave gifts?"

Skrain sighed, grasping the back of his neck. He turned away from me to take a washcloth from a tall cabinet by the door, wetting it under the marble sink's golden tap. His tail twitched, the jewelry clinking on the tiles.

"Guilty as charged, my priceless treasure. I used my vines to get up there. You were right about being followed, too. It was me, watching you from the rooftops … and I watched you while you slept."

My thoughts whirled. So I hadn't imagined it all.

"But I've been stalked for-for weeks!"

"I've kept tabs on you since Emily brought me the catalog of courtesans from the Emporium. I recognized you immediately."

"Creators, the brothel," I squeaked, my brain catching up with reality. "Madam Iletha will be so mad I just disappeared and?—"

"No, she won't. I paid off your debt." Without looking at me, he raised a hand, nonchalantly waving it over his shoulder. "And before you ask, yes, it was me making your clients disappear. I killed them, to be exact. Every single one of them." His spine went rigid, tension rippling across his muscular back. "I couldn't stand anyone else touching you. They're not worthy of you."

Ice and lava fought behind my ribs.

Manic laughter welled in my throat, and once I started, I couldn't stop.

Doubling over, I held my queasy stomach, tears streaming down my cheeks. I laughed and laughed and lau—Skrain tipped my chin up, and the giggles died on my tongue. I stared at him, mouth agape.

He was every bit as arresting by day as he had been by night. More so. There was a subtle, dark green shimmer to his hair, and his eyes reflected the sunshine like jewels, revealing hues of gold and specks of hazel.

Ticklish warmth coiled through me as he ran the cold, damp cloth over my forehead and my cheeks, wiping at the corners of my lips.

This man, this handsome, dangerous man, was supposed to be my husband?

Did that mean every sweet nothing, every promise, how much he loved me … it was all … true ?

"How is the bite? How are the piercings feeling?" Skrain asked, tone low as if not to startle me. "Any pain? Swelling?"

I jolted . The bite! The piercings !

After he'd dumped all that crazy information on me, it was no wonder I'd forgotten about my injuries. Especially since they didn't hurt anymore.

I glanced at my shoulder. A tinge of disappointment speared through my middle when I saw hale skin beneath the nightgown's broad strap, no teeth marks.

I tugged on my collar, peeking downward, finding two golden rings with diamonds adorning my nipples. A nervous tingle in my chest, I laid a fumbling hand on my groin. An echo of pleasure reverberated through me when my probing fingers found a stud piercing through the skin above my clit, the larger, lower gem pressing right atop it.

Skrain's chuckle had my eyes snapping up to him. "Feels nice, doesn't it?" he asked.

My hand jerked from my body like it was made of fire. "I suppose. At least the pain is gone."

"That's another reason I put you to sleep for a while," he said as his hand closed around my upper arm and he guided me to stand, walking me to the sink. "My body can produce a few different poisons, some to paralyze, some to please, others to kill. But the one I injected you with promotes healing, alongside deep slumber."

Skrain opened the cabinet again, taking out a pretty blue glass before pouring a small heap of green powder from an unlabeled bottle into it. As he mixed it with water from the tap, a minty citrus scent drifted from the concoction.

He handed the liquid to me. "You can bathe and brush your teeth soon, but I recommend you rinse your mouth with this for now. Gets rid of the unpleasant taste."

I inclined my head and did as he suggested, gargling awkwardly and spitting out into the sink. When I was done, only the taste of lemon remained on my tongue.

"Come, I want to show you something." He took the empty cup from me and put it on the edge of the sink. "It used to be one of your favorite spots in the house."

Skrain led me back to the bedroom, and my eyes caught on my would-be assassin's heart, sitting underneath a glass dome on the chest of drawers. It was pretty, cleaned up and coated with a shiny layer of something, maybe resin.

Blood rushed to my face as I thought of a special rose another courtesan at the brothel received from a wealthy mage once. It looked a lot like this, preserved under glass, glossy petals. The man assured her it would never wilt, that it was a symbol of his love for her—and unlike his affections, the flower had kept the promise. Last time I saw her room, she still had it on her vanity, unchanged.

My ribs constricted. Did Skrain's gift mean the same? And would he keep his promise or was his devotion just as fickle as the mage's?

Holding me softly around my waist, he steered me toward wooden double doors with glass inlays. He opened them, and acrid heat hit my face.

As I stepped onto the balcony, earthy desert scents and the sweet perfume of flowers filled my nose. I rubbed my eyes, couldn't believe my sight, but the view didn't change.

Xar'vath. I really was in Xar'vath, and Creators, it was even more magnificent than I ever imagined.

The sun burned onto dunes like mighty waves, spreading toward the horizon like an endless sea of sand. Thick, tall stone walls with metal spikes atop surrounded the property, and inside them grew a lush oasis, on one side embraced by the C-shape of the mansion.

Leaning over the railing, I marveled at a huge mosaic right beneath the balcony, stretching across a large terrace. It showed lovers against the backdrop of a starlit sky, their bodies entwined as if dancing, a full moon the only witness to their affection.

A rectangular pool of sparkling blue water ran through the middle of the garden, a mellow, miniature waterfall at each end. White gravel pathways beckoned for a leisurely stroll amid blossoming shrubs and exotic flowers, trimmed grass perfect for a picnic beneath palms and fruit-bearing trees.

My brows rose as I turned to Skrain. "This slice of paradise is all yours ?"

He smiled and took my hands into his. "Ours."

My chest pinched.

As much as I thought he'd lost his mind, I couldn't entirely convince myself that there was no truth to the deranged explanation he'd given. An unrelenting voice in the back of my head couldn't stop asking the most meaningful question of my entire existence.

What if he's right ?

Skrain hitched me hard against his broad chest, one hand on my waist, the other caressing over my head. His tail brushed along my calves, and the weight of the world, the weight of this new life I'd been tossed into, melted from my shoulders.

For the first time since I'd awoken, I felt like I could just … breathe . Just be.

"If you're being honest, wouldn't I remember my own spouse?" I mumbled into his tunic in between taking deep whiffs of his comforting scent.

"But you do remember me. Not as clearly as I would like, but in a way, you obviously know me." He let out a soft laugh. "Don't you wonder why you're feeling safe in my arms? Haven't you asked yourself why you are so drawn to me? Why you were so eager to surrender total control over your body to me, a stranger? Even now, you're seeking out the reassurance of my embrace."

I wound my hands into the back of his shirt, craning my neck to look up at him. "How could you tell?"

"Because I know you better than anyone else, Keryssa."

That name, that gentleness in his tone when he said it, that spark of affection in his gaze.

Keryssa .

The letters echoed behind my ribs, catching on the soft edges of my heart I'd tried to harden into metal after my father passed away.

I liked that name. And I liked … Skrain.

His mouth smashed into mine, the feeling of the ring in his bottom lip coaxing a moan from me. His digits on my waist slid to my rear, squeezing. Our tongues swirled, the little ball in his clicking against my teeth, and fire coiled in my belly as he forced his thigh between my legs.

The pressure on the piercing above my clit was overwhelming, intense, and I couldn't get enough, instantly shivering with heat. His cock stirred, hardening against me while I ran my fingers along his back.

With a growl, Skrain shifted. His large hands closed around my midriff, lifting me, and suddenly I found myself sitting on the railing. He spread my legs, pushing up my nightgown as he stepped between them. Laughing against my mouth, he tipped my body backward, just a little, and I yelped, breaking the kiss.

I giggled. "First you abduct me, and now you're trying to kill me!"

"Oh, my priceless treasure, if I wanted to kill you, I would know a thousand more arousing ways to do it than pushing you off the balcony." He bit softly along my neck, and I whined as he rolled his hips, his erection rubbing against me. "Ways that would have you coming on my cock until your last fucking breath. My name, screamed in delirious ecstasy, would be the last damn thing you'd say."

I'd never craved death before, but he made it sound so sweet that for a second, I believed being undone by his hands would be the greatest pleasure I'd ever feel.

Skrain licked downward to my breasts, sucking on my pierced nipples through the fabric, and my thoughts blanked. Almost.

"Wait, wait, one moment!" I crowed.

He paused, straightening, an unspoken question in his gaze. And I was about to answer it with a stupid, reckless question of my own.

"I'm not saying I believe you, Skrain, but if I did, if I wanted to remember my previous life … How could I get my memories back?"

"So you want to remember?" he burst out, tail lashing, hitting the railing with a thud.

If my insides didn't feel like they were wrenched into a ball of knots, I would have laughed. He didn't seem the type for cute enthusiasm, but perhaps I had judged him too fast.

Skrain controlled himself quickly, putting on a scholarly, focused expression.

"I've done a lot of research over the years," he said and sighed. "There are no official reference cases for your kind of memory loss, but with general magical amnesia, the chance of a successful recovery decreases the longer the afflicted is immersed in their new life. That's also why I brought you here, why I couldn't wait any longer."

I already regretted my first question, but I asked another, even as my chest filled with a slew of dizzying emotions I couldn't define. "What do we have to do?"

"We have one option left, but I had hoped the sex and being here would be the last push you needed to remember on your own." His head tilted as he blew out a despondent breath. "You must be hungry. Why don't we discuss this over some food? I had the cook prepare all your favorite dishes while you slept."

I flushed as my stomach rumbled. He'd made such a special effort to welcome me, and I hadn't had a proper meal since a meager lunch at the brothel yesterday. How could I say no?

A smile curved my lips as I rested a hand on his arm. "Thank you. That sounds perfect."