to fight the heat from creeping into my cheeks at the realization he might’ve watched me change. This god… he’d seen me indecent many, many times, I’d bet. The dastardly rascal.
Not sure if I should call a god a rascal, but I didn’t care.
“I’ve come to check on you, of course,” Ishan said, beaming at me, as if he wasn’t tempting me by simply lounging back on my bed. He’d tempt anyone with eyes, even men, I was sure. He was… well, he was probably the most attractive man I’d ever seen. Being a god and all, that wasn’t surprising.
It did make me wonder what Winter would look like, though.
“Well, you’ve checked,” I said, finding my feet drawing myself towards him even though I knew I should keep my distance. I shouldn’t look at him, definitely shouldn’t think about running my hands up his chest and having his heat flood me… but I was. My mind was thinking of that and more as I stepped closer. “Now you should go.”
“And leave you all by your lonesome?” Ishan asked, cocking his head. He knew he appealed to me, knew he had me caught, somehow. I didn’t know how. Maybe it was the fact I’d had his favor for so long, seeing him, being in the same room as him… it felt right. Inevitable. Like he and I were destined from the start.
But that was impossible, wasn’t it? That was wholly impossible, because I’d only ever seen him once before. You can’t be destined for someone you’d hardly spent time with, could you?
“Come sit with me,” Ishan said, patting the bed beside him, an invitation I knew I should avoid. He was far too tempting, in every possible way. Sitting near him would only bring about mistakes, I knew.
I couldn’t entangle myself with a god while I was set to marry his brother. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t becoming of a woman… but then again, neither was having sex before marriage, and I’d already done that, so what could be the harm in humoring him? It wasn’t as if I had anything to lose.
Though the logical part of me knew I shouldn’t go to him, I did. My feet practically hovered on the floor as I walked to the bed, gingerly sitting beside him. I put enough space between us so I wouldn’t touch him, but Ishan didn’t seem to like that, for within the next moment, his shoulder grazed mine as his arm snaked its way around my back and side.
My body felt hot. So very hot, and he was hardly touching me. It was ridiculous, and yet I found myself leaning in towards him, my body craving more.
“Although you look absolutely ravishing,” Ishan purred out, his eyes dipping down to appreciate the way the dress hugged my body, “surely you must realize this isn’t the place for you. You don’t belong here, Morana. You belong with me.”
Trying to convince me to abandon my word, to go with him and stand at his side rather than his brother’s. I supposed I should be flattered, and in a way, maybe I was, but right now, all I could think was: Ember. I’d taken her place willingly, and I would not go back on my word.
“I can’t leave this place. I can’t.”
With one arm still grazing my back, he leaned over to me, his other hand finding my face, his brown fingertips caressing my cheek. Never had I felt a gesture more intimate, never had something so small taken my breath away before, not like this. It would be easy, so very easy to lose myself in this man and his fire.
“My brother will never appreciate you,” he whispered, his eyelids half-closed. Suddenly, before I knew it, his face was far too close to mine, his breath warm on my skin, the fingers on my cheek dancing back until they weaved through my hair and tugged ever so gently. “Not like I will.”
Everything that happened next happened fast. His lips found mine, my eyes closed. I knew I should push him off, get myself away from him, put space between us and get out of his grasp and away from the heat radiating off him.
Knowing it and actually doing it were two different things though, and I wasn’t as strong as I wanted to be.
I kissed him back. I let his mouth claim mine as my heart beat wildly in my chest. I reached up to his neck, holding him, afraid he would