Masked Fate (Fated Love #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY

Pandora

Before he even knocks on the door, I feel him.

I don’t know how he got into my castle, but I’m guessing Kainan must have let him in. Lucky for me, Ebony has gone out for the evening with some of her friends.

“What are you doing here?” I ask as I open the door. He steps into my room, his cinnamon scent surrounding him, looking around. It’s weird having him in my space. No one really comes here—it’s usually me in other kingdoms. He’s dressed from head to toe in black leather pants and a linen tunic, his swords across his back.

Finally, his gray eyes come to me, giving me a slow once-over from head to toe. He licks his lips but then tilts his head to the side, frowning. “Whose shirt is that?”

“What?” I ask, my brows furrowing. I glance down and touch the worn brown material of August’s shirt he left here when he stayed over that one night.

Shit.

“Soren—”

He slowly circles me. “Whose is it, little witch?”

Swallowing, I admit the truth. “It’s August’s. It’s just something I wear to bed sometimes—”

“Take it off. Now ,” he grumbles, and although his tone is commanding, he’s not using his persuasion.

Still, who does he think he is?

“You can’t come into my kingdom and tell me what to do,” I say, crossing my arm over my chest, which only draws his attention to my breasts.

“I’m your mate,” he states, his eyes flickering with anger and… jealousy? “You will wear no other male’s clothes aside from mine. Now, take it off. Don’t make me tell you again. It’s bad enough to know that August got to… touch you.”

It’s the quick look of vulnerability in his eyes that has me pulling the shirt from my body, leaving me standing in nothing but some black panties.

“You are fucking perfect,” he says in a husky tone, running his tongue over his full upper lip. I can’t help but look down at his cock straining against his pants. “Fuck, little witch… the things I want to do to you...”

Clearing my throat, I open my armoire and pull out a long, black cotton dress, sliding it over my bare skin. “You happy now?”

He picks up August’s shirt and rips it in two, throwing it into my wastebasket. “I’ll be happy when you realize that you are mine .” He tilts his head to the side. “But for now, I’ll take you being safe. Rave said to come back to Aravelle tonight.”

Which means they have a plan to take care of Ebony.

I know I have no business feeling guilty after everything she’s done to me, but at the end of the day, she is my sister.

“She tried to burn you alive,” he reminds me. “And it’s not you doing it. I will handle it.”

“I’m not the type to sit around and let others handle my problems,” I reply, sitting on my bed and gesturing for him to do the same. His eyes darken as he takes in my velvet bedding before he does so. “I would kill her if I could, but my mother put a spell on me to make sure I can never harm her.”

His jaw tenses. “But she can hurt you?”

I nod slowly.

He makes a low, growling sound, then leans forward to gently touch my face, his finger and thumb gripping my chin. “I know I’ve fucked up when it comes to you, but I’m here now. And no one is ever going to hurt you again, Pandora. I will spend the rest of my life protecting you, worshiping you, and making up for all the wrong I’ve done.” He then lowers his face to kiss me sweetly, barely touching my lips with his. He then backs away, closely watching my reaction. His fingers are still on my chin, holding me in place, his eyes scanning mine.

Yes, I’m a queen.

But I’m not going to lie—being taken care of sounds nice.

Not making decisions all the time sounds like a fucking holiday.

As the oldest child, a queen, and a leader, having a man take charge and be in control is all kinds of appealing.

Soren wanting me is all I’ve ever dreamed of.

But I can’t just forget all that has transpired between us.

“Is being here hard for you?” I blurt out the question. “Why did you go with Rave to case the castle the other day and come here now? It must bring back bad memories for you.”

“I never thought I’d come back here,” he admits, his throat working hard as he swallows. “But she’s dead. And this is your kingdom now. I’m here for you. I can’t keep living in the past.”

My eyes widen slightly at his words. Whatever happened in that dungeon had a hold on Soren, so for him to say something like that is huge.

With a deep sigh, he rests his forehead against mine. “I wish you had told me the truth, little witch. I would change so many things that have happened between us. I wish I could fucking change it all.”

“You weren’t ready then,” I whisper.

I saw the look in his eyes at the time. He was a shell of the warrior he once was. My mother took a piece of him. If he found out back then he was tied to me, I don’t know how he would have handled it.

“Not your choice to make.” He growls, lifting his face and tucking my hair behind my ear. “We’ve wasted so much time—”

“You hated me, Soren,” I remind him, frowning. “You ignored me for years, and then you started being cruel to me.”

His gray eyes flash with pain. “And what were you doing? You knew you were mine. You knew! And you still fucked August, knowing you belong to me. You knowingly gave him what was mine . You still let Salem eat my fucking pussy . Yeah, I was an asshole, but I didn’t know what we were to each other. You. Did .”

My stomach knots. “I had to see you with woman after woman, knowing you were my mate. You’ve slept with hundreds of females, but you’re pissed I had sex with one fucking person?”

“You knew you were mine . I didn’t!” he snaps.

I know we aren’t going to get anywhere with this right now.

We are hurting too much.

“Yeah, you didn’t know.” I nod, putting my hands on his hard chest to push him away, needing space. He doesn’t budge. “You treated me like shit because you wanted to make me pay for something my mother did, something I didn’t know she was doing. And I let you do that because I felt guilty that it was my own mother who hurt you. I tried to make up for the trauma I didn’t even inflict by letting you treat me less than I deserved. I thought I was doing the right thing, Soren. I thought I was protecting you. Freeing you.”

He rears back like I’ve slapped him. “Pandora—”

I put my hand up in the air, stopping him. “No, I’m done talking about this. Let’s go back to Aravelle.”

His eyes work over my face. “We’re not done talking about this.”

Ignoring him, I zip away without another word.