To Defend A Bride (Entangled with the Enduar #3)

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

RA’SA

I take another step toward Melisa.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” I ask as hot panic slithers under my skin.

She shakes her head again. “I can’t do this, Ra’Sa. I can’t be yours.”

The gods blessed me with a strong woman, and right now...

“Why not?” I demand.

Her breath shoots out in misty clouds, and her eyebrows draw together.

“Is it because I don’t know how to care for humans?” I snap.

The bitter words had been spoken by both her and my mother. They rang loud, and the vibrations burrowed in my heart. Of course, she wouldn’t want me.

But she shakes her head, and her lip wobbles. She throws a hand over her face, cowering the crook of her bloody arm.

“You told me you think I am playing a game!”

I shake my head as regret pricks my chest. “I was angry. I felt used. I didn’t understand—didn’t see how you were treated here.”

“And you do now?” she snarls.

I take a deep breath. “I’m starting to.”

“Your goddess made a mistake. I am not what you want.”

All the hurt inside me softens.

Her fears are my fears; they tied us together—inviting us to soothe the pain. How could I not reassure her?

“Can you lower your arm?” I ask quietly.

A deep, shuddering breath wracks through her shoulders, but then, her arm comes down.

Her eyes are red, and her cheeks glisten in the moonlight. Melisa stares at me like I should be running.

I’m not.

I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.

“I’ve never seen you cry,” I murmur.

“Ra’Sa—”

“Melisa. He doesn’t own you. The bravery with which you face the world should be recorded for generations to come. You amaze me—you survive while the world crumbles.”

She looks at me like she'd continue to weep whether I touched her or walked away.

“You don’t know me.”

“I don’t know some of you. I see mysteries wrapped up in your eyes, but I know you are my mate. I know that you like music and care for your family. You are good with animals—so good that they eat from your hand. You pick up new skills quickly, fear blood, and memorize secret codes. Above all, I know you are stronger than anyone I’ve ever met, Enduar or human.”

Her pupils dilate.

“Fucking damnit. Why do you make me feel so safe,” she says through another shaky breath.

“Can I touch your face?” I ask carefully.

She closes her eyes. “Please.”

When I reach for her cheek, she flinches but doesn't pull away. Instead, her head pushes into me. Tears streak her face. She looks haunted and hurt.

I just want to help.

“Tell me what I can do,” I say.

“Hold me like you did that night in front of the fire,” she says, eyes blinking wide and eyebrows furrowed.

The words pierce my heart. She had been so fragile when her waking nightmare almost took her.To know that I could be there for her is the kindest gift.

“Are you sure that you want me to touch so much of you?” I ask.

“Some touches don’t hurt.”

My chest hollows out, and I slide my hands around her back. Carefully, so damned carefully, I bring her a few steps closer. My hand comes up to cradle her injured arm.

Once surrounded, she starts to shake. She falls apart in my arms, shattering into a thousand pieces that are only kept together by the cage of my body.

I kneel down before her. Even from this position, we are nearly the same height, so I pull her into my lap. She nestles against me.

I speak to her mind again.

Breathe. I am here. You are strong .

She folds into me. The difference between our sizes is stark, and a new instinct comes into focus. Protect. Nurture. I brush her hair away from her face and gather it over her neck.

Slowly, the shaking stops, but she clings to my torso.

“I will unwrap each of your mysteries, and I won’t leave. You can't be rid of me. The stones have sung our fate," I say.

Marveling, I cup her face and tilt it toward me so that I can see her eyes once more. Her pupils are still large, swirling with budding hope.

“Kiss me,” she says suddenly.

Shock floods through me.

To touch her is a gift. To hold her pain is sacred, but minutes ago, she was crumbling. Now she just looks vulnerable. Like she needs me to carry her away from reality.

"You want to kiss me like this?"

“I’ve never asked a man to kiss me. Let this be my choice—a real choice. Mark me as yours and erase him,” she begs, hands twisting in my shirt.

I grab her behind the neck and pull her lips to mine.

The embrace is slow and full of low-burning heat that travels up my belly and warms my chest. She is everything in this moment. Her taste is sweet and smoky.

“That… should’ve been our first kiss.” She pants against my lips. She eases against me further, accepting the care that I offer. “Again.”

I don’t wait before claiming her mouth.

Right now, I would take the sweet sting of our bitter story over the loneliness that has clawed holes through me my whole life. I'd have this, imperfect and dark as it is, over the ache that has followed me around since my family withered and died.

Hungry and desperate to seal this between us, I stand and muzzle her throat. I would make her smell like me, not him— never him .

As her mouth opens, she makes a sound that causes my cock to harden. I pull her closer. She whimpers.

“You are sweeter than honey,” I say against her lips.

She doesn't respond. Instead, she feverishly returns to my mouth, just as twisted and desperate as I am. Our tongues brush, and my blood runs hot. I savor every inch of her tongue, and my hands swipe down her spine. They glide over the curve of her buttocks. Wrenching her up, her legs wrap around my hips.

One word reverberates as I let myself savor her perfection.

Mate .

Her hips grind against me, and her head falls back. New delicious sounds pour out of her.

“When you said you never knew the touch of the woman. What did you mean?”

My cheeks flush with shame, and it almost ruins the moment.

“I have never courted a woman, Enduar or human. No woman has taken her pleasure from my body,” I say, chest heaving.

Her hands brush over my face.“Then I will be your first?”

“I will be yours .”

I press her back against the tree. She clings to me. My instinct dictates my movement, which is slow and steady. Following the action of her hips, my own sensations are wrenched out of me.

She pulls back, cheeks flushed. “Touch me.”

“Where?” I gasp.

She makes a mangled sound and grabs my hand. She places it on the spot between her legs, where her heat invites me.

I find the fabric wet, and she moans into my mouth.

“What is this?” I ask.

The sound of my voice shatters the fragile connection between us.

She goes stiff in my arms. A look of confusion crosses her face, and she breaks away.

“What—?” I start.

Her face crumbles.

"I can’t?—“

"Don't go, not yet.” I grab her hand. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I got carried—This is too far. I can’t do this.” She presses her hand to her forehead.

“Did I hurt you?” I ask.

She shakes her head, darting away when I try to draw her into my arms again. Melisa’s face practically cracks in half with pain.

“Send a message back to Enduvida. Tell them that the Elf King has made a deal with Rholker. Send news of the deaths. Of the poisonings. They want to kill us all—Eneko told me the king’s new advisor, Lord Fektir, wants us all exterminated.” Her chest heaves. “Eneko will be leaving tomorrow to go to some new mines with the ogres. Tell Estela, and I will leave you a message when I know more."

“So this is it. You won’t meet with me again?”

She opens her mouth, but I step toward her.

Holding her hands up, she begs me. “Please!”

A sudden snarl comes from behind the trees.

I instantly push her behind me. My tail wraps around her as a wolf comes into view.

“Coco!”

Melisa struggles out of my grasp and runs to the creature.

Teeth bared, it growls at me.

“?Basta ya!” ? 1 Melisa commands, stomping her foot, and the pup stops snarling to look up at her.

Confused, I step forward. The creature growls again, protecting my mate.

“I’m sorry,” she cries before running off. The wolf gives me one last look and then trots after her.

I watch them go, unsure what to do.

A wolf? Another mystery.

Teo would’ve chased Estela if she had run like this.

Something in my blood tells me to do the same.

But she isn’t Estela, and I’m not Teo. I must give her space. Reluctantly, I take an iridescent speaking stone from my pocket and bring it close to my mouth.

"Things are not… good,” I start. “Upon arrival, we saw a pillar of smoke. Pens are burnt, men are rounded up and whipped, thousands are dead. Rholker is still here, and he has definitely secured a relationship with Arion. I do not know for how long the Elf King will stay."

I look for more words, but they escape me. The stone grows cold and dull as it hovers in front of my mouth.

I swallow hard and drop it, still staring at the tree where Melisa had been moments before.

All I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears.

All I can feel is the imprint of her body on mine.

I have a mate.

A mate possessed by that horrid giant.

We can't leave before the mission is finished, and I can't bear for her to be with him any longer.

Something has to change—I just don’t know what.