Chapter 56: Chapter 56

~ NYSSA

As soon as the words left his mouth, my common sense came flooding back.

He had no intentions of making me his or taking me back to the palace. He had no intentions of trying to work through the mating bond. This was all about proving a point, and I was stupid enough to make it easy for him.

“Let me go, now!”

To my surprise, he released me immediately, his eyes coasting over me in worry. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong is that I was stupid enough to think that you could ever want something serious,” I spat. “What is wrong is that I was foolish enough that I thought you’d heard a word of what I said before. I’m not going to be the girl who holds out for you.”

He opened his mouth to speak but I was done listening to him.

“If all you want is a quick fuck, Rowan, then be my guest. You’re hot and I want to fuck you too, but holding the mating bond over my head is fucking cruel, even for you. Reject me if you must, but don’t expect me to be ’yours’ when you won’t even give me the decency of actually being yours.”

I reached for the doorknob but stopped, turning to him.

“And for the record, Eric and I are just friends. Perhaps that’s difficult for you to understand considering you only care about me long enough to think about putting your dick inside of me. It’s entirely possible for someone to enjoy my company and not want to fuck me.”

Before he could speak, I pulled the door open, smoothing down my clothes as I stormed out.

He didn’t follow me, and although my chest tightened at that knowledge, I forced my legs to keep moving. I walked down the hallway, ignoring the looks of the guards as I passed.

They’d all heard what happened inside. We weren’t exactly trying to be quiet.

I knew I’d get an earful from Henry later, but I didn’t care, I just wanted out.

I found Eric pacing in the common area.

As soon as he saw me, he rushed over to my side. “Are you alright?”

I shrugged. “I just want to leave.”

His eyes roamed over me, coming to the same conclusion as the other guards I’d walked past.

With a sigh, he reached for my hair, pulling it over my shoulders and smoothing it down with his hands.

“You have hickies on your neck,” he explained softly.

My cheeks grew brighter as shame and embarrassment washed over me. The back of my eyes burned, but I blinked rapidly, forcing the tears to remain at bay.

“There’s nothing to feel bad about,” he assured me. “The mating bond is difficult to resist, especially when there are big emotions involved. It’s expected.”

“It’s stupid.”

He smiled softly. “It’s not. He was jealous, you were pissed. This was the only logical outcome… well, either this or him killing me.”

That earned a small laugh from me. “He’s not going to kill you. I told him that there was nothing.”

“Thank you for that, at least I don’t have to look over my shoulder every second.”

I started to speak when I heard hurried footsteps.

Rowan’s scent filled the waiting area and I turned just in time to see him rushing out the front doors.

He’d snapped back into King mode so fast. There was no sign of whatever had happened in that room between us. He was back to normal and here I was, fighting the tears.

“Let’s get you out of here, okay?” Eric spoke, his voice forcing my eyes away from Rowan’s back. “I can make lasagna.”

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. “I need a tub of shame ice-cream.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Nyssa.”

“Yes, there is.”

He didn’t argue despite the fact that it was obvious he didn’t agree. He drove me home in silence, eyes glancing at me carefully every chance he got.

I kept my hands fisted in my thighs, trying to rid myself of the image of Rowan between my thighs, or the feel of his hands on my skin.

My panties were uncomfortable and with each slight lurch of the car, I was met with a warm reminder of what happened.

The more I thought about it, the more I stupid I felt, not because I regretted it, but because I’d enjoyed it far too much.

Rowan had burrowed his way into my mind despite how much of a dick he’d been to me. Getting physical with him was just one more nail in the coffin that was called out mating bond.

As soon as we arrived home, I changed out of my clothes. They smelled like sex and Rowan. I took a long shower, washing off his scent from me.

Even though it was gone physically, I could still smell it. I knew I wasn’t going to get rid of him so easily.

“There you are!” Eric exclaimed with a smile as I made my way towards the living room. “Here’s your ice cream as you asked and I saw this cool movie that I thought—”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked softly. “I know you said that you enjoyed my company but… you don’t have to do all of this.”

“I know I don’t,” he admitted. “You remind me of my sister.”

“You have a sister?” I asked and he nodded.

“She’s traveling the world right now. As soon as she got out of college, she said she wanted to be anywhere but home. She’s around your age.”

“How old are you?” I realized I’d never asked before and looks could be deceiving, especially when it came to lycans.

“I turn thirty in a few months.” He puffed out his chest proudly before adding. “I’m considered a baby by lycan standards. Most guards are older, but I’m good at what I do.”

“How old is Rowan?”

He hesitated for a moment. “I thought you should ask the king that, but he’s older than you think.”

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