Ibelong to someone else.
“What do you mean?” He cannot belong to someone else. He belongs with me.
“I am to be mated with a female in our village.”
“That’s not true.” It can’t be. Why would he bring me here, why would he lead me on if he was going to marry someone else the whole bloomin’ time?
“I am sorry, Kerris.”
He’s sorry? He’ssorry?Not as sorry as I am.
Who is she? Why would he choose her over me? Is she more beautiful?
I hate the nameless, faceless woman. I hate her more than I’ve ever hated anyone. More than Ronan Reve.
Damp air floods my throat as I gulp for my next breath, my eyes burning with tears I refuse to shed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ever—no,Everett, just stands there, his face devoid of emotion. “Because I did not know?—”
“Didn’t know what? That you were gettingmarried?” Poppycock.
“No. I mean, yes.” Like everything else that concerns this man, I feel his huff of frustration in my bones. “She asked me weeks ago, and I never gave her a response. So she took matters into her own hands and told everyone that I accepted.”
“Why didn’t you turn her down?”
He cards his hands through his hair, his handsome face stricken. “Because she is a good match for me. Strong and capable. Independent and fierce.”
All things that I am not.
“But then I met you and…”
And I took too long to figure out what I wanted. For weeks I tried to be content with the men on this side of The Divide, but my heart and mind kept drifting across the canyon. Why didn’t I say something sooner? Why didn’t I chase after what I truly wanted instead of wasting all my time trying to adhere to ridiculous conventions?
“Call it off.” Surely, we can figure out how to make this work between us.
“It is not that simple.”
“Why not? Do you love her?”
He jerks back as if I slapped him. Part of me wants to. “Of course not.”
“Then why in heaven’s name are you marrying her?”
“Because I am thirty years of age, and it is my duty to my people to accept a mate.”
To hell with duty! To hell with everyone else. In my heart, I know it’s meant to be him and me. In mysoul.
Everett drops his head back, as if sending a prayer to the heavens. “I have never wanted anything more than what I have been given. And then you…”
“Then I what, Everett? Go on. Tell me what I did that is so wrong.”
“You made me want what I cannot have!”
Can’t he see? If he wants me, I’m his. I’m standing right here with my heart in my hands and yet he insists on turning me away. On keeping a promise he didn’t even bloody make.
Heavens above, I care about this man more than any other, but he isn’t mine…and now he never will be.
Not mine to kiss.