A Shade of Kiev 3(18)

I gripped his hair as he ran his hands down my legs.

“I’ve always loved you, Mona,” he breathed against my stomach. “And I can fulfill you, if you’ll just let me.”

He fell silent as he began to make love to me.

It was strange. Although I’d made love to Rhys before, somehow, that morning felt like the first time.





Chapter 17: Mona





At first, I found my mind wandering occasionally, wondering what it was I had made myself forget. It was strange having a blank space in my memory. But then I stopped thinking about it. It was idiocy trying to remember. Whatever I’d forgotten, it was to help move me forward.

I was surprised by how easy it was to fall for Rhys. Over the following weeks, Rhys kept me alone with him in the castle. With his attention on me night and day, he became my life as much as I became his. It was as if nobody existed in the world but us.

His passion consumed me, so much that I couldn’t help but return it. When someone desired and wanted to please you so intensely, it was hard to not reciprocate.

And that reciprocation—although small at first—set me on the right path. It was the spark that lit the fire I’d thought was long extinguished.

I found myself wanting to satisfy Rhys as he was satisfying me. I found myself wanting to bring a smile to his face, to lavish my own affections on him.

Although we remained away from everybody, he didn’t just keep me on the island. He took me to some of the most beautiful places in all of the supernatural world. Most of the realms he took me to I had never visited before, some I hadn’t even known existed. He romanced me in each of them.

Slowly, I found my mind becoming aligned with his. My desires beginning to match his own. I fell deeper and deeper into him.

He consumed my mind so much that I even wondered whether he was using magic on me. But I doubted it. My feelings for him had to be genuine or this whole exercise would be pointless. Rhys had told me that no magic could last during the transformation, whatever it was.

One evening, we were lying next to each other on a deserted beach in The Cove, the realm of the mermaids. I stared up at the starry night, holding his hand in mine, listening to the waves crashing against the shore. A warm breeze blew over us.

I leaned on my elbow and looked down at him. Running a hand through his dark hair, I placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Why do you love me?” I whispered, staring into his eyes.

His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed. I thought he was about to answer, but he stood up and pulled me to my feet. Holding my hand, he led me toward the waves. He stopped once the water was at my waist.

“There’s fire in you, Mona.” He ran his hands through my hair. “And I don’t want you to lose that.”

I had no idea what he meant by fire. I thought back to my past. I couldn’t remember a time since I’d left the Sanctuary that I had felt much fire in me. Except for these past few weeks with Rhys, it felt like I was gasping to keep my head above water and not be overcome by the darkness surrounding me.

“Maybe I see a piece of myself in you.”

He leaned down and touched his nose against mine, closing his eyes.

We both remained silent, listening to the lapping waves around us.

I realized that whether I liked it or not, Rhys also held a piece of me now. How large a piece it was, I was beginning to be fearful of. But now that I’d let him in, I wasn’t sure that I could ever fully let him out. These weeks had been so intense, just the two of us. It felt like I’d allowed him to make a mark on me that ran far deeper than my rose.





Chapter 18: Kiev





It would have been a lie to say that I didn’t see it coming. I’d known what I had with Mona was temporary. Even that small respite I had bought us by kidnapping the humans had come with a heavy price.

So when she told me it was over, it was hardly a surprise. There wasn’t much else either of us could do. Mona was bound to Rhys. She couldn’t leave him, even if she’d wanted to be with me.

Still, I couldn’t shake the frustration that had boiled up within me as she spoke the words. When she’d left the island, I’d thought it would pass, but it didn’t. If anything, it grew worse.

I tried to distract myself around the island. But there wasn’t much to be distracted by other than the ghastly rituals that were held each evening. The rest of the time, there wasn’t much to do. Even my siblings didn’t appear busy despite the fact that we were supposed to be rulers of this island.

Helina had explained that there were often long periods of inactivity. Then suddenly, some of us would be sent on random errands that were often urgent and could take several days to complete. But most of the time they were free, as long as they turned up to the rituals in the evenings.