Chapter Twenty-four

Elaine's POV

Hearing those three words come out from his mouth for the first time made me feel as though I was floating in the air. He didn't respond after I had asked for clarity, which made me a bit scared that he didn't love me as much or he was joking.

"I love you, Elaine," he responded with so much hesitation as though he wasn't even sure of himself. "I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time, but I knew there was Damien and maybe someone else that you were interested in, and I didn't want you to say it back to me because you felt obliged to or something like that… However, those words are of no good use in my heart if they don't get to you, especially now that my enemies are really after me…" He trailed off.

"Kai?" I called out quietly.

"If anything happens to me, I want you to know that I've always loved you. You happened to be the only thing to calm me down and bring me peace after a long day. I'm sorry it was me just messing up your dreams, but I was too scared that everything would go wrong. I'm not as scared as I was then, but that doesn't guarantee anything either, so I want you to have it at the back of your mind, whether you feel the same way or not, that—"

"I love you, Kai," I interrupted, taking him aback. "I know it sounds unreal because there are other males that I'm drawn to, but theirs is just an attraction and nothing as deep as what I feel for you." I paused to look him in the eyes.

His lips were seriously twitching, and he looked so confused as though I spoke in a different language or so. I was about to repeat myself, but he held my chin so tenderly, looking into my eyes as though he were trying to find the answers by himself.

"I do love you, Kai," I repeated, confirming to him the answer lying in wait in my heart for a long time.

He claimed my lips before I could speak up, moving his tongue against mine as if it were our very last kiss on earth. He fought for dominance, and I wasn't giving it to him… at least not soon. Our passionate fight led us from the point where we were standing to a nearby wall, where I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he buried his hands under my dress.

"Kai," I moaned when he grazed the sensitive skin around my belly button. He took advantage of my little moan and buried his tongue deeper inside my mouth, exploring every nook and cranny while I grabbed his hair tightly, pushing him harder into me until we were almost out of breath.

"You don't have to say it if you're not ready, Elaine. I don't want to rush you into—"

"Don't be silly, Kai. I never knew what it was, even at the point when you and Damien asked me what I wanted. I didn't get my answer when Cordelia had helped me, neither did I when Luca asked me if I did love you," I confessed to him. "I didn't know why it had to take me almost losing you to know the answer to that question, and now that I do have an answer and I know it's true, I'll say it whenever I like." I bored deep holes into his soul through my eyes.

He chuckled at the fierceness in my voice, while I kept praying that none of this was a dream I'd wake up from because I'd be so shattered to know how difficult it was to get either of us to confess our feelings for each other, only for it to just end up being a dream.

"If you say so, my lady," he whispered, taking my hands into his before he bent to kiss my knuckles.

"Now make me yours and yours alone," I whispered into his ear while he led me to the bed. "Let them smell your scent from me, and let them know even without coming close that I utterly belong to you."

"As you wish, my lady," he repeated, however, in a much more dangerous tone than the first time he made the sentence.

He held my dress from the center of my cleavage, tearing it down, while my fingers swiftly found the buttons of his shirt and unbuttoned them. He turned me without warning so that I was backing him. His fingers unclasped my bra before he started kneading each breast like a dedicated baker. I wrapped my arm around his neck from behind as I watched him through the mirror.

Soon, he flipped me over again, pushing me to the bed while he quickly removed his sweatpants. He kissed me roughly yet passionately from my lips, ears, neck, cleavage, breasts, stomach, belly button, and finally in between my legs.

Something felt so different when he pulled my panties down, letting fresh air hit my core. The whole feeling of him being in between my legs felt different. It felt more intense, and even though he had been a little rough while kissing me, he took his actions down there tenderly.

I pulled him from his head while arching my back.

"Nothing about this needs to be gentle, Kai," I almost cried. "Eat me out and fuck me like the beast you are, or don't touch me at all!"

I regretted the words that left my mouth the moment they did, seeing that his eyes were no longer the lighter shade I knew but the dark shade of his demons. He spread my legs widely but not wide enough to hurt me, and instead of burying his head, he slammed his dick inside of me without warning, causing me to gasp. I held on to the sheets on the bed, holding on to them as though they were my life.

The fact that Kai didn't stop banging in and out of me made me scream so hard until I lost my voice. He collapsed beside me, a bit tired, even though his eyes still had the dark shade of its original color.

"Do you really want to be mine, Elaine? You have my heart and my entire being with you always, but it's not something I would brag about because everything from me is as cursed as I am. However, you wanting to be mine… are you sure about that?" he asked with his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes. I want you to have my entire being," I agreed firmly.

"You're asking for a bond, Elaine, and it's not easy to break free from one."

Ending the long talk, I reached for a small knife that sat in my drawer closer to my bed for times when I had to defend myself. I slashed my wrist open and pushed it against his lips.

"You refuse to take it, and I'll know that you refuse to accept me," I told him, meaning every word I said.

He did drink before leaning in to kiss me, slowly and passionately. I didn't know how he managed to cut his tongue while they were also busy exploring my mouth, but he did and swallowed the crimson liquid without a second thought, blushing afterwards because I could finally call him mine.

Grabbing the sheets, I pulled them over our naked bodies when my eyelids were starting to feel heavy. I laid on my side, resting my head against his chest so that I could hear his heartbeat.

"I'll always try to protect you with everything that I have, Elaine, even till my dying breath," he promised while playing with the strands of my hair. "And if I do get freed from this curse one day, know that you are part of the reason I kept fighting, and I'd give everything to make it worthwhile. But if I don't and end up dying in the process, there's Damien or whoever your heart falls deeply in love with."

"You really love to talk a lot of nonsense," I yawned, turning my back to him. How could he be talking about death already when we just agreed to become one? What did he think would have been my response, or did he not see how his words were hurting me?

"Elaine," he called my name, but I ignored him until he was able to decipher what it was that he did wrong.

"Why are you so negative about your curse? Why does it feel like you've given up, even without fighting? Why can't you see that even if you were to die now, I wouldn't let you go that easily? Why, Kai? Why?!" I scolded, almost breaking down in tears by the little faith he had in us.

"I'm so sorry, Elaine. I didn't mean it that way, I promise," he sat up and held me close to his chest.

"Promise me that you'll fight to the very end, and you'll do that without pushing me away," I sniffed in my tears after a while before finally turning to look at him.

"I promise. Just for your sake."