I knock on Klevon's room. When I hear his faint, "Come in," I push open the door.
I swallow as I watch him sitting against the wall. He is absently caressing his bottle of liquor. His eyes are on the window on his right, watching the rainwater run down against the windowpane.
"Welcome back, Kaiya," he whispers, shifting his attention to me. "Ready for another round?"
He stands up, places the bottle on the table, and undresses before climbing onto the bed. I move towards him and sit on the side of the bed.
Removing my clothes, I say, "You will need to tie me up on the bed, Klevon."
"What?"
I look at him. He is completely naked. He really is a huge, muscular man. I am sure that other women will find him attractive. I just hope that I can do it now that I no longer have the mate bond with Theo.
Completely baring myself to him, I sit before him on the bed. I glance at his crotch. Even without doing anything, he is already erect.
"You need to tie me up on the bed so I won't run away from you."
He grimaces. "Are you serious now, Kaiya?!" he asks, his tone getting louder.
"I know this is a duty between us, so I want to do it."
He snorts. "You want to do it? Or, you just have no choice?"
I remain silent while my heart races. I hold my breath when suddenly he pushes me down onto the bed with a force that sends pins and needles through my body. My groans of protest are cut off when his kisses become more urgent and demanding. His caresses are no longer gentle. Instead, they become cruel and unforgiving, bruising my skin as he moves from one spot to another. I take silent sobs of pain as his hands traverse my trembling body, unable to escape the anger in his touch.
Suddenly, he pulls me up and embraces me. This time, more gently, his lips brushing against my shoulder and his hands lightly massaging my back.
I feel water running down my arms. He is trembling, and when I realize he is crying, all the tension in my body disappeared. Slowly, I wrap my arms around his shivering body. I straddle him and hold him instead.
"I am sorry, Klevon," I whisper. "I'm sorry for hurting you like this."
He pushes me down again while holding my wrists tightly against the bed. He presses his body against mine while biting on my skin.
I flinch at the pain and heave under his heavy weight. I close my eyes. I feel bad. Am I really going to survive in exchange for hurting him? By doing this to him?
With a peaceful resolution, I whisper, "Let's not do it, Klevon."
But he continues biting and sucking on my skin. When he parts my legs, I catch his head.
"Klevon, listen. It's okay. Let's not do this."
"You will die!" he screams at me, his voice harsh. "And there will be a war!"
I grab tightly on his face and make him look at me. His face is a mixture of desire and hurt.
"We are not heroes. You don't have to suffer like this."
"I am not suffering! I want you! I desire you in my bed."
"And yet, this is becoming hard for you. I will trap you, Klevon. Whenever I am not pregnant, I will seek you out so you can impregnate me, and it will happen again and again. It will be life imprisonment with me," I explain, thinking of Inanna's words.
"I don't care if it's with you!"
"You should. I don't think I will ever fall for you. I like you, and I think you are a good man. But you deserve so much better than me, especially when someone else already claimed my heart."
He grips my shoulders. His shoulders are trembling as if he is fighting an inner battle against himself.
"I can't let you die and have wars in this land. People like me will survive, but I don't want to live in that chaos."
He gently caresses my face. "I love you, Kaiya, and I want you. In fact, I am willing to be your extra lover once a year or every two years. I am ready to be hurt every time you return to Theo. Is it really too hard for you to take me?"
"It's not!" I say. "In fact, you are a great lover, and I think whoever you will be in the future will be such a lucky woman!"
"Yet you won't be that lucky woman."
"I won't be. But Klevon..." I sit up and hug him again. "You might say you are ready, but this is the first time I've seen you in this much pain." I pause and add, "And so, let's live our lives. Let's be happy, no matter how few our remaining days are."
He looks up at me. "But Kaiya..."
At such a tender moment, I press my lips against his. "A goodbye kiss," I whisper, stroking his cheeks where his scar is. "You should know that you are a great kisser, Klevon."
This time, he smiles. "After all this time, you chose this moment to admit it. You really are unfair, Kaiya."
"I am," I say as I move away from him.
I sit on the side of the bed and start wearing my clothes. Somehow, it is incredible how easily a person changes his mind. I enter the room with the sole purpose of making love to him, so I will survive. And now, after seeing his pain and hurt, I've completely accepted that soon I will die.
After a while, I turn towards him. He is still gazing at me. I extend my hand toward him, and he takes it. "Thank you, Klevon. You will always be a dear friend to me."
He smirks. "And you will be the most selfish, unfair, and worst friend that I ever have."
I grin. "Sounds about right."
We are still smiling at each other when the door bursts open. I whirl toward the interruption, and my eyes widen.
"Is this before or after?" he asks.
His red hair is a perfect sunrise, a glowing warmth that envelops me and takes my breath away in just a glance. A spark ignites, followed by an immediate but invisible connection between two people.
"I heard you break your mate bond with King Theo," he adds.
His eyes settle on me, and a look of understanding passes over his face at the same time that butterflies flutter in my stomach. Despite knowing him, it feels like this is the first time I find him so beautiful, too mesmerizing, that I feel like the world stands still, with only the two of us.
"Oh! Did we just activate a mate bond between us, Kaiya?" he asks, his voice a harmony, a spectrum of all the warm colors.
I move towards him, a sense of something fresh and new, like the first dewy morning, not to mention the overwhelming fruity scent of hope.
Midway across the room, Klevon catches my arms, and I look back at the man who interrupts us. King Seth Raiya of Orttenburg is currently making me feel this spark that radiates throughout my being.
Seth grins, a victorious smile on his face. "Well, hello, Kaiya. I guess we are connected by a mate bond now."
This time, I grimace at him, and all I can say is, "Oh, f*uck. I messed up."