uninvited

chapter fortytwo

Undue panic. What about her undue panic? She was having some right now. "Let's tackle one thing at a time. Any more upsetting news and my brain may pop. I was upset when I thought you deceived me then I was okay because I realized I didn't think you did. That's huge for me. And now this? You king? That's almost as upsetting."

She didn't know how long she'd been pacing but she did it now like the hounds of hell were snapping at her feet. "You shouldn't have let me fall for you without all the information. I wasn't kidding, you should have chosen Hayden. I don't want to be queen. Who even has to say that? Julian and I have no secrets, and if that is what you're asking of me then I take back my promise and we should end things now."

"I do not release you from your promise. I will keep telling you until you believe me, you are my mate. You were born to be queen."

Yep, to sad to be funny. "I don't even know how to process all of this. I should get back to Julian and Lee before the whole school knows what the scrooges did."

"Jessalynn, look at me please. I know this is a lot to take in, but nothing has changed between us. We will talk this out."

She should be walking away, so why wasn't she? Oh, that's right, she was a dumbass who was glutton for pain. A shit for brains. Plus, there was they whole she liked him thing. Liked him a lot.

The circumstances sucked but he hadn't lied to her. He hasn't done anything but be sweet and caring. Perfect, really. The way he looked at her was perfect. It was even adorable that he was retarded enough to think she could be a queen.

And dear lord, the chemistry. Even upset as she was right now, she still longed to be close to him. It was physically hard to stay away.

Somehow just thinking it was enough and she was transported into his lap.

"What is upsetting you the most?"

"Falling for someone is the worst thing I could have done. It's stupid to care for someone who could hurt you. I liked my life the way it was before you. Before all of this. And I won't keep something from Julian. I can't."

He touched her face so tenderly that she finally got around to looking at him. "Kellum." She moaned at the way he was looking at her. He liked her, so wasn't it okay that she liked him?

He nodded. "That is right, Jessalynn. Just Kellum. The same I was last night. One day king to everyone else but more important than that, I am your mate. You do not have to be afraid of me. Or of your feelings. You are safe with me."

Kell took her face into his hands. "You are my queen. Sometimes that will mean doing things you do not want to do. I would love to be able to share everything with Frick or even my brother, but I cannot. Because their well-being is my first concern. Seeing to everyone's well-being is my duty. That means I will always have things to keep to myself, but you will not have to do that. You will be able to share everything with me. Be able to speak with me about anything, and for the first time in a long time, I will have someone I can confide in. You do not know how much that means to me."

"The same boy who held me last night?"

"The same." He promised.

"There's only one way to be sure."

Their lips found each other's. Before it's always been soft, tender kisses. An exploration of each other. Sweet. She was left feeling happy. Peaceful.

Yeah, all that went out the window.

No warm gooey feelings. More like a fever. A flash fire.