Chapter 113 – Refuge

• “Just briefly,” Kent murmurs, grabbing my left hand and pulling it to his mouth, kissing my knuckles like a prince and then turning my hand over and starting to drag kisses up the length of my forearm. “Not as long as it’s been on your hand, even,” he murmurs against my skin, trying to distract me. “A youthful mistake.”
• “Mistake!” I cry, aghast, ignoring the tingles on my skin where Kent has placed his lips. “Kent, you loved her.”
• Kent looks up at me seriously, then. “I thought I did,” he replies, lifting my arm and pulling it forward to loop it around his neck, where he wants it. “Natalia was…light and fire, so alive and passionate in comparison to Lenai’s cool disdain. I…misunderstood how she made me feel. I thought it was love.” Kent hesitates and then shrugs. “It’s complicated, Fay. And it was a long time ago.”