Destructive Embrace (15 page)

I got up and headed to the
bathroom so I could talk to myself in the mirror. When I looked at
my reflection, though, I sighed and leaned against the
wall.

“Comparing them isn’t too
foolish,” I told myself uncertainly. “I suppose.”

They were two very
different women, and I had feelings for them both because of who
they were. I couldn’t find it in myself to regret having feelings
for either of them, I realized. Thinking about Elyssa, my eyes lit
up and a smile broke out across my face like it was Christmas
morning and I was a little boy again, waiting for the rest of the
family to wake up so that I could open my gifts with
gusto.

Turning my thoughts to
Ollie, this goofy little smile fell into place on my face, and my
eyes were tender.

They evoked different
feelings within me, but the outcome was still the same: I loved
them both on certain levels. But loving Elyssa was wrong, I
reminded myself with a stern look.

“She is Mated to your dead
brother, and is hopefully bearing his child. And if it is, in fact,
Zeke’s child that rests in her womb, what kind of person are you
for loving a whore who sleeps with her Mate’s brother right after
said Mate’s death?” I berated myself silently for that last one,
because anyone who knew anything about the situation knew that
Elyssa was in pain, and Elyssa had even mentioned along the way
that Zeke was hurting over the situation as well.

It was wrong of her to
sleep with him of course, but I was suddenly certain that Zeke had
taken advantage of her kindness, her own vulnerability over the
situation. I knew they both were wrong for doing what they did, and
we wouldn’t even know whose baby it was until it was born
anyway.

“And who can resist the
face of a baby Lanistter at any rate?” I asked my reflection. I
shrugged and grinned, knowing full well that even if it was Zeke’s
child, it would still be raised with love and adoration directed at
it, and that it would be a baby that would be very well off for its
entire life, both concerning attention and finances.

And if it was Reid’s,
then…

It would grow up without a
father in its life.

Although, with Reid’s
brothers still being alive, the baby would certainly still have
father figures. There was no way we would allow Elyssa to go
through the process of raising the baby on her own, no matter what
had happened between the inhabitants of the Lanistter castle during
her stay.

Suddenly I realized that it
didn’t matter whose baby it was, because there was just no way that
Zeke was going to let Elyssa take off with the baby
anyway.

“Wait a minute,” I said,
laughing. “That doesn’t fix my problem!” I chuckled and shook my
head at my reflection. “Man, how easy it is for me to be distracted
by the issues of those around me instead of figuring out a solution
to my own problems! …Although, I suppose the fact that she’s
pregnant with one of my brothers’ babies does solve my problem, in
a way…”

I sighed again and left the
bathroom, having thoroughly depressed myself with my random
conversation with my reflection.

I turned for my bedroom door, snatching
up the long sword on my way out. If I was going to be trapped
inside my own head for the remainder of the day, then I at least
needed to be doing something to rid myself of the energy that was
flowing within me.

So training with the sword it was. As I
made my way out to the garden area that I always used to train, I
strapped the sword across my back and made sure it was in its
proper place. There was nothing that was more uncomfortable than
training with a new sword and having it settled in the wrong place
on one's back.

When I arrived in the gardens, I was
mildly disturbed to find that it was not empty. Elyssa sat on a
stone bench, toying with her steel Kodachi. She didn’t look up when
I stepped outside, although I knew that she was aware of my
presence.

I ignored her as she did to me, and
began my training. With each motion that I put myself through, her
presence dulled on my radar, until she faded away into a speck on
the very edge of it.

I was grateful later on as I thought
about it; I truly needed time away from thinking about my family's
newest dilemma, and Elyssa honestly was the only problem my family
had at that point. Tywin was gone, and there was nothing splitting
us apart aside from the possibility of Zeke fathering her child and
not Reid. And even then, it wasn’t really separating us, so much as
making us look at the both of them in completely new
ways.

"Dmitri," Elyssa interrupted my
thoughts. I was mid-swing as she spoke to me, and followed through
with the motion, bringing it all the way around my body until it
was at the proper point where I could twist it slightly and
re-sheath it.

"Yes, Elyssa?" I asked coolly. Out of
the corner of my eye, I noticed her flinching at my tone, but I
couldn’t bring myself to feel bad for it. She brought all of this
onto herself...

"How is your training coming?" she
asked after a moment of silence. I could tell that wasn’t what she
had been planning to ask me, but since she spoke it, I was not
going to search for another topic.

"Training is good," I replied with a
shrug. Sending a lazy glance over my shoulder at her, I nodded to
my sword. "It is not the first time I’ve handled such a weapon, you
know."

Her cheeks colored momentarily and she
glanced down. "No, of course not. I didn’t mean for it to sound as
though I believed that. Of course someone with your experience
would have had times where he has come across a blade that is
similar to the one on your back," she murmured thoughtfully.
"Someone with your experience knows a lot about blades in general,
and would of course know which he prefers..."

She paused, daring to look up and meet
my eyes. For the briefest moment, it was as though none of the bad
things that were going on existed. It was just me and my new best
friend, chatting. Then the moment passed, and I sighed.

"Your point being...?" I asked quietly,
making sure my tone was as least offensive as possible. Elyssa
sighed as well and looked away.

"It looks like this is your preferred
type of blade, that is all," she said. She stood quickly then and
walked away without another word.

I guessed that whatever was on her mind
in the first place was no longer pressing on the forefront of her
mind, since she was walking away without speaking on a different
topic other than swords.

At the last moment, before she entered
the castle, Elyssa turned back toward me.

"You hate me, don't you?" she asked
suddenly. Startled, I stared at her. She shrugged one shoulder at
me. "The way you look at me says it all, you know. I understand why
you feel that way, and I have no place to ask you to try to change
your mind. It just kind of upsets me that my first true friend here
hates my guts now." The sad smile that adorned her face at that
statement tugged at my heartstrings, but I remained silent.
"Anyway, see you around."

With that, she was gone, inside the
castle once more. I stared at the spot where she stood, and
wondered how such an intuitive and smart woman could possibly think
that I hated her when it was quite the opposite.

Maybe it has more to do
with my hiding abilities, than her ability to read you,
I thought, chewing thoughtfully on my bottom
lip.

I needed to get my mind off of Elyssa
before I drove myself insane. Heading inside, I decided to try to
find my Mate.

When I was unable to find her, even in
our room or in the room she’d begun to hide in to paint, I headed
back outside in defeat, only to find her in the gardens, gently
playing with a rose bud.

When she saw me, she stood up
straighter and headed inside without a backward glance.

Should I chase her?
I thought, staring after her.
Or should I just let her go, since I doubt she wants anything
to do with me...

“Ollie, wait,” I called, running inside
after her.

When she turned around, I ran up to
her, colliding with her as I held her face in my hands and kissed
her hard.

She pushed me off immediately, hissing
at me as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "What was
that for?!" she demanded, taking a few steps back from me. Talk
about an ego killer.

"I'm sorry," I muttered drily. "Isn't
that what you've been craving all this time, dear? Don't you want
me to love you in all the right ways?" I asked, stepping up to her
and trailing my fingertips along her neck and shoulders. The flush
that crept up her neck and into her face told me I was
spot-on.

"Not after you've all but abandoned me
for spending time with that woman," she replied, licking her lips.
Ollie pouted and I chuckled.

"If I abandoned you as you think I
have, I wouldn't be here right now, trying to make love to my
wife," I whispered, wrapping my arms around her waist and leaning
in to caress my lips across hers.

She furrowed her eyebrows and frowned
as though she was going to push me away again, but sighed against
my mouth and returned the kiss, sliding her hands up my chest. As
she would her arms around my neck, I carefully walked her backward
until she was between me and a wall.

“What would you know?” she asked
huskily, meeting my gaze with half-lidded eyes. “Trapped between a
rock and a hard place…”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Must you
make jokes now?” I teased, nuzzling my face into the crook of her
neck. She sighed again and let her head roll to the other side to
allow me access. “Much better, love,” I whispered against her skin,
trailing my hands down to her hips.

“Wait,” she stammered. “Not out
here…”

Pulling back, I laughed lightly. “Miss
Ollie, normally so bold, needs to take this someplace private? I
learn new things about you all the time…”

She blushed again, and I smiled. “I’m
sorry, love, I’m only teasing. Come on.” I held out my hand for
hers and she took it, allowing me to lead her back to our
room.

As I moved hurriedly
through the castle, on my way to my room so I could change my
clothes and catch a nice hot shower, Zeke's voice stopped
me.

"Elyssa!" he called out to
me. I growled under my breath and turned around to face him as he
ran up to me.

"Yes, Zeke?" I asked,
fisting my hands and placing them on my hips to show that I didn't
feel like dealing with him right then. “I was on my way to my room.
If you don't mind, can you walk with me? I’m dying for a shower; my
back hurts like hell."

At the mention of a shower,
Zeke's eyes had the telltale sign of mischief in them for half a
second before they returned to normal, and I held back a sigh. The
new Zeke wasn't as fun to be around as the old one. Not that I much
appreciated the sexual remarks or the beating, of course, but this
new Zeke was just odd. I was certain that anyone who knew him
better than me would also agree.

Zeke nodded once and
motioned for me to walk ahead of him. I did so, trying to stop my
hips from swaying as much as they normally did; I didn't want Zeke
to think that I was trying to seduce him just because my body was
changing with the damn baby inside me.

I began to walk toward our
section of the castle, and he started to speak. "So we realized
that Tywin’s spell means that he is still alive somewhere, right?"
he asked me slowly.

I frowned, nodding. I
didn't need a reminder. Not being able to leave the castle – even
though I didn't want to leave permanently yet – was a pain in the
ass.

Zeke hummed a note of
solemn acceptance at my nod before sighing. Then he continued,
“Well I think that he might be in Annibel’s body now."

I froze in my tracks, and
Zeke ran right into me, cussing softly under his breath. His
momentum sent me reeling forward, but he grabbed me by my hips and
held me against him gently for support.

"Are you alright?" he asked
in my ear.

Damn the chills that ran up
my spine as his breath ran along my flesh. I nodded, swallowing the
lump in my throat. “I’m fine, I suppose. I just can hardly believe
that he really didn't die. We killed Reid for no reason," I
whispered, trying to conceal my tears from him. I resumed walking.
It wasn't until we rounded the next corner that he grabbed me
gently and pressed me against the wall, keeping himself arm's
length away from me.

"Reid died so we could set
him free from my old man," Zeke insisted, cupping one of his hands
against the side of my face tenderly. "Don't ever think that he
died for no reason, okay?" I nodded, sniffling. I tried to hold the
tears in, but they escaped, and Zeke smiled as he brushed a few
away.

"Damn wench, making me go
soft," he muttered under his breath as he turned away from me and
resumed the trek down to our part of the castle.

I wondered what he meant by
that, and thought about it silently as we walked. It hit me when we
reached the main hall, though, and I scowled.