LOGIN“What, and you didn’t do the same with Sebastian?” Gideon grabbed my left hand and held it up, waving it in my face so the golden ring glinted in the sunlight.I flushed and yanked my hand away. “That was different.”He raised one brow. “Enlighten me.”I opened my mouth, then closed it.“Look, “ he
Avery’s POVGideon didn’t say anything right away. Instead, he just stared at me like I had two heads. Then, with more calmness than I expected, he walked to the window and stood there with his back to me, looking out at the workers in the distant fields.Finally, he turned to look at me again. “Tha
“Loved you,” I corrected quietly.Gideon didn’t comment on that part. “Leave him,” he repeated. “Let’s fix this. Please.”I was quiet for a moment, working out how to say the next part. Then I just said it. “I’m not married to Sebastian.”Gideon was quiet.“We have an arrangement,” I said. “He offer
Avery’s POVThe sun had come up already. The birds were singing outside the window, and the scent of freshly mowed grass was in the air. Nighttime had come to its end, and morning had arrived.So did the shame. It came right after I realized that I was still on the couch with my dress rumpled around
“No.”“Good.” His member sat heavily in my palm, warm and thick and just as familiar as it had been ten years ago, that night when we met in the forest and didn’t even see each other’s faces in the shadows. It filled me just the same as it had back then, swift and deliberate and oh so delicious.Gid
Avery’s POV“I love you, Avery.” He said it again but more slowly, like he wanted to make sure each word landed with the equal amount of pressure. “I always have. And I’m sorry that I didn’t make it clear enough before. I’m sorry that I pushed you away because I was too much of a coward to say it ou
“Who told you that the angelica flowers were traditional?” Gideon asked, voice flat. I hesitated. I knew who it had been, but I didn’t want to implicate her. It had been Madelyn who had given me the info and allayed my suspicions when I’d found the unusual flowers. From our conversation the ot
Avery’s POVI awoke slowly, like swimming up through deep water.There was a strange, metallic taste in my mouth, and my head pounded. I was laying on a hard surface. Dirt, perhaps? My limbs felt far-away and heavy. They didn’t respond to my attempts to move.All I could do was lay here.Weariness
Gideon’s POVI dragged Avery behind me through the back hallway and out into the open air. She followed me compliantly, and a part of me was pleased that she was so willing to let me lead her to where we could talk.I spun her to face me, and the setting sun behind her crowned her with a golden halo
If we married, I would always be the other woman, trying to fill a missing woman’s shoes.And if she turned up…Why would Gideon even think twice about keeping me around if his true fated mate could be his Luna? I was just a temporary fill-in—someone to honor the treaty so that he could avoid war wi







