The intensityin Aflora’s features gave me pause. “You think I want you to choose?”
I would never ask for such a thing. It would be akin to asking her to kill a piece of her soul. We were all part of her, whether we liked each other or not. And while I certainly did not care for Zakkai, I acknowledged who he was to her.
I could also admit his use to her as a protector as well.
There wasn’t anyone else in this world better suited to guard Aflora than Zakkai.
“I would never want you to choose, pixie flower,” I added in a low voice, my hand cupping her cheek while my opposite palm remained against her hip. “We’re your mates, even when we hate each other.”
“Hate is a little strong,” Zakkai replied, his lips ghosting along her neck to settle over her pulse. “Dislike, maybe. Hate, no. I just wanted to make a point. Again.”
My jaw clenched at his words, mostly because I understood them. Respected them, too. Because his point had been needed.
And admittedly, I hadn’t possessed the ability to push her the way he had.
She wasn’t the delicate flower I first met, but a being of superior magic and strength that I admired to the depths of my soul.
However, it was hard for me to see that part of her. Because it required me to hurt her to ignite the power within her, and I had learned over the last few weeks that harming my mate was not a natural skill of mine. In the bedroom in a fun way? Yes. In reality, where she could seriously be injured by things outside my control? Absolutely not.
Zakkai seemed able to provoke her without regret. Like he was somehow programmed to mete out dangerous training.
I envied that about him. It granted him a measure of control over our situation that I couldn’t attain. And I did not handle a lack of control well.
I met his gaze over her shoulder. “I may not agree with your methods,” I said slowly. “But I can’t deny the outcome of those methods.”
His responding nod was short and to the point. Then he returned his focus to Aflora’s neck, his lips worshiping her skin. “I don’t hate your Guardian lover, little star,” he informed her. “I just refuse to kneel to him.”
I snorted. “Likewise.”
Aflora sighed. “You both are going to be the death of me.” She relaxed between us while she spoke, her fingers tracing my nape near the edge of my hairline. “Can I please be done for today?”
Zakkai’s eyes met mine once more, a foreign understanding passing between us. “No,” he said softly. “We still have another lesson to deliver.”
His palm slid up her side to her breast, squeezing her flesh while holding my gaze.
A new activity.
One about unity and understanding.
He was inviting me in his own way to help deliver that lecture. We might fight one another on many things, constantly striving to best the other, but at the end of it all, we were still her mates. And we would never make her choose.
“You did well today,” I told her.
“Extremely well,” Zakkai added. “But you failed to understand something important, Aflora.”
“Yes,” I agreed, drawing my thumb along her lip.
“What?” she breathed. “What did I miss?”
“The fact that we will never make you choose,” I told her, leaning forward to kiss her.
“But we might make you take us both,” Zakkai murmured at her ear.
“B-both?” she stammered against my mouth.
“It’s a suitable lesson, isn’t it?” I studied her eyes, noting her flared pupils. “You doubted our intentions. Now we’ll demonstrate them thoroughly.”
“By not letting you choose,” Zakkai finished for me. “And neither of us will submit, Aflora. Which means you’ll be forced to handle us together.”