The Last Strike (THE ROYALS Book 4) by Brooke Sivendra

Author:Brooke Sivendra [Sivendra, Brooke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780648568872
Published: 2021-04-02T18:30:00+00:00

Abi

Abi leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. His fingers traced circles on her back, sending a shiver down her spine. Asher’s lips pressed against the crown of her head, lingering.

She moaned softly and Asher drew her in, slipping one leg between hers. He turned onto his side, gazing into her eyes.

It took Abi a moment to see he was troubled.

“What’s wrong?” she asked quickly. He’d been fine when they’d gone to bed.

“I keep thinking of something Theodora said. She’s spent her entire life wishing for freedom, and now that she will soon have it, she doesn’t know what to do—how to live without the confines and responsibility of royal life and duties,” Asher said.

He lifted her chin. “I don’t want you to regret this life. Already, the past few weeks, I feel like we’ve barely seen each other. I’ve been consumed by this war, and I’ve imposed on you everything that I’ve spent much of my life resenting.”

Abi traced a finger along his hairline and down his jaw. She pressed it against his lips.

“We’ve had these conversations before, Asher. I make my own decisions, and this is not something you imposed on me. Let us not forget I knew who you were and what loving you would entail far before you even knew my real name. You see this as a burden, but I don’t see it that way.”

“I don’t see it as a burden, I just . . . royal life is not what people think it is,” Asher said. “I want you to be happy, Abi.”

She smiled, hoping he could see the truth of her heart in her eyes. “I am happy, Asher. As long as I have projects to work on, I will be happy. I need to have purpose, but what that looks like doesn’t bother me. IFRT was ultimately about service, about making the world a better place. My role now will have the same purpose. It’ll just look different.”

He rolled on top of her, cupping her face with one hand while the other bore most of his weight. “We’ll figure this out. I want you to be happy—I want you to love our life together.” He looked thoughtful a moment. “I find myself questioning every decision I make now. I’m not questioning if the decisions are right for me, but for everyone else—for you, for Santina. Nothing is about me anymore and I wonder if I’ll lose myself in this role. Some days I don’t even recognize myself.”

Abi pressed her lips to his, letting them linger a moment. “We will ground you, Asher. Me, your mother, Alistair . . . almost certainly my father,” she joked.

Asher chuckled and his eyes looked lighter.

“We’ll pull you back when we need to. You have to change—to grow—into this role, but you won’t lose yourself. You’ll be the same you, but a better one,” she said, squeezing her arms around his bare torso.

He smiled warmly. “Loving you has been the one decision I’ve never questioned, and I can’t wait until I can finally marry you.

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