The Rejected Luna (Avery and Kaden) novel Chapter 204

**Between the Wings of Twilight Lies the Memory of You**
**by Liren Ava Roen**
**Chapter 204**

Damn that bastard. Why was he always kissing me in this lifetime? It was as if every moment he got, he was compelled to press his lips against mine. Did he honestly believe I was the same Zephyra from our past life? The one so hopelessly enamored that I would allow him to do as he pleased, no questions asked?

I must have dug my nails into his skin a little too hard, for he retaliated by biting down sharply on my lip, his jaw twitching with barely contained frustration.

“Are you blind?” he spat, his voice a low growl. “Horace was a loser, sure, but at least he had some charm. That pig outside is a three-hundred-pound slab of lard. He could crush you! Is this really your type? How did your taste degrade so dramatically?”

His insults hit me like a hammer, and my temples pulsed with irritation. In a flash, I pressed my palm against his mouth, urgency coursing through me. “Shut up! Don’t shout!”

His annoyance only escalated, and he yanked my hand away with a fierce determination. “I will shout! What are you going to do about it? Bite me?”

He was being utterly impossible, and I could feel my temper flaring. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my composure. “I’m not doing anything with him! He’s merely a pawn my aunt is using against me. Even if I were to stray, I wouldn’t do it in a way that pleases her. Besides, the fact that other men find me attractive only proves I have some charm. It’s not my fault! I don’t interrogate you about your admirers, so why do you constantly act so suspicious?”

“He was about to ‘share a bath’ with you! Am I not entitled to be angry?” Steven’s voice was frigid, his words slicing through the air with a sharpness that made me flinch. “And even if you were just playing along, did your voice really have to sound so damn sweet? You’ve never spoken to me like that.”

Sweet? Me? When had I ever adopted that tone?

Suddenly, I felt a chill run down my spine as the realization dawned on me. A sober Steven would never utter such words. He wasn’t the type to appreciate a coy woman—just look at how he admired Verna Garcia’s independence. And besides, I hadn’t been coy at all!

I narrowed my eyes, scrutinizing his face, searching for clarity.

“Steven, are you drunk?”

“Hey, little beauty, are you done in there? I can’t wait any longer. You don’t have to be perfectly clean; we can always wash up again after we’re finished.”

I quickly called back, my voice steady despite the chaos. “I know, I’ll be right out.”

The air around Steven turned icy, thick with tension. Before he could kick the door down and unleash his fury, I shoved him back against the wall, my heart racing. He attempted to push me aside, but in a moment of desperation, I shot my leg up, bracing it against the wall in a standing split to block his path. My dress slipped down slightly, revealing a long stretch of my pale, slender thigh, a stark contrast to the urgency of the moment.

With both hands, I pressed firmly over his mouth, our faces mere inches apart. Our breaths mingled in the charged atmosphere, and I could feel the heat radiating off him, his body suddenly going rigid, muscles taut beneath my touch. I focused on his dark, stormy eyes, choosing my words carefully, mixing persuasion with a hint of threat.

“Steven, I need to finish what I started today. There can be setbacks, but there can’t be mistakes. You’ve already wasted so much of my time. Now, you need to get out of here through that opening. Go straight down the hall; my room is the last one on the right. Stay there.”

“No matter what happens, don’t come downstairs. Don’t interfere in my family’s affairs. Go to sleep. When I’m done, I’ll come find you in my room—”