Bree Porter

The second and final book in the Tarkhanov Empire duet, Elena Falcone returns to Konstantin Tarkhanov after leaving him three years ago. However, the darkness that haunts their lives hasn't left and the two must work together to make the word safe again for their son.

Empress of Poisons

isha panwar

would have been a 3 star had it not been fir the romandanika crumbs

MIS AMORES LOS AMO TANTO TANTO TANTO 💌

We crashed down into the ground together, her above me. Her knees pressed into my chest, her presence overwhelming my senses as we pressed against each other. Almost as entwined as the flora that surrounded us.

Elena paused for a moment, confusion growing in her expression.

“My Elena,” I sighed, eyes running furiously over her as I absorbed every new mark and crease. 

She had grown older in her expression, her features growing sharper and more arresting as she matured into them. Heavy bags laid beneath her eyes, the green irises now holding ghosts and fury in their depths. 

No new words marked her skin, but I could see the very faint pen. I could only make out one word. Laundry.

I reached out and pushed back her hair. It felt like straw to the touch. “My Elena, oh my Elena. Lyubimaya. My soul, my heart.”

I could see her mind moving a mile a minute behind her eyes, stumbling over calculations and solutions and problems. 

So quiet, that I might’ve not have even heard it, she breathed, “Kon.”

My hand cupped her cheek, my fingers and palm fitting so perfectly around her face that we could’ve been two puzzle pieces clicking together to form the final picture.

I couldn’t tell you how many times I had said his name. I had told the entire family and let it spread to the guards. I said it over and over until it was more noise than word, until it sounded like an alarm and not a name.

When Elena had said his name was Nikolai, the masculine version of the name Nikolia, I had been surprised. It had been the first indication that Elena was still entangled with this family. But then she had said his name...

🏹 I look like a branch with eyes,” I finished my rant with. “A branch with fucking eyes.”

I nearly shot out my seat. “Are you laughing?”

“Forgive me, my Elena.” He managed to calm himself down long enough that he could speak. “I did not mean to laugh.”

My Elena. I only had a second to pick up the term of endearment before my anger took over.

“I’m glad I amuse you,” I all but hissed.

Konstantin bowed his head. “I do apologise. It just baffled me how intelligent you are and yet still...can be so clueless?”

Clueless? I nearly threw my wine on him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He chuckled and shook his head. Then with blazing focus, he pinned his eyes on me, rooting me in place. “It means you are the most beautiful creature that has ever walked the earth. When I look at you, I see mountain peaks and flowers blooming for the first time. You are the stream running through the trees and the breeze rustling the leaves.

You could never be reduced to words such as pretty or cruel or kind. All the languages in the world could never find a term to do you justice, much less a throwaway compliment.” Konstantin didn’t lift his eyes from mine. I had been swallowed whole. “Describing you commands one’s entire mouth and an essay of idioms. There is simply no other way to define you.”

I couldn’t speak. My tongue weighed a thousand pounds in my mouth, my brain was a busted circuit.

“And you ask me if the world will think you’re not capable of loving your son. You ask me if you’re capable of loving anyone properly? Oh, lyubimaya, you are spilling with love. For a long time it might not have been for a person, but I read your words and saw your eyes light up when you spoke about data and laboratories. You have been a creature of love your entire life; loving people is just harder than loving things.”  

I had to look down at my hands, breaking eye contact. Tears welled but I refused to let them fall.

Empress of Poisons

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