“Guilty as charged, little mate. But I’d encourage you to try it on first before casting it into the fire,” he said, his voice thick and guttural, the sound of it close to unraveling the control I’d been holding together by threads. “It’s rather…exquisite on the skin. I think you might like it more than you anticipated.”
Unlike when he approached, I heard him head back over to the bed and get under the covers. I glared at the outfit. It was awkward enough to be getting into bed with my enemy and to be on a knife’s edge of jumping him in the name of Fae lust, but to wear this on top of everything…
Well, I didn’t want to look like I was asking for it.
I touched the rune on my neck—Cash’s—and closed my eyes. I thought about why I needed to stay focused, why I couldn’t give in no matter if I thought Aram might not be who we thought he was, and what Phillip put in his note. I had to be stronger than this. I couldn’t give in the first fucking day. I couldn’t abandon everything I was because it was a bit difficult to combat the urges.
Then I put on the black chemise and left the bathroom.
Aram had a book in one hand, while resting his naked upper half against the huge ornate headboard, looking all kinds of criminally delicious to my thirsty girl gaze. It was all I could do to keep calm and shut the fuck up.
His eyes flicked up from what he was reading to where I stood. His pupils were blown wide as soon as he caught sight of me. A blush crept into my cheeks, hyper-aware of his sudden lewd thoughts of my white thighs wrapped around his waist and my tiny body pinned under his the way he’d thought about since first laying eyes on me.
It was so fucking unhinged to be party to the lustful thoughts inside his head. I’d sensed similar with Cash, but it was wholly disconcerting to actuallyseethem. Images of what he wanted to do to me, how he’d worship my body, and what he’d do to make me moan changed one after another.
Kinky as fuck didn’t cover the feeling. The heat in my face was Defcon One. Even with as much experience as I had, I didn’t know how to navigate someone else’s fantasies about me. It was a whole new level of fucked up to see myself like that. Mouth open, gasping, reaching out and begging him to fuck me.
I swallowed the complaint sure to make its way out of my mouth if I didn’t get his thoughts on something else and walked out. I was annoyed by how he’d been right about the chemise. It was unbelievably comfortable. I didn’t feel as exposed as I thought I would be in it. Not any more than a t-shirt and pair of shorts, anyway.
His eyes followed me as I made my way over to the chaise lounge hugging the corner of the room. He clicked his tongue and was suddenly in front of me. I tried not to stare at how incredible his physique was now that nothing was obstructing it. He was all muscle and girth. My lewd stare snagged on a few scars before I dragged it away.
So even a god like him could be hurt…
“Youwillsleep on the bed,” he commanded in a deep baritone that rolled over me with all the authority of a king. “I can’t keep you safe if you’re not near me.”
It was literally twenty feet from the bed. Talk about being melodramatic.
“You should be grateful I’m even willing to be in the same room as you after everything, so you’ll get over it, or I’ll go join Kate in hers.” I scoffed, ignoring how amazing he smelled. Like a fucking dessert. His blood was calling to me the same way Cash’sdid. “Besides, I don’t need your abrasive, big-and-bad villain protection, thanks. I’m fully capable of protecting myself.”
He grabbed me by the chin, forcing our eyes to meet. “You are powerful, little mate, but you don’t know this realm or its creatures. You don’t know my brothers and…our enemies.”
Pretty sure one of those brothers was also my enemy, but whatever. I’d keep that little bit of uncomfortable truth to myself.
“Oh? Thought you said you weren’t hated like I was told,” I taunted, short of breath. Well, not breathing at all, if I were honest.
His self-derisive smile bothered me. I sensed his anxiety. “They’re your enemies too, trust me.”
“I don’t,” I whispered.
His eyes beamed a violent red. “I’m not your enemy, V. I never will be no matter what venom you spit at me.”
“Well, the threats you leveled against the people I care about so I’d agree to this contract with you beg to differ, asshole.”
My pulse was pounding, and the heat that had nagged at me earlier intensified this close to him. It made it difficult to sound as strong as I wanted. My voice was far softer than I intended it to be.
Other than a small pair of boxer-briefs, nothing stood between me and everything he could do to satisfy this growing lust. I expected him to touch me more, but he crossed his arms and his determined restraint echoed inside my head.
He didn’t want to touch me if I didn’t want it. He didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable. He only wanted to keep me safe, and that was easier if I was next to him. He was afraid he’d be too late and lose me the same way he lost the people he cared most about, his family, but he couldn’t argue with anything I’d said.
I stared at him. “You’re afraid.”
His shock radiated through me. “What makes you so confident, little mate?”
“Is it Hera?” I risked asking. I might give myself away at this rate, but I needed more insight. “You think she’s still alive?”
Aram’s jaw tautened. I felt his frustration with our bond and its obvious imbalance. It was another confirmation that he couldn’t access me the way I could him, and it was driving him crazy.
“I don’t think,” he started, his muscles harder than stone. “Iknow.”
