“If the deal isn’t honored, it will be a violation of the contract both Ursa and I signed.” Her eyes are a little hazy with pleasure from my touching her, but her voice is clear. “The penalty for breaking the contract is harsh, Alaric. If Hades turns against Ursa, there’s a good chance the rest of the territory leaders will as well, if only to stay on his good side. So, you see, I am protected. You’d know that if you read a contract in your life instead of jumping into deals recklessly.”
I should stop this, should slow us down. She just had sex for the first time in a situation that is hardly ideal for emotional stability. But, damn it, I can’t help stepping to the line she’s drawn in the sand. “Now we’re going to throw stones, Zuri? Don’t act like you had a plan when you came here.” I press two fingers into her.
She makes that delicious whimpering sound, but she’s still glaring at me. “You don’t get to be mad. You got what you wanted. So climb down off that high horse, Alaric. It’s not a good look for you.”
I shift forward, bracing myself over her shoulder with my free hand as I continue the slow fucking with my fingers. “You like the way I look.”
“A pretty face…” Her breath gets a little choppy. “It doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know you. I thought I did, but I was wrong.” Abruptly, she shoves at my chest. “I can’t do this. Not like this.”
“Zuri—”
“Hurricane.”
The word falls between us like the calm before a storm. I stare down at her, my exhale damn near a gasp. When did I start breathing hard? “You just safed out.”
Zuri inches away from me slowly, like she’s not sure I’ll really stop. That, more than anything, sends reality slamming into me. I told her I could do anything to her, and now she’s not sure what to believe. I am an unbelievable asshole.
I move back, giving her space. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. Stop lying to me.” She only stops putting distance between us when her back presses to the headboard. “Please leave.”
“Zuri—”
“You don’t get to call me that anymore! Only my friends call me that.” A tear trails down her pretty face, that single piece of evidence of her hurt striking me more than her slap did earlier. “Please leave.”
She won’t accept aftercare from me, and I have no one to blame but myself. Ursa paved the way for us to figure out shit out. Except… Maybe she knew it would end like this, a chasm opening up between us that is destined never to be crossed. Ursa doesn’t like loose ends, and my conflicted feelings for Zuri are exactly that. It would be just like her to ensure that there’s nothing left unsaid between us, no matter how venomous the words.
That blasted guilt pricks me again, except it doesn’t feel like a vague pain. It feels like it has me by the throat. I swallow hard, but it does nothing to dispel the sensation of having my airway closed off. I always fuck up the things that matter. I just didn’t realize Zuri might number among them until this moment.
And now it’s too late.
Chapter 13
Ursa
It takes all of thirty minutes for Alaric to return to my room, slouching through the door like a whipped dog. He hesitates, his gaze firmly on the wood floor. “She kicked me out.”
I almost laugh at how perfectly these two are playing to my tune. It’s really too simple. I wind them up and set them on a collision course and they are only too happy to perform to expectation. “I gave you an order, lover.”
His brows lower, the first indication that I’m pushing him past the point of caution. “We need to talk.”
He’s not wrong, but talking can wait until Zurielle is no longer in my home. We’ve waited this long; waiting a week more requires a pittance of patience. That’s logical. It’s not procrastinating a hard conversation. I simply…
I fight back a sigh. It doesn’t matter what my motivations for holding things off is. Right now I have an angry Alaric in my room and he’s not going anywhere, regardless of my commands. The man might be submissive in most of his interactions with me, but one glance at the stubborn expression on his face tells me everything I need to know.
If I try to send him away again, he’ll dig in his heels and we’ll have a fight on our hands.
He stalks toward me. He takes in my wardrobe change with a sweep of his gaze, lingering on the deep V of my robe before he finally lands on my face. “We need to talk,” Alaric repeats.
I’m not ready. I don’t have the framework for this conversation laid out. For the first time in a very long time, I am not sure what he’s going to say. “Talk.”
“What happens now?”
I raise an eyebrow, striving to keep my faintly amused mask in place. “Now we spend the next seven days fucking Zurielle.”
His jaw tightens. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Isn’t it?” I step closer. “Are you looking for permission or forgiveness? If you want the former, you have it. The latter, you might as well seek out a priest.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It’s exactly that simple.” I’m already tired of this conversation. Alaric is beautiful and savage beneath his polished exterior, but he’s nowhere near cold enough to survive this world without someone watching over him. He’s so incredibly lucky that Hades offered him a bargain—and subsequently the Underworld became his caretaker for the last few years. The guilt he’s carting around over allowing Zurielle to walk into this situation of her own will is ridiculous.
Unless…
I tilt my head to the side, considering him. “Did you start to believe the lie, lover?”
“What?” He closes down his expression, which is a tell all its own.
I run my hands up his bare chest. “You spent several weeks in Olympus playing Romeo to her Juliet. Did you start to see a different version of yourself reflected in the stars in her eyes?” I reach his shoulders and skate my nails down his arms. “One where you really are Prince Charming, or at least a knight in shining armor? One where you have honor?”
Alaric drops his gaze. “I know better.”
“Yes, you do.” I lace my fingers through his long enough to give his hands a squeeze and then force myself step back. No matter what else I am, I’m not in the business of tying people to me who don’t want to be here. Not in any kind of long-term way. Better that he leaves now and makes a clean break for both of us. “If you don’t have the stomach for this, leave. It was meant to be a reward after months of hard work, but I’m hardly going to force you to fuck the girl.”
“Ursa, that’s not what I meant.”
This time, I can’t stop my sigh. Alaric is wonderful. Truly, he is. But sometimes I am so godsdamn tired of having to play the dominant party so he can dodge his guilt. Up until this point, he’s been a fun partner, but this hesitance just proves what I already suspected. I can’t trust him enough to lean on him. My frustration gets the best of me and adds some ire to my tone. “Then what did you mean?”
“I just…” He hesitates. “I need you to help me stop thinking.”