“What the fuck would you know about love, Aria?”
“That when I find it with the perfect mate, it better be exactly like that,” I whispered, smiling sadly. “I don’t want no basic bitch romance, I want to rip it apart and watch it grow from the ground up. I want to build it so fucking fortified that no one can ever touch it because me and my guy? We’d fight the entirety of the Nine Realms to keep it safe. That is what I want, and I won’t find that here, and sure in the hell won’t be with you. You live with ghosts and are fueled by the need to avenge them. I live in the now, here, right now.”
He stared at me through narrowed eyes as if my words had found their target. I bowed my head, exhaling. His chest rose and fell as he scowled, unwilling to look away as I challenged him to go barebones with me, only I didn’t want his love; I wanted the war he promised.
“I will fight you, Knox. Not because I want to, but because to stand beside you, I have to choose between my family and a man who doesn’t even like me. You made this decision easy for me.” I dismissed him, giving him my back as I walked toward the bed, dragging chains across the floor. I crawled onto the bed, peering at him as I rested my head on my hand. “I’m about to become your worst fucking nightmare, so go and enjoy the party below. I will rest, as I have a war for which to prepare.”
“I hope you’re ready to lose because losing isn’t an option for me. I’ve had five hundred years to plan; you’ve had five fucking minutes, little one.”
“I’m a woman, Knox. We only need a few minutes to rain hell down upon men. I wish you luck because you will need it. I’m about to rattle your fucking soul and bring you to your knees.”
Chapter 59
I felt a body pressed against mine as hands roamed down my curves in a slow exploration. Lips touched my neck, and I moaned, turning to claim them in a demanding kiss. My body arched off the bed, rocking against fingers that pushed through the naked heat between my legs, and I heard a dark chuckle at my response. I spread my legs, giving more access until my eyes popped open, and I sat up, wide awake, and pushing Knox away from me before he could hold me down with his weight. My body flushed with a raw, brutally aching need that soaked into my bones.
Closing his eyes, Knox leaned into me, inhaling deeply, savoring my scent while releasing a low, husky growl that made the smoldering flame inside of me ignite and catch fire. “Your body wants me, woman.”
“Yeah, well, my body makes awful decisions occasionally, and you’re its current worst mistake,” I muttered through sleep that clung heavily to my words.
“Ride me, witch.” Knox rested on his back, exposing his cock, which was hard and ready to use. I shivered at the explosive need to do as he said and hated that my body wanted him. It was bipolar, and it took everything I had in me not to straddle him and do just as he’d wanted.
My body flushed, purring huskily as I jumped out of bed and moved away from him. Distance was needed, because if I didn’t get some, he was going to end up getting some of me, and that, he didn’t deserve. I shook my hands out as I stretched my neck, inhaling slowly.
“It is right here, Aria,” he taunted huskily, slowly stroking his cock as he watched me warring against my needs. “All you have to do is take what you need.”
“Hard pass, literally. You don’t get to have me anymore, Knox.” I shivered again, fighting the need to inhale his scent and cave to the baser need that was driving me. “Put it away,” I warned, unwilling to look at him as he lay in the bed, pointing it at me.
“Oh, it is hard; that’s what happens when some sexy little nymph rubs her pretty ass against me all night, whispering my name like I’m a saint when she knows damn well I’m a fucking sinner.”
“Nightmares happen.” I didn’t turn toward him, uncaring that he couldn’t see the heat flaming my cheeks, or the anger burning in my gaze.
“If you won’t fuck me, we can do this your way, Aria. There are clothes on the couch for you to wear. Get dressed. I have a present for you downstairs.”
“Is this where you set yourself on fire, and I get to roast marshmallows on your cock?” I asked, adding a hopeful note to the latter part.
“I’m fireproof, little one,” he murmured behind me, and still, I didn’t turn around.
I could feel the heat of his body from his proximity, soaking into my bones even though we hadn’t touched. His breath fanned my shoulder, and I turned, looking into his eyes with the fire and lust I felt burning in my eyes and soul. I wanted to rip him apart, but worse, I wanted to ask him to remove the feel of Garrett from my flesh, to erase the taint that had been burned into my memory. I wouldn’t, but the urge was right there in my stare, and I couldn’t remove it.
“Say it, and it’s done, Aria.”
“Pass,” I whispered through the tightening in my throat.
“Get dressed then.” His hand scrubbed over his mouth as his shoulders stiffened. He turned to leave, but my words stopped him.
“I can’t get dressed with chains around my ankles, jerk.” I crossed my arms, watching the struggle in his eyes. He dropped his heavy gaze to my raw ankles and then lifted it slowly over my body before pausing at the pink, pebbled nipples that pushed against the nightie.
He bent down, grabbing my ankle, causing me to go off-kilter, and I dropped back onto the couch. Knox smirked, skimming his fingers over my calf before magic pushed against the cuff, unhooking the clasp. He released the other cuff, and I stood, uncaring that my hip rubbed against his cheek or that my ass was in his face as I grabbed the dress, looking at it with a frown.
“No panties?” I questioned, turning to stare down at him where he was slowly breathing while his stare remained on my bruised, naked flesh.
“You don’t need them,” he stated unevenly, as if he was struggling with my body being so close to his in the tiny nightie he’d given me last night. “You won’t be out of this room long enough to warrant wearing them. Who fucking touched you?”
“Does it matter? Why do you care?”
“Tell me so I can end them.”
“That’s not your fight, asshole. It’s mine. You’re not my protector or my mate. I’ll deal with him when I escape you. So, I am to be kept in your bedroom, naked?”
“No, you’ll be watched when I am gone for extended periods. You’ll get clothes, Aria. Just not today,” he growled thickly as he stood and peered down at me. “Strip, I need to see the damage to know if it is healing.”
“As if, Knox. That also isn’t your job,” I snorted, but before I could argue, he reached up and snapped the straps apart without hurting me. I shook my head, frowning as he stepped closer, brushing his fingers over the angry bruise on my breast.
“I will kill him for this,” he whispered angrily.
“Why? You plan to kill me one minute and then say you want me alive in the next. Now you want to kill someone for groping me? I don’t get you at all, Knox. You hate me, yet you protect me. You saved me so you could enslave me. You kiss me awake in the morning, and yet you promise to destroy me. You hate me because you want me, because admitting that to yourself is a slight against the memory of your wife. You don’t get to put that guilt on me—that is not fair.” I turned away from him and grabbed the dress to pull it over my nudity.