“I could never regret being in your presence, having you lash me with your words.” He leans forward and drags his nose through my hair, taking a deep quaking breath.
“How about this?” I blurt, changing tack as I shuffle to the side, trying to put as much distance between us as possible so I don’t also poison myself with a cloud of pepper spray. “I’m going to go inside, and you’re not going to follow me. You’re going to wait right here. Still as a statue.”
“And what if I can’t resist finding you again?” His voice trembles with sick anticipation.
“You’ll be punished,severelypunished.”
“Ah, yes.” He shudders. “And will you be administering the punishment, Lady Ashwood?”
“I think I got that backward.” I force a smile and continue to skirt around him. “What I meant to say is that youwon’tbe punished if you follow me. More than that, if you move from this spot, I’ll never say another mean word to you again.”
He stiffens. “I shall wait here and not move a muscle until you command me to do so. Although I do not know how long I can control my inner hunter.”
I squeeze past him, nearly gagging as he pulls in another lungful of my air. No longer blocked by a thick row of greenery and a man who takes no as an emphatic yes, I scramble away from him. My heart pounds in my chest as I put distance between us and pull out the canister of pepper spray. True to his word, he doesn’t move, his only flicker of confusion a slight crease between his brows.
“This is why women choose the bear.”
With a swift motion, I slip my thumb under the cap’s flip top and jam it down onto the release button. Pepper spray squirts from the nozzle and douses his face. He screams and drops to his knees, clawing at his eyes and erupting into hacking coughs that fill the garden.
Canister still in my fist, I stride into the Hall of Mirrors with the confidence of a man following a woman in the dark.
Twenty-Three
I return to the room I share with Kane, feeling more in control of my future than I have in a long time. Once the pepper spray is tucked safely back into the purse clutched against my chest, I push open the door and stop dead in my tracks.
The warm flicker of candlelight casts an intimate glow, throwing soft shadows across Kane’s robe-clad form. His eye patch glimmers between drops of water that slide from his wet hair down the hard planes of his face. He’s hard to look away from, but she makes it possible.
“Ivy?” I whisper, barely able to hear my voice over the rush of blood in my ears.
She slinks out from behind him, her hands smoothing over his robed chest. Her smirk is as sharp as broken glass, her green eyes gleaming as she looks me up and down. My heart lurches, and my stomach twists with a sickening mix of envy and betrayal.
“Oh, Lady Ashwood. We weren’t expecting you.” She pouts, her voice soft with faux innocence.
“Fawn, this isn’t what it looks like.” Kane steps forward, water sliding down the bare triangle of his exposed chest.
“Or perhaps it is.” Ivy shrugs closer to Kane and trails her hand down his arm. “I do seem to have gotten to know you better, wouldn’t you agree, Ashwood?”
My mind reels, and bile rises in my throat. Time slows as every moment is etched into my memory, every detail clear and sharp, ready to draw blood when I relive this scene.
It’s Chad all over again. It’s my dad walking out on my mom. It’s every relationship with every man I’ve ever been with.
“Poor Lady Ashwood. So trusting. So easy to fool.” Ivy’s smirk grows as her hand slides down Kane’s chest, lingering near the tie of his robe. “Isn’t that right, Ashwood?”
He rips away from her. “I had just finished bathing. She came in uninvited. I tried to get her to leave. I would never—”
“Yes, I do hope you can forgive us our indiscretions.” Ivy’s smile doesn’t falter as she makes a show of smoothing down her dress and adjusting her long blond waves.
“Get out, Ivy.” Kane’s jaw tightens, his eye burning with anger. “Now.”
But the damage is done, the image of them together seared into my mind. I force myself to speak, my voice barely more than a whisper. “No, Ivy, don’t go. I’ll leave.” My chest heaves, tears threatening to spill over. Kanetakes a step toward me, and I clutch the purse tighter, my palms clammy, my nails digging into the leather.
“Fawn, please,” he implores. His robe parts slightly as he moves, revealing more of his muscular chest, wet and glistening in the candlelight. “You have to believe me. I would never betray you like this.”
“It was just a bit of fun, remember? It’s my fault for letting my heart get involved.” I swallow hard, the lump in my throat making it difficult to speak. The room feels unbearably small, the air thick with Ivy’s too-sweet perfume. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I found what I need to get home.” I hold up the purse, my fingers trembling. “I just wanted to let you know I’m leaving.”
I turn and rush back to the door, my heart breaking with each step. I can’t bear the sight of him, of her, of the situation I knew better than to end up in again.
“Hannah, wait.” He grabs my wrist as I try to leave. His urgency parts his robe over his thigh, exposing the hard lines of his leg and the flash of a gold scar.
