She stood under the silvery kiss of the moonlight, looking celestial, magnificent. She drew him in like fire to wood. He wanted to consume her, devour every inch of her. It took everyounce of his strength not to hoist her over his shoulder again and carry her back to their bed.
Images of her tangled in his thick sheets flashed through his mind, thrilling him. The fantasy stirred his desires until he ached with restraint.
This was torture.
She was his wife—by all rights, he could do with her as he pleased. Yet he stood still, fighting against the darker temptations festering within.
“I should ken what?” Lavina asked, her voice barely a whisper as her eyes held his.
“I will always pick ye,” Theo replied. “I promised to ensure that ye had nothing to worry about. I’ve given ye a roof over yer head, food in yer belly…” He paused, his eyes narrowing. “And if I give in to yer whims?—”
“I dinnae recall mentioning an ‘if,’” Lavina snapped.
Theo leaned against the railing, folding his arms across his chest. His eyes bored into hers, cool and unflinching, and she shuffled her feet.
“It would be nice,” he said dryly, “if me wife would touch me once in a while. Ye may think I’m a monster, Lavina, but even monsters have needs.”
She recoiled. Not at the words, but at the truth in them.
It wasn’t her retreat that stung him most; it was the raw, startled look on her face, as if she hadn’t expected honesty.
He dropped his arms and pushed off the railing. Without another word, he turned and strode toward the door.
The mood—whatever fragile tension had hung between them—vanished like smoke in the wind.
“And where are ye goin’?” Lavina asked, her voice strained.
“Nowhere. Ye’re leavin’.” Theo held the door open behind him. “I doubt ye’ve spent a single night outside. Yer nails are too polished. They give ye away. Now, it’s been a long day, and I’m only human. Ye stay any longer, and there’s nay tellin’ what I’ll do to ye.”
He glanced back, his face hard.
“Now, go, before I change me mind and lock ye out here. I doubt ye’ll be too keen in the next few minutes… when that storm rolls through.”
Lavina’s eyes widened. “Ye wouldnae dare.”
Theo’s grin was cold as he looked up at the heavy clouds gathering overhead. Thunder rolled again, low and menacing.
“Are ye sure ye want to test me?”
He watched as his wife stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest, before another clap of thunder shattered the air.
“Fine!” she spat, hurrying back into the room.
The moment she crossed the threshold, Theo slammed the door shut.
Frustration mingled with longing inside him like oil and flame. How he wanted to be a brute—to force her to see him, to respect him. To bend her over the bed and pound sense into her until her gasps turned into cries of pleasure.
The desire was sharp, dangerous, and intoxicating. There was no doubt in his mind about how to handle her. She only needed to beshown.
He dragged a hand down his face as the first drops of rain pelted his skin. He shook his head.
Nay. Nae like this.
Lifting his eyes to the sky, he pulled his collar up and searched for the driest place on the balcony to settle. He’d rather brave the storm than sleep under the same roof as someone who thought him a murderer.
The thought made his jaw tighten.
It was strange the way Lavina could stir both pleasure and pain inside him with such ease. She was a temptress through and through. And she would never see him as someone worthy of respect.
