Page 40 of A Curse in Darkness

“Are you angry with me?”

He pushed away, taking a step back, and I instantly felt the loss of that heat, that strength.

“Why would I be angry, dove?” he said, and it sounded like he actually wanted me to come up with an answer.

I didn’t, because I didn’t want to think about that too closely either. “Why do you call me that?”

He moved back in, so fast it was a blur, and I was bracketed between those strong arms again. And there was no mistaking that he was most definitely angry. No, he was pissed. “I call you that because you are small and fragile and I could break you with a mere flick of my wrist.”

“Are you trying to scare me, Warrick?”

“Are you scared, dove?”

I’d be an idiot to underestimate this male. Part of him was animal, with animal urges. He’d been created by Lucifer himself. I didn’t know how much of him was controlled by the beast, but I was pretty sure it was significant. I also knew he would never hurt me, not physically, anyway.

He leaned in, dragging his nose along my throat, breathing deep. “I can smell your fear like I could smell how wet you were for me yesterday.”

“Do you want me to be scared of you?” I asked, ignoring the second part of that sentence and the way my heart was racing again. He was trying to punish me. I’d offended him. I wasn’t exactly sure how, but he was lashing out because of it.

“No,” he said through gritted teeth. “But you like it, don’t you, dove? That fear, it turns you on. You allow yourself to feel it because it makes your heart race and your cunt wet, but you know I would never ever hurt you, so that fear, it’s safe.” His nostrils flared. “Maybe if you truly were scared, you’d stop running away from me.”

I felt like he’d dumped all my darkest secrets at my feet. We stared at each other for long, tense seconds, and the tension between us was so electric, the hair on my arms lifted. Everything he said was true, wasn’t it? He’d said out loud the thoughts I’d been too afraid to voice, thoughts that terrified me. “Just so you know, I’ll never stop running. But try not to take it personally, I don’t plan on stopping for anyone.”

“Just so you know, dove, I’ll never stop chasing.”

My heart was beating funny, and my palms were sweaty. It took everything in me not to look at his mouth. “Look after Ren for me, he’s my family. If anything happens to him, it won’t just be me who will come after you.”

His brow rose.

“He has more than one female completely and utterly in love with him.” I’m not sure why I told him that, but I was desperate for a change of conversation. It was true, though. Ren wasn’t some player, and he didn’t lie to women, he didn’t go out trolling to get laid, he was just his sweet, charming self and they fell at his feet like flies.

“Love isn’t real, only animal need,” Warrick said, gaze flat.

His words shouldn’t surprise me, but they still managed to. He really and truly had limited emotions. “Right,” I said, even as a weird, tight feeling grew in my chest. Why did that hurt? It shouldn’t hurt. I’d already decided I wasn’t going there with him. This was a good thing, it saved me from feeling guilty about rejecting him constantly. “Good thing I’m not an animal.”

He snarled. “Stop fighting this. Give me what I want, what you want as well.”

“I need to go.” I shoved at his chest, and he didn’t budge. I stared up at him silently, feeling like a lion tamer, afraid to make any sudden moves and risk getting my hand bitten off.