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“No.” I shook my head. “I won’t.”

The slow curl of his lips said it all.

He didn’t believe me.

I’d show him.

I scanned the room, searching the floor as he turned around and strode toward the bed.

“Looking for these?” He bent and picked up my panties as though he knew exactly where they were.

I strode toward him.

But his hand closed around them the moment I reached.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I growled.

“Every. Single. Second.”

I narrowed my gaze, then gave a huff. “Then let me remind you. I’m not the one people answer to around here. I’m a nobody.”

I grabbed them from his grasp before I turned away.

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

I stopped.

“You’re a somebody, Nyssa.”

The words landed softly.

Relentlessly.

“To me.”

I opened the door and hurried out. His words haunting me. Movement came from the front of the house as I hurried across the foyer. Mrs. Reid was already here… shit. I moved faster than my leg would allow, turning hard and grasped the doorway before I raced for my room.

The click of the front door sounded as I opened mine and slipped inside my bedroom. I made it. Now I just had to survive the rest of the day.

Black sedan cut across the window of my bedroom. Rafe was back, heading for the garage at the rear of the house. I neared the window, pushed the curtain aside. That’s when I saw it.

Utter destruction.

A tree had split down the middle. Thick, heavy branches lay across the driveway. I inched closer to the glass. That wasn’t the only thing that was destroyed. A large branch impaled the greenhouse in the distance. I pressed my face against the cold glass scanning the house. Sections of the stone wall had fallen down. Guttering hung loose, waving wildly.

The storm had caused a lot of damage.

More than I realized.

Because I’d been safe in Alaric’s arms.

I turned moved to the bed, pulling the covers up, then chopped the pillow, making sure it looked like I’d spent the entire night here… alone. Then I headed to the bathroom.

A soft ache rose between my thighs as I washed. A remnant from what we’d done.

God.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head, letting the heat wash all over me.