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Perhaps my words were sharp, but I was surprised to feel the thrum of attraction flutter through me. The second Orin turned on me, Hollis had ushered Quill from the room. Paesha didn’t bother speaking up, but even if she had, I’d still have let him grab me. Just as I’d let him slam me against the wrinkled wallpaper. His wrath, this darkness swirling in him, was captivating. Attractive and all-consuming. Like magic, but not quite. A very big piece of me wanted to push him as far as I could. Force him to come undone and reveal himself. Reveal the beast that was hiding within.
I wouldn’t ask about it, though. He didn’t need to know what I knew. I wanted no more of his lies, and I was far better off discovering the truths on my own. He pushed his forearm into my throat, and I smiled, much to his dismay, refusing to fight back, though I could tell something in him wanted me to. He wanted my beast just as much as I wanted his.
“If she dies…”
“Do put your fangs away, Husband. She’s not going to die.”
“Are you a god now, Deyanira? Do you know what the future will bring?”
I jammed a fist into the sword wound on his side, knocking the air from his lungs. Though, to his credit, he didn’t step away. “I know what your future holds if you don’t stand down.”
“Enough,” Paesha finally cut in. “Let her go, Orin.”
“There will be no more meetings in this house. No one else comes and goes until further notice.”
“Orin,” she said again, pleading.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” he seethed, words strained with pain as he glared at me. “You stay in this house on your own, or I will lock you back in that room. You are danger incarnate, Nightmare.”
“And what does that make you, Orin?”
That darkness within him coiled to the surface. His eyes turned black, face red with rage. The question was right there, sitting between us.
I know, I wanted to scream at him. But I didn’t. Instead, I jammed another hand into his side until he backed away.
“If you try to lock me away again, I will burn this precious house of yours to the ground. And then I’ll bury you in the ashes. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt time and time again. And I’ve tried. Gods, I’ve tried to show you all that I am not the monster you make me out to be, yet the only person in this fucking house that trusts me is the damn dog.”
I was not their enemy. Perhaps I was nosy and seeking answers to questions they would not provide, but I wasn’t going to hurt them. If I could help it.
He hesitated, slightly shifting his weight, the tension easing, if only a little. But it vanished in an instant, replaced by the anger, the familiar dance between us that made it easier to keep him at arm’s length.
“The only reason the dog trusts you is because you steal food and keep it in your pocket. Don’t twist reality.”
His words were a weapon he probably didn’t know he wielded so well. A gentle slice to my heart. I nodded slowly before shoving past him and walking straight out of the house. He stormed after me, the door slamming against the frame.
“Deyanira,” he commanded.
I kept walking, a tidal wave of emotions wreaking havoc. I wasn’t surprised by his words because he’d hated me for longer than I’d known he existed. But I was only human, whether he believed it or not.
“Deyanira,” he shouted again.
I rounded on him, balling my hands into fists. “Do not speak my name as if you have any power over me.”
His shoulders sank, the broad frame of the monster shrinking to human size. “I didn’t mean that. What I said about the dog.”
I reached my hand into my pocket and pulled out the treats I’d been saving, letting them fall to the ground. “Yes, you did. But since we’re dabbling in honesty tonight, tell me why you married me, Orin. You hate me.”
He moved forward, crowding my space, filling every inch. Grabbing the back of my neck, he pulled me close, and I let him. If only to feel the contact from another person. To stroke that kernel of madness in me that wanted him. Even now. Even when I fucking hated him, I wanted him. And I’d only just realized it.
The darkness in his eyes seemed to fade beneath the moonlight. “I need to hate you.”
“Why?” I didn’t mean to sound as weak as I felt.
He pulled me closer, squeezing those fingers along the back of my neck. Time slowed in his grip. The world stopped. “Because as long as I hate you, you cannot destroy me.”
“That’s where you’re mistaken.”
“So you see my dilemma?”
