The front door bangs, admitting a gush of cold air that bathes my bare legs. I set down my lamp on the console table and throw my weight against the door to push it closed again.
Suddenly I’m back in my family home, in the dead of winter, pushing against the front door, trying to close it while a blizzard rages outside. The flash of memory is startling, traumatic, because I can still see the tracery of blue veins, the pale skeleton, and the shadowy, translucent body of the creature I summoned that night.
I stand there, breathing hard, with both palms against the front door.
I locked it. I know I locked it.
An arm slides around my waist, and a large hand cups the front of my throat.
I scream, and a deep voice laughs. “It’s me, squirrel.”
“Beresford,” I gasp.
“In the flesh.”
“You like scaring me.”
“I do, a little.”
“Why is that?” I jerk against his hold with such angry force that he lets me go with a huff of surprise. “Why do you enjoy terrifying others?”
He frowns. “Terrifying others? What are you talking about? I was only playing.”
“Playing. Of course.” I hold his gaze, an unspoken challenge. “Where were you today?”
“I told you. I had business affairs to deal with.”
“Business with whom?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I’d like to know the names of your business partners.”
Beresford’s gaze hardens. “I didn’t realize I was coming home to an inquisition. Since we’re making demands, little wife, I’ll make one of my own. Hand over the keys I gave you.”
“I thought they were mine to keep,” I counter. “I’m the mistress of the house, am I not?”
“You are. But I’d like to see the keys, to be sure they’re all in order.”
“They’re fine.”
“Sybil.” His voice is like ice-cold stone. “The keys. Now.”
My insides quiver with fear, the primal kind that I suspect an animal must feel when it’s trapped in a hunter’s snare.
I was planning to confront him. Iwantto confront him. But I’m terrified to do it. I have no idea how he’ll react.
I attempt to cover my fear with what I hope is a playful laugh. “You’ll get your precious keys, husband. But you’ve been gone for so long. Surely you can wait until we’ve gotten… reacquainted.” I loosen the belt of my robe and let it slide from my body, revealing the seductive nightdress.
My body usually possesses an irresistible magic for him, but he barely seems to notice it now. He leans in, his eyes snapping with a virulence I’ve never seen from him. There’s something else in his gaze, too—an emotion stronger than worry, closer to panic.
“The keys,” he says tightly.
“All right, all right, I’ll get them. Spoilsport,” I throw over my shoulder as I retrieve the lamp and march through the entry hall, up the stairs. I give my hips a little more swish than usual, hoping to distract him, hoping to… I’m not sure what I want, honestly. One more fuck before it’s all over between us? One last orgasm before he kills me? A final kiss before I’m placed in a harness, dangling in his secret chamber with the rest of his victims?
I’ve ascended half a dozen steps when I hear his footfalls behind me. He isn’t waiting downstairs. He’s following me.
Fuck.
