Her curse was not his doing, not really.
‘You know it’s the curse that makes you believe you care for me, don’t you?’ she said instead, her voice cool and brittle.
Thanatos laughed, a rich, mocking sound. ‘Is that truly what you think, Melinoe?’
‘I don’t think it. I know it.’
‘Is that what you tell yourself about your feelings for Ash Acheron?’
At the sound of Ash’s name, her heart twisted painfully. She didn’t want to doubt and yet, buried deep within her, the questions gnawed.
‘I love him,’ she whispered.
‘I know,’ Thanatos said with a sigh. ‘But you don’t trulyknowhim.’
Mal sat up sharply, twisting around to glare down at him, her purple eyes flashing with fury.
‘I know him,’ she insisted.
Thanatos merely smirked, utterly unruffled by her rage, as if her anger were a minor amusement to him.
‘Do you?’ he murmured, his black eyes sliding towards her, glinting with challenge. ‘What is it you truly know of him?’
‘He is kind,’ she snapped.
‘I’m sure he is.’
‘And brave.’
His smirk grew sharper, cutting deep. ‘It all sounds rather general, don’t you think? You could be describing anyone.’
Mal snarled low in her throat. ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you.’
‘You are right,’ he said, his voice lowering, his gaze fastening onto hers with the force of a tide. ‘So why are you?’
Mal sucked in a sharp breath, her chest constricting at the weight of his words. She tore herself away from him as if proximity alone might set her aflame, might unravel the ground beneath her feet. His scent clung to her senses, suffocating.
‘Get out!’ she snarled.
But Thanatos did not move. Instead, he chuckled. A deep, wicked sound that fuelled her rage. Without thinking, Mal surged forward, slamming her forearm against his throat, her knee driving into his stomach, pinning him firmly to the bed. Her fangs hovered a hair’s breadth from his skin, her voice a low and lethal growl.
‘Let’s make one thing clear, Thanatos,’ she said. ‘I do not care what you think. I do not care about you in the slightest. Ash Acheron is my husband. And you, you willneverbe anything to me. Understand this: if you ever,ever, try to take him from me,I do not care that you are death incarnate, there will be no land, no realm where you can hide from me.’
She had expected many things. Mockery perhaps. But not this.
In Thanatos’ dark eyes, she glimpsed a tumultuous storm of emotions: sadness, pride... and the unmistakable spark of desire.
His hand slid against her bare leg, the touch so startling, so intimate, that a gasp escaped her lips before she could stop it, her chest tightening with the betrayal of her own body.
By the time she realised her mistake, it was too late.
In one fluid, merciless movement, Thanatos flipped her onto her back, trapping her beneath him. Her wrists were pinned above her head, his body a solid weight against hers. His smile widened with unmistakable delight as he looked down at her, victorious.
‘I rather like this little game,’ he whispered, his mouth drifting dangerously close to hers. ‘You needn't fret so much about your husband, Melinoe.’ He chuckled, low and dark, as his lips brushed towards her ear. Her entire body tensed at the unbearable closeness, every nerve drawn taut. ‘You ought to be more careful around me.’ The breath of his words fanned her skin.
‘I’m not afraid of you,’ she said, forcing her voice to remain steady.
Thanatos' black eyes glittered with amusement. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘I wouldn't want you to be afraid.’ His mouth grazed her ear, the briefest, lightest kiss yet it set her alight, a fierce heat rippling through her veins.
