I wouldn’t be surprised to know that Conrad somehow wronged Actaeon’s mother. And as a child who once had to listen to people say how my mother was a whore for years, I appreciate him protecting his sibling from that scrutiny as well.
Still doesn’t explain Actaeon’s behavior in general.
“I believe it.” A breath slips past my lips when his thumb brushes my pulse point. He probably can feel my heart beating wildly in my chest. I should remind him, and myself, that whatever reaction rocks between us means nothing. “You don’t have to tell me anything.” His muscles tense under my touch when my nails cut into his shoulders, and I can’t resist adding, “Our marriage is a business deal.”
His palm flexes around my throat hard enough to hold me still, trapped in his embrace, but gentle enough not to cut off my oxygen supply. “If it were a business deal, I wouldn’t want to fuck you right on this table until neither of us can walk.” His voice deepens, goose bumps popping all over my skin when he leans closer and tips my head up, baring my throat for hismouth, his lips skimming upward until he reaches my ear, and whispers, “I wouldn’t want to own this body, envisioning chaining you to my bed so I could use you as I please and watch you lose yourself in pleasure only I can provide for you.” He peppers me with small kisses, right before murmuring, “You’d be at my mercy, my special little innocent rose for the taking.”
A hot flash travels through my veins at the carnal images his words paint in my head, my insides begging for me to explore them all and give him free rein over me so he could show me pleasure in this man’s bed.
Then another image replaces it, one cold and shameful, where he sends me into a blissful abyss, only to leave me deserted after the fact.
An encounter that gave me countless restless nights as my body begged for things I couldn’t give it.
What would happen to me now if he rejects me again?
I push at his chest until his hold on me loosens and get up quickly, adjusting my dress with trembling hands. My body still craves one thing only, but my mind finally wins over my lust and infatuation. “You had that chance, remember? You refused to take it.”
My harsh words hang between us as thunder booms outside, and spinning around, I dart back to the terrace, gulping for breath while hectic and confusing thoughts tear through my mind in various directions. Going to the banister, I lean on the marble and watch the starless sky lit by the full moon as dark clouds do their best to cover it.
The harsh wind billows my hair backward, and I welcome the cold on my hot skin, hoping the raging storm awaiting us would overshadow the one within me.
“Diana.”
I close my eyes at the sound of his husky voice that shakes my resolve every single time. I don’t understand this suddendesire for him that awakened from first sight and won’t go away, no matter what I do.
Indulging in it would truly make me my mother’s daughter, and I’ve done everything in my power to avoid her fate.
Orion acting hot and cold only brings me pain, and I can’t allow such behavior to continue. Otherwise, where is my spine?
If I run away every single time something makes me uncomfortable, I’ll forever live the life of a coward.
What did one of my psychology professors say back in college?
Everyone experiences fear, but the difference between a brave person and a coward? One meets his fear head-on, walking right into it, and the other shies away.
“Do you want a divorce?” I ask as the drizzle starts, followed by lightning and thunder. Turning around, I freeze at the anger darkening his green eyes. The light filtering through behind him as he stands on the threshold makes him look almost sinister and too tempting to resist.
Despite his efforts to keep his tone even, fury coats his voice, yet instead of scaring me, it sends a thrill down my spine. “Where the fuck did you get that idea?”
“It’s the first time you made an effort to talk to me in the past month, so I assumed with the press harping on about your inheritance?—”
“You assumed wrong.”
He places his palms above his head on the doorframe, gripping it hard, and the tension pouring from him is addicting. I’ve never seen cracks in his unshakable resolve before this moment. The veins in his muscled arms strain, and I have this deep urge to trace them with my tongue. Oh my God. This is not helping to calm the inferno burning in the pit of my stomach at all. “What did you want to talk about, then?” I lift my chin and cross my arms when another gust of wind hits us.
“My cousin Rush and his fiancée, Aileen, are hosting their engagement party on their private island in two days. They invited us, so we’ll attend it. It’ll be good for us. We can take our private jet to avoid all the reporters.”
Disappointment fills me. “So everyone can believe in this lie of ours? Would that finally convince the judge to give you back your mother’s property?” I raise my hand as the ring glistens under the moonlight. “I won’t have to wear this anymore?” A sense of longing hits me at this because, despite it being all an illusion, I’ve grown attached to the ring and love it.
The rain intensifies along with the wind, causing the skirt of my dress to flap against my thighs. I should go back inside the house.
Instead, I stay glued to the spot as he watches me so intently. After a few minutes that feel like eternity, he reaches me in four short strides.
Orion places his hands on either side of me as lightning bolts once again grace the sky, akin to the electric volts hitting me at once at his nearness as he traps me between his hard chest and the banister.
“What gave you the illusion that you can take off my ring, Wife?” The territorial notes in his voice cause my heart to beat faster in my chest, but my resolve must still be strong as I lean back, trying to at least create some space between us.
A space he eats up when he steps forward, and I barely swallow back the gasp threatening to spill from my lips when his hips push into mine, my entire being going up in flames at the contact. All the while, another bout of thunder shakes everything around us. We are both soaked at this point, and we should step inside. Yet I don’t feel cold at all. All I can do is hold his stare as a reply, “Isn't it just a symbol of our deception? Something that makes people believe in us when we are just two liars who use this marriage for our mutual benefit?”
