Dahlia had actively and knowingly shut him out when she needed him. She hadn’t trusted him to care for her when she was at her most vulnerable. She’d tacitly informed him that he was unfit, unworthy, and unwelcome.
She’d tried to reject him.
The air in the office was heavy with the weight of his anger. No one spoke. No one even moved as he stared out into the middle distance, processing this new information and assimilating it into his plans.
Luis and Milo shared a look. All the good humor had left the older of the pair. He liked to tease and pick fights, but even Luis knew how serious it was to have an anchor, abride,hide something of that magnitude.
Still not looking at them, Felix said, “Tell me what you would do in this situation.”
Neither man answered him for a beat. Surprisingly, it was Milo who spoke up first.
“I’d lock her in the house until she understood how stupid that was. You can’t hide shit like that from your man. How are you supposed to keep her safe if she won’t tell you when she’s been hurt?”
Luis snorted. “Lock her in the house? Grow up, man. You want to make her understand? That’s what a little bit of pussy torture is for. She won’t make the same mistake twice if you tie her to your bed and leave a vibrator on her for a few hours.”
Both options had their appeal, certainly, but he doubted either would work on Dahlia. Locking her in a cage wouldn’t break her, and neither would a bit of pleasure-pain. She was too fucking stubborn.
Felix sighed. He’d just have to find his own way to settle things between them.
FOURTEEN
For the firsttime in weeks, Dahlia woke without a headache.
Her limbs were heavy with the remnants of sleep rather than bone-deep exhaustion. There was no pain in her stomach or gnawing emptiness. She was perfectly content, swathed in soft sheets and surrounded by the delicious scents of smoke and caramel.
It took her a while to register the fingers combing through her hair or the almost undetectable vibration of a purr rattling against her back.
“There she is.” Felix’s voice was a deep, husky whisper.
No,she thought, desperately clawing at the last vestiges of blissful sleep.No, I don’t want to be awake yet.
It meant facing every terrible way in which her life had blown up in her face. It meant getting answers for all the questions she didn’t want to ask.
It meant facinghim.
A sharp twinge between her thighs felt a lot like her body saying,“Good luck avoiding that.”And when she swallowed, her tongue pressed against the backs of her new fangs, forcing the reality of her situation on her until the weight of it threatened to push the air from her lungs.
“You can’t ignore me forever,” he informed her. Claws drifted through her hair, their tips gently scraping her scalp. “It’s time to face the reckoning, pet.”
Something in his voice made a shiver of unease run down her spine. Dahlia’s eyes opened. The shapes of the giant four-poster bed’s canopy were unfamiliar. So was the room beyond the crack in the bed’s drapery, with its polished mahogany furniture and shimmering silk wallpaper.
She knew she wasn’t in her bed, but when she opened her eyes, Dahlia resigned herself to the fact that she was in a completely differentworld.
Curling her fingers into the pillow under her cheek, she croaked, “I want to go home.”
“We both know that’s not an option.” Felix’s soothing strokes never broke their rhythm, but the rest of him shifted a bit closer, until she could feel the texture of his clothing against her bare back.
“Why?” she pressed, still not brave enough to turn and face him. “Why can’t I just go home and pretend none of this ever happened? You know I’d never tell anyone about Devon. I don’t care that he’s dead. I’m not going to run to Patrol. I just want to be left alone.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“Why not?”
Instead of answering her, Felix sighed. “We’ve got an appointment to keep, pet. It’s time to get up.”
The sheets were pulled off her body in one swift, ruthless motion. Dahlia yelped and curled in on herself, hiding her naked body from the cool air. Felixtskedand gave her a light swat on the ass. “None of that. The doctor will be here in a few minutes.”
Finally swiveling her head around to face him, she demanded, “Doctor? Why am I seeing a doctor?”
