Alaric winces, as if I’ve wounded him. “For your safety, you should flee. But I should have known that not even my mother would frighten you.”
He stands, placing Mirabelle gently onto the seat. He reaches me in two long strides, sweeping me into his arms, pressing us chest to chest so that my heart thumps against his. Every place where our bodies touch brings back flashes of our night together, of how good he made me feel.
I try to step away, but he pulls me closer, smothering me in his winter scent, and I lose the battle with my will.
Alaric grips my chin with his strong, cool fingers, angling me towards him. “I’m so sorry, Winnie. My mother, she’s … She shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
He kisses me, slow and languid, taking his time as if he is savouring a fine wine, trying to commit every corner and angle of me to memory.
I emerge breathless, not wanting it to end. “You don’t have to pretend, Alaric. Your mother isn’t here now.”
“She has eyes and ears everywhere in this castle,” he whispers, gripping my chin with his strong, cool fingers. “But thiskiss isn’t for her.”
It doesn’t feel like it’s for show, the way he deepens the kiss until he’s drinking in my soul. Heislike a wild god, otherworldly and chaotic anddangerous.
In a moment of clarity, I tear myself from him again. I back against a pillar, breathing hard. I came down here for answers, because I didn’t want to leave without giving him a chance to explain. But one touch from him and I’m under his spell.
What is wrong with me?
I hold out a hand, warning him not to come closer. “Alaric, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry that I did not follow you earlier. There are things I must tell you, but my mother …” He makes a face that’s a mirror image of a face I often make aroundmymother. “So I came here to work on a sculpture. But don’t worry. I’ll clean everything up.”
“I’m not worried about the mess!” I glare at him. “You said you can explain everything. Soexplain. Tell me that everything between us isn’t an act. Tell me what you were going to tell me before your mother arrived. Tell me why you don’t eat, why you don’t like the sunlight … why you’re so reluctant to let anyone get close to you. Or otherwise I’m walking out that door right now.”
“I’ve never lied to you, Winnie, but I have deceived you. It’s the curse I must bear, the only way I have survived.” Alaric’s eyes flicker with a pain so intense that witnessing it steals my breath. But it’s gone in a moment, replaced with his usual stony expression – his jaw squared, his eyes cold black holes, his lips set in a firm, cruel line. “Reginald warned me to tell you the truth, but I was too selfish and too smitten with you to see that he was right. I led you to believe that we are the same, but we exist in two different worlds?—”
The dust fills my throat. Tears burn the corners of my eyes.So that’s it, then? He’s going to marry the princess and forget about me.
I try not to think about the wordstoo smitten with you.
Because they mean nothing.
He and I are nothing.
I thought we had a connection, but I’m not part of his world. I’m still the broken, dirty girl who no one wants.
The butterflies in my stomach curl up and die, their beautiful wings turning to dust that stings the back of my throat. Suddenly all my other questions seem pointless, becausehe doesn’t want me.
“I should leave.” I hear the words, but they don’t sound as if they’re coming from my mouth. “I’ll stay in the village for tonight’s book club, and then I’ll go back to London. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’ll send my business partner, Faye, to finish the last rooms.”
I reach into my tote bag for my phone.
“Winnie, you misunderstand me.” He lunges towards me, his voice frantic. “I thought we couldn’t be together, that the laws of my people forbid it, and for good reason. I thought that my hunger for you could hurt you in more ways than one. But it’s nottrue.”
My hand brushes the blade of the knife he gave me, slicing a long cut down my finger.
“—We can be together. All I want is for you to be mine?—”
“Ow.” I snap my hand out, holding my finger up to inspect the cut. “That hurt?—”
I don’t know how he crosses the room so fast. Alaric slams into me. My back hits the pillar with a crack that makes my teeth rattle.
Alaric pins my wrist above my head, his nails digging into my flesh. His body presses against mine again, caging me in. My other hand still holds the heavy candelabra, but he’s trapped my arm so I can’t swing it. I shake it, raining drops of wax on his black silk shirt, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
He trembles, biting his lip as his face twists with violent, animalisticneed.
This would be fucking hot if it weren’t for the look in his eyes.
