The little seed tucked between her ribs feels angry. Even without looking, Aerin can feel his scowl as she turns on the shower.
“Malice,” Aerin sighs, “I’m exhausted. Another day. Tomorrow.” She almost says please.
“No.” He’s firm. “You’ve been ignoring me and my questions for weeks. Here I am, tied to you in the sickest possible way.” Aerin’s stomach turns. “Obeying your every fucking command. And you still have the gall to dismiss me?” His voice turns cold, stubborn. They are so alike, Aerin hates it. “You will not dismiss me.”
Aerin longs to approach him. To kiss him. To reassure him somehow, that this isn’t all for nothing. Instead, she shimmies out of her tight shorts.
“Okay,” is all she says. He’s distracted now, by her nakedness. Aerin turns her back to him and sheds the last of her clothes before stepping into the steam covered shower.
Malice seems to be struck dumb. Aerin would relish in the attention if she didn’t feel so damn worn out. She lets the hot water run over her, loosening her muscles and relaxing her body. Malice pauses briefly before he clears his throat again and moves away from the shower. He positions himself against the counter, leaning back against it, holding on as if his grip will keep him tethered there.
“Are you a Core? Do you have other bond-mates?” It’s not a question she is expecting.
“Yes. Theoden Marrow,” Aerin concedes. She wets her hair under the spray of the shower.
“The Mer-Prince?” Surprise is evident in his voice.
Aerin makes a noise of confirmation.
“Who else?” he prompts. Malice must sense Aerin is holding something back. His instincts about her are getting a bit too sharp.
Aerin works her make up off in slow circles.
“I don’t know yet.” She gives a semi-truthful answer.
“Why did you want me as a bonded-mate?”
Aerin rinses the suds from her face before going in for a second scrub.
“You’re powerful. A Witch once told me I’d need five bonded-mates, but that one would be a blood-bond. Who better than a Dragon?” It’s a lie, heavy on Aerin’s tongue. She waits for him to call her on it. Instead, Malice chews on it for a while, letting Aerin rinse her face once more and begin lathering her hair before he speaks again.
“Did the Witch give you the things you needed for the blood-bond?”
“No, I collected those items all on my own,” Aerin answers, rinsing her hair. She can feel the dozens of questions rising in Malice, so Aerin cuts him off quickly. “The Witch told me Iwould need five bonded-mates, but she died before I could sort out the details.”
The Witch promised Aerin that with bonds established, she could protect her bond-mates always. That with five bonded-mates, Aerin would never have to be lonely again.
“When was this?” Malice’s voice is rough, harsh, and demanding. Begging Aerin to give in. To crack herself open and show him everything.
Taking a long pause, Aerin runs conditioner through the ends of her hair, avoiding the desire to do just that.
“I was only a Faeling,” she says vaguely. She needs to derail him. “I will only answer questions while I’m in this shower, Malice. After that, I need to rest. Are these truly the answers you are looking for?”
He grinds his teeth, tightens his wings, flexes his fists—all evidence of his irritation with her. Aerin only sighs, carefully rinsing the conditioner from her hair.
“How did you sneak past me all those nights?” he finally asks.
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t lie to me, Princess,” he growls.
The seed in Aerin’s sidehurts.
She ignores it.
“Malice,” Aerin clucks her tongue, grabbing her body wash. “You’ve seen my magic, what does it do?”
He’s silent, and Aerin knows it’s not because he’s thinking.
