“And Aaron.”
“Right.” Two deep frown lines appear between his eyes. “Aaron.”
He appears to turn his entire attention back to the road, but the silence between us is uneasy. At last he breaks it.
“I have no clue about Aaron. Maybe he’s dead. Maybe he’s abandoned ship. I have no fucking clue.”
The twitch in his jaw tells me he’s thinking the same thing as me.
“We won’t worry about that now,” he continues after a beat. “No use borrowing trouble. Noel is the one after you. He’s the threat for now. We’ll figure out Aaron later. Don’t worry, my darling,” he adds in a soft voice. “I’m going to take good care of you. I always will.”
I rest my head against the hand that’s still clutching mine, and before I know it, his warmth lulls me to sleep, despite his speeding and the knowledge that we’re being hunted.
__
I wake up a while later. Night has fallen, the car is parked in a gravelly lot, the door on the driver’s side is open, and Damien is nowhere to be found.
I barely manage to stifle a scream of terror. Have they found us? Have they taken Damien off to kill him? Are they going to kill me next? Or did he desert me?
That last thought is the worst one, but a second later, my own door is opened, and I crumple in relief at the sight of him. My husband. He lifts me up, but stops in surprise as he takes in my expression.
“What happened?” he asks urgently.
I collapse in his arms, sobbing with happiness. “I thought… I thought you were gone…”
“You’re a very silly girl,” he growls. “Come on.”
He leads me to a building that I recognize as a motel, and unlocks one of the doors. We enter a small room, entirely made up in stuffy chintz, and he lights the dusty table lamps. Then he carefully draws all the curtains, locks the door again, and pushes the heavy dresser against it.
“That should do it,” he mutters, then turns to face me. “Clothes off.”
I blink at him in confusion.
“Take your clothes off. And don’t make me ask again.”
My first instinct is to resist him. The constant ordering me around would have made me snap before if I hadn’t detected the fear in his eyes. But now, my perverse rebellion is back.
Until I note the look in his eyes. The fear is still there… but there’s anger, too, and behind it all is that dangerous glint that always makes me wet.
Inwardly cursing myself for not being able to resist him, I slowly peel off my dress. I’m still not wearing any underwear, and when he sees that I’m fully naked underneath, his annoyance melts. But he keeps a hard face.
“I’m going to punish you now.”
I shiver, my arousal all the greater because I can’t quite tell if he’s angry or turned on. It seems to be a bit of both. And it’s the same for me, I realize suddenly.
But I’m not quite ready to bend over and take it. I clench my fists and utter, “No.”
He quirks an eyebrow. “No?”
I try to keep up an air of bravado, but the truth is, this man terrifies me. I’ve never been terrified before. Not of anyone. Not the Monster, or the Beast, or Ben, or even Gabriel and the other Angels. I was scared of being at their mercy. I was scared of what they could do. But I wasn’t scared ofthem.
But the person standing in front of me makes me weak in the knees.
“It’s our wedding night,” I blurt out, my voice cracking as I try to push through my nerves. “I don’t think husbandsusuallypunish wives on their wedding night.”
His surprise turns into amusement that aggravates the fuck out of me. But when he pulls me to him, it all melts under his touch. Sometimes, I really hate myself.
“Well, if they don’t, they should,” he smirks. Then he traps me between his legs, raking his hands up and down my sides, my back, my stomach, my bottom. “You’ve been very naughty today. First by prying, even after I’d warned you not to…” He runs his finger over my ass, then between my cheeks, finding the ring of muscle that leaves me breathless. “… And then, by believing I’d ever leave you. That willneverhappen.” He applies pressure as I wriggle uncomfortably, my legs still trapped between his.
