“It’s a struggle, and then – “
“We die,” I said. We shared a laugh.
I glanced up at him in time for him to bow his head, and before I could overthink it, his lips were on mine, soft, warm, and reassuring. Dorian drew me into his embrace and kissed me softly at first, and then deeper, sending a wave of heat throughout my body. Not fire and temptation, but safety and security.
“I won’t let anything tear you away from here,” he said, when our lips parted.
I sighed. He deserved to know about me and Nick. I’d already allowed him to go too far.
“Dorian, I have to tell you – ”
A violent shove sent Dorian staggering back, his eyes wide and confused. Nick was standing there, his eyes black pits of fury.
“Nicholas? What the hell –”
“Get out of here,” he said through bared teeth. “And don’t you ever touch her again.”
I glared at Nick, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. His hair was damp and curling about his head and neck, his eyes black and wild with anger.
“Don’t you dare shove him like that! How was hesupposed to know? You and I are a bigsecret, remember?”
“Grace, stop this immediately,” said Nick, as though in warning. He reached for my shoulders but I batted his hands away. “You’re supposed to beresting.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Grace.” Dorian held his hands up in surrender, backing away. A part of me wished he’d fight for me, if only to see Nick forced to prove his love for me, but that wouldn’t be fair. Dorian hadn’t asked for any of this.
“I’m sorry, I really am,” I said, wishing I’d resisted the curious urge to kiss him back. “We can still be friends, can’t we?”
“Of course,” said Dorian, inviting another vicious glare from Nick as he turned and walked away.
I hit Nick in the chest with my open palm. “That was a disgusting way to treat him!”
“He’s lucky I didn’t gut him on my slab, and you beside him, for what you just did to me,” said Nick, his expression so foreboding that it made me shiver. “You didn’t mind me man-handling that friend of yours from the Dales.”
“I’ve never seen you like this before,” I said, my voice quavering.
“And I’ve never seenyoulike this before. I thought you were committed to me, to us, but I can see I was mistaken.” Nick grabbed me by the arm and tugged me toward the house, but I ripped it away. He turned on me, clenching his teeth. “Get inside, Grace.”
“Fuck you and all your secrets,” I said, my burns throbbing inside their bandages. “I’ve had it with this place. It’s trying to kill me.Youare trying to kill me.”
“You haven’t had it with this place, and you know it.Don’t say things that aren’t true. You love it here. You belong here,” said Nick. “You belong withme.”
With that, he scooped me up in one arm and threw me over his shoulder. I thrashed and screamed but he paid no mind, even as I beat my hands against his back. He carried me up the mahogany staircase to the top floor, his bedroom, and slammed the door behind us.
The wind howled outside as the rain pelted against the window. Nick threw me down on the bed and tore the raincoat over my head, throwing it aside.
“What is this? A test of my loyalty, or a remarkable lack of yours?” he asked.
Nick threw off his woollen overcoat and jacket, kicking off his shoes as he did so. Then he began to unbuckle his belt. A wry smirk appeared on his face as he watched me watching him, unable to tame the stirring in my womb, and the way it tightened and flexed as he unbuckled.
“No matter how refined or reserved you may be in public, or how you may reject me, you’re my whore in bed, Grace,” he said, making me throb between my thighs.
I loathed this concept of ownership over me. Yet it also made every part of me yearn for him, until I was wet with desire.
“That’s all I am though, isn’t it?” I asked.
Nick paused. His bulge was so obvious that I had to fight not to tear his trousers and pants away, and grab the belt again while we were at it, but I needed him to hear me.
“You are everything,” he said sternly. “I thought you knew that.”
