Again, his silence leaves room for me to practically hear the subtle cues for what he wants to say about this topic. The rolling of his eyes. He thinks the idea is absurd and not worth wasting his breath on.
“Don’t get yourself turned on right now.” I feel something against my butt, and I’m not sure if it’s just his pelvic bone or something else. “I’m only doing this, so I won’t drop dead.”
He chuckles unkindly, rumbling my back. “Not even lying with your naked body could get me off. Your best friend is what a man wants. Not.You.”
Blood rushes back to my numb limbs. Just when I started to think we could set aside our differences for this…
The stupid motherfucker proves me wrong.
Mabel Rose. Mabel Rose. Mabel Rose.
Hot, bitter acid splashes against my throat. A million malicious thoughts spring to life in my mind. Unforgivable phrases, below-the-belt comments. But instead of using my words, I arch my back against his groin, releasing a soft moan.
It can’t be healthy how quick his erection presses against my backside.
He seems just as surprised and frozen with shock as I do. And to further dig into the roots of his humiliation, I roll my hips back again, rubbing up his bare shaft. I briefly pause at the length as it keeps going for longer than I was expecting.
Niklaus coils his arms around me tighter, like a snake preparing to strangle its victim. His fingers dig into the side of my waist, the soft space on the underside of my breast. The growl that rumbles up his chest, into the back of my head is embedded with sexual frustration.
With one quick jolt, he pulses that long erection against my ass. Pleasure tingles along my inner walls, causing me to clench and lose my breath. My mind shifts from vindictive to desperately wanting to chase that crazed feeling again.
“Fuck,” he hisses against my neck.
What am I doing? Stop. You’re supposed to tease, then blue balls the shit out of him!
“Spitfire,” Niklaus grunts in my ear, rolling his hips into me again.
I moan despite him using the name I hate.
Causing me to choke on surprise, his cold hand latches onto my throat, tugging the side of my face in the direction of his mouth. “You think you’re special because I got hard? We’re in the middle of the frozen wilderness. Any hole would do.”
My elbow flies into his rib cage before I have a chance to let the flood of anger pass through my system. “Die then.”
I shimmy away from the warmth of his body, exposing my body to the deadly winter winds.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’d rather freeze to death than cuddle up next to a fucking sociopath.”
We lie in shivering, haunting silence. And it dawns on me that I will in fact die of stubbornness. But Niklaus isn’t stopping me. He’s bearing the biting slice of the icy winds alone, without another terrible comment, without even attempting to pull me back in for the sake of heat.
He will also die of stubbornness.
I pull my cloak over my shoulders with stiff, aching fingers and pray for a quick death. I can hear his shallow breaths behind me, in and out, quick, pained. I should have an instinct to help him, to care for him. We both should, considering we grew up together. Considering we are practically family.
But I’ve never hated anyone more in my life.
“I’m glad your father is nothing more than a piece of limp meat.”
“Patient Thirteen was incapable of real love. Especially not for you.”
I tighten my grip around my own quivering frame, as if I’m slowly frosting over. My fingers, too stiff to uncurl, dig into the backs of my arms. The wind hisses along the floor, stinging my exposed skin until I’m numb and made of painful marble.
I glance out at the white curtain of snow whirling in a constant churn at the entrance, punching hard gusts into the cavern.
I’m going to die here.
My body already feels like a corpse.
