“I’m your stalker!” I lash out in a final, desperate attempt to force her to see reason. “I’m the masked man who attacked you in your own home and violated you in the worst way. We’venever talked about what happened that day when you discovered the truth of what I am. I was violent with you. I choked you out and restrained you so that you couldn’t run away from me. I drugged you and held you captive.”
She flinches, and her eyes tighten with an echo of horror at the memory.
“And even as I broke you piece by piece, I claimed to be your protector. I deluded us both. I won’t cause you another ounce of pain. The only way I can guarantee that is to extricate myself from your life. You’ll be better off without me. You’ll be free.”
Her delicate jaw firms. “You have freed me. Before you came into my life, I hated myself. I was disgusted by my dark urges. After what happened with Tom, I was in survival mode, just making it through every day through sheer force of will. But that was all a cheery, pretty lie.” Her voice becomes more ragged. “I was alone. I’ve been alone all my life. Now I have you. We belong to each other. We’re supposed to be together.
“You say you can’t live without me. I refuse to live without you. If you go to England, I’ll follow. I’ll move into that awful manor, and we will suffer through every day of it together. There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
My voice drops to a more dangerous register. “Can’t I?”
She shakes her head in staunch refusal. “No, you can’t. You can manhandle me. You can tie me up if you want to. But you won’t. Not if I don’t consent. I hold all the power here, Dane.”
“You can’t forgive what I’ve done to you,” I insist, even though my chest tightens with longing.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m your queen, aren’t I? I demand that you stay. You will accept my forgiveness. You’re the one who doesn’t have a choice. Because I’m not letting you go.”
My knees fold, and I’m kneeling before her. I grasp her hands in mine and press reverent kisses to her knuckles, paying fealty to my queen. My goddess.
“We’re equals, even if I do hold all the power,” she insists, grabbing my shoulders in an effort to pull me to my feet.
“No, we’re not,” I declare. “You are so much more than I will ever be. I will spend the rest of my life striving to be worthy of you. I’ll prove it to you every day. I…”
My heart swells to the point of pain, and strange words I can’t quite formulate tease at the tip of my tongue.
I swallow down the bizarre urge.
I can’t say them, because I won’t lie to my wife.
I’ll never be fully capable of that feeling, no matter how deep and depraved my obsession is.
She grabs the handle on the duffel bag that I dropped.
“Come on,” she urges, tugging at my hand. “We’re putting your things back where they belong.”
I take the bag from her. My queen won’t strain herself to carry out a menial task ever again. That’s my job.
I lace our fingers together. My hand is a careful cage around hers, but she has my heart on a chain. With one delicate tug, I’ll follow wherever she leads.
66
DANE
“I’d still prefer it if you would let me kill your uncle,” I say darkly. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind? He more than deserves it.”
If I had my way, I’d take the bastard apart piece by piece.
She gives my hand a gentle squeeze and presses herself closer to my side. We’re sitting on the couch in our living room, waiting.
“You need to keep those thoughts to yourself,” she says firmly. “The officer will be here soon to take my statement, and I can’t have you talking about murder in front of the police.”
I grind my teeth. “You don’t have to tell them anything. I can handle this.”
She places her hand on my tense jaw. “We talked about this last night,” she reminds me. “I’mgoing to handle it. I’m taking my power back. You have to respect that, Dane.”
I turn my head so I can kiss her palm. “I do respect you. You’re so much stronger than I am, little dove.”
I crave to surrender to my most primal, vicious impulses, but my stubborn wife is determined to take her uncle down on her own. All she will allow me to do is sit by her side in solidarity.
