“You shouldn’t go to the mines again.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes, and when he did so, his bare arm grazed the denim-covered bend of her knee. “I’m sure the sheriff told you that. But in this instance, he happens to be right.”
“So you did know about it.”
“Rael told me, yes. He tells me everything. We’re close.”
“But he shouldn’t,” she shot back. “His dad’s a cop.”
“That’s the way it’s always been here, Nadine. Old alliances forged in blood.” A bit of despair snaked into his voice, which he tried to mask with light-hearted mockery. “It’s endearing, the way you see beyond that, but it doesn’t change the way things are.”
That wall came up behind her face again. “I didn’t fall off the back of a truck, you know.” Gripping her neck, her fingers bitinto the bandage. “I’m not completely naïve. Someone left me a note. That’s why I went down to the mine. They told me they had information, and that I should go to meet them there.”
Cal set the rum on his nightstand, knowing he would likely return to it later. “And you obeyed? That seems a little naïve to me.”
“Why do you care?” She slid her legs past him to hoist herself ungracefully to her feet. “I thought you weren’t king of this castle.”
“Is that what you want? Because if you’re looking for someone landed, then I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong brother, little sparrow. Ben—now, he plays for keeps. I’m only looking for a little catch and release.”
“You’re one to talk.” Nadine leaned back against the thick post of his tester bed, looking up at him with folded arms. “You’ve done nothing but screw with me since I came here. Why should I listen to you? Why should I trust you? It’s so obvious you only want one thing.”
“And what thing is that?” he demanded. “Do you think I killed your sister? And now, what? I want to kill you? You think maybe—I want to fuck you before you die?” He met her horrified gaze, and in those clear grey depths, he saw the distorted mirror of the hideous truth of himself and how she would react to it. “Or perhaps, wait until after? A pretty corpse to play with?”
“No,” she said. “Stop.”
Cal began to pace the room while she stood there, frozen, looking at him like the monster from her dreams. Which he was, though she wasn’t yet aware. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought you looked tragic. A sad-eyed martyr, bound for the pyre. But there’s something bright in your eyes when youtalk about your sister. Or when you talk back to me. And it’s completely unselfconscious.”
When he turned in an abrupt volte-face, she was still standing in the same spot, rooted to the floor. He took her by the arms, tugging her away from the bed.
“Tenacity, I think it might be. Or a strange, incurious passion bound up in years and years of diligent restraint. But whatever it is, it’s frozen under glass. Hot and bright, but very much untouchable. You never answered my question, Nadine. When was the last time someone took care of you? And by that, I don’t mean a few tender touches and a pat on the hand like your aunt gives you, no. I want to know if anyone ever threw you down and fucked you like they were trying to strike a match, until that frozen flame I see in your eyes melted away along with that stubborn will, and all you could say wasyesandplease.”
The sound she made had his fingers biting into her flesh tighter, nearly to the point of pain. They were standing close enough that her chest grazed the still-damp fabric of his shirt with every breath, and what had felt like a baptism now felt like more like damnation with every point of contact between them sending heated ripples of sensation across his body that burned like fire.
She had backed from him before, in the parlor, but she was not backing from him now, and he was getting very tired of letting her run when every subtle tilt of her head shaded into an invitation that opened into yet another locked door.
“I—I’d like to go back to my room now.”
“No,” he said softly. “I think I’ll have my answer first.”
Nadine pulled at her arms, her fear doubling when she realized he had her pinned and she could not break his hold. “Stop it.Stopit, Cal. Let me go! I don’t owe you anything.”
“Don’t you? Because I do. I think you owe me plenty. I don’t think you haveanyidea what you’ve—”forced me to do, he almost said.
But no, she hadn’t, had she? That was all him.
Cal let go and she stumbled from him in surprise, arms barring over her chest once more. Sighing harshly, he pushed his hair from his face. No. No, he couldn’t take her now. Not like this. She might go along with him in her desperation, but then she would never forgive him.
“I suggest you leave,” he said eventually, every word heavy as lead as it fell into the silence. He touched the post she had vacated, wrapping his hand around the carved wood. It creaked ominously in his powerful grip. “But that is a suggestion—and one you are free to disregard, as long as you understand that I won’t let you go again.”
Nadine hesitated, her body angled towards the door but her feet pointed at him. She was trying to look brave, his sparrow, but there was indecision written plainly on her face and he knew, suddenly, with a keen awareness that shot through him like a bolt, that she would come to him. That shewantedto come to him. That he could, indeed, have her now, if he wanted.
If he cajoled.
If he took.
His fingers whitened.
“Go,” he said harshly.
Whatever battle she saw in his face propelled her into movement. He watched her leave, walking fast—but nottoo fast—her hair bouncing a little with each hard step.
