“Nothing lasts,princess.”
KHALIL
Ever since the sheriff came for us, things between Aurelia and me have been slightly off-kilter. Thanks to Thorin’s constant fuckups, I’ve learned vicariously that Aurelia’s way of dealing with her hurt feelings is to ice us out.
In this case, justmeit seems.
Except she wasn’t avoiding me, giving me the silent treatment, or picking a fight. Quite the opposite, actually. While she’s had no trouble fucking me, any real sort of intimacy has been nonexistent.
She doesn’t sleep in my bed.
She won’t let me hold her.
She’ll barely let me kiss her but will deepthroat my dick with an eagerness that makes my toes curl just thinking about it.
And we don’t talk about everything and nothing like we used to.
She’s taken away all the little things I didn’t realize I craved until they were off the table.
I am starting to feel like a human vibrator, a toy, which is fucking rich because it’s exactly what we tried to make her when she first arrived.
The thought that I’ve fucked up in some irreparable way has made me restless. Especially when it became obvious that nothing had changed between her and Thorin. I assumed Aurelia would get over whatever the hell was eating at her after a while, but after the first week passed, she was still rolling her fucking eyes at me whenever she thought I wouldn’t notice.
I was even desperate enough to confide in Thorin and Zeke, who only snickered and cracked jokes over seeing me like this—chasing and pining for a girl.
Since my brothers were no fucking help, eventually, I caved and finally asked Aurelia what her fucking problem was, but she just smiled and said nothing before fucking me. After the best nut of my life—and two for her—she went right back to icing me out like it never happened.
It left me scratching my head until that confusion turned to dread when I was left to come up with my own conclusion.
Things between us only seemed to worsen after that because now we aren’t even fucking, except this time it is my choice. I pretend to be asleep whenever she slips into my bed at night, and I leave the room anytime her gaze lingers in my direction.
Me.
Khalil Poverly.
Turning down sex.
I loved to fuck almost as much as I loved to fight. But with Aurelia, access to her body means nothing if I can’t have her heart to go with it. I am a lover and a fighter, and Aurelia is about to find out exactly what that means.
Today, I decided to put an end to her silent warfare once and for all.
I asked Thorin to find a reason to take him away from the cabin this morning and to take Zeke with him. I didn’t tell him my plan, but he seemed to know anyway and wished me luck before dragging Zeke out of bed. From the swollen cheek Thorin was sporting before he left the cabin, I’m guessing Zeke wasn’t too happy about being forced out of bed so early.
Once I have everything ready, I search for Aurelia and find her outside in our glade. She’s kneeling over her garden, grumbling to herself as she shoves a trowel into the ground inside the newly constructed raised bed. Oh, she tried to makethem on her own but gave up after struggling for two hours to make one.
I’d gotten up early the next day and spent half the morning making several of different sizes since I didn’t know what she needed them for, but did I get a thank-you?
Fuck no.
She grunted when I showed them to her, which I guess was better than ignoring me entirely, and then proceeded to do exactly that as she consulted her gardening book to figure out which size to use. I’d returned that excited, eager glint in her eyes, though, and I told myself it was enough. I even caught her humming when I stuck my head out of the cabin to check on her after.
Aurelia’s back was to me now, so she didn’t see or hear me coming as I silently approached, only to realize she was talking to herself.
“Fucking asshole,” she grumbles. “Who the fuck does he think he is? My pussy not good enough now? Un-fucking-believable. I’m the one who’s supposed to be mad.” She shoves the trowel into the ground again with a growl. “Bitch ass. Stingy dick ass. Who needs you? I don’t.”
An unexpected grin splits the lower half of my face when I realize she’s talking about me and the fact that I wouldn’t fuck her last night. On the heels of my amusement is relief because at least now I know it isn’t the end of us.
She still cares.
