“No.” My muscles lock up, all of them.
I bristle against his order, but I don’t hate him. This mean man in front of me—this isn’t my Duncan.
He doesn’t like that person either; I can tell. The old him resents this messed-up situation as much as I do.
It’s all there in his eyes. His feelings for me. The hurt. The longing.
“I thought you loved your brother, Elowyn.” His brow furrows as he pushes his fingers past my lips, dragging themover my tongue. Forcing me to taste myself on him. “And yet you keep testing me. Keep making me repeat myself.”
“I’d do anything foryou,” I murmur around his fingers, hoping he hears me. That he believes me. “If you just asked nicely.”
He studies me, searching for a lie.
He won’t find it.
I belong to him.
Yes, I want Barclay to be okay. That’s a given.
I just don’t want it half as much as I want Duncan to be mine.
Truth is, ever since I learned The Restorer is him, the reason I came here has faded into the background. He matters more than money. More than anything.
I’m willing and ready to fight for him.
More so now that I see he isn’t disgusted by me.
Barclay was wrong. Or worse, he lied.
If anything about me or us truly sickened Duncan, he wouldn’t have emptied his seed on me last night. Wouldn’t have been so hard that he had to adjust his erection a few minutes ago.
So he isn’t disgusted with me, at least not anymore.
But he’s hurt over something. He even hates me, or so he likes to believe.
Meaning that whatever has sunk its claws into Duncan is going to resist me. It’ll take time to pull him out of the dark place he’s in. Effort. Patience.
I don’t care. I’m going to save him.
“How about no.” He clings to his cruelty, refusing to let go. “I won’t ask nicely. Won’t do anything to accommodate you unless it suits me.”
“This isn’t you.” My words come out uneven.
Duncan hears them anyway. “I’ve changed.”
His lips are shadowed with day-old stubble, pulling my attention despite myself. He notices. Smirks.
My eyes jerk back to his, reminding myself that sex won’t fix us. Though I’m not opposed to it.
Focus!
“You couldn’t have changed that much,” I blurt out, thankful that my voice is clear of lust. That his fingers have stopped moving long enough for me to talk. “I don’t believe it.”
He shakes his head, wiping the smirk off his face.
“You, on the other hand…” he starts.
Expression stony, he goes silent as he resumes dragging his fingers back and forth over my tongue.
