Page 482 of Coal Hearts

His eyes followed my finger, his shoulders stiffening.

“Why do you get all sad when you look at your watch?”

He gritted his teeth and moved farther down the bed, smearing cream on my thighs.

No reply.

I longed for his secretive whispers.

I craved for him to speak.

“Tell me,” I urged.

Nothing.

“I gave you a piece of my past—”

Still nothing.

“Do you miss her?”

His eyebrows flew into his hair. “What?”

Finally.

I kept digging, deliberately stabbing him with memories.

“Your mother. Do you miss her?”

He choked and shook his head. “How...how could you possibly know she gave this to me?”

The drugs in my system made me float. “My magical powers of deduction?” I winked. The room spun. My heart thudded sleepily, making my tongue far too loose. “Someone you loved gave you that watch. I can tell because that love lives in your eyes when you look at it. It can’t be your dad, and you said you haven’t had much success in relationships, so...it must’ve been your mum.”

He bared his teeth. “Shut up, Ilyana, before I lose my temper.”

Do it.

Lose it.

You need to break.

He couldn’t keep bottling everything in.

Gagging on his darkness.

The softness in my head arrowed straight at his discomfort. I didn’t try to second-guess. I trusted the nudges inside me. “You’ve missed her your entire life, haven’t you? There’s no difference between missing someone alive or missing them when they’re dead.”

“Fucking hell.” He glowered as if he wanted to smother me with a pillow. “Shut up—”

“Or what? You’ll hurt me?” I giggled. Even to my ears, I sounded a little—a lot—crazy. “You’ll have to wait, I’m afraid. Not sure I could handle anything else.”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he snapped through clenched teeth.

I laughed again, finding everything freaking hilarious and horrible. “But you will hurt me again.” The drugs chose that moment to swarm me. “You’ll hurt me because that’s your loooove language.” I shrugged with an unbecoming snort. “Your love language is pain.” I burst into peals of giggles. “Wonder if there’s a love bible for a sadist? Lesson number one on how to show affection for your slave: whip them until they’re moaning for you, then kiss them stupid.”

I moaned with need, then laughed and laughed and laughed.

If I didn’t laugh, I’d try to seduce him.