Page 73 of In the Dark

“I should accept that and tell you to go back to your room, but I’m not going to.” Now, I couldn’t stand for it. I took a step toward her, the frustration bubbling up inside me along with the shame of not stopping Demi right away. “That’s not what this is, and we both know it.”

“Oh, please,” she scoffed. “That’s exactly what it is. And that’s all you’ll ever be to me too.”

Damn was she quick to go for the jugular. “Viper, you don’t mean that. Take it back,” I growled, walking another step toward her.

She stopped spinning her knife to point it toward me. “Don’t you dare come near me after touching her.”

“I shouldn’t have, okay?” I held up my hands but took another step in her direction, and she lifted the knife. “I wanted an outlet, Viper. You were in that fucking room with Archer, and I couldn’t stand it. I could hear you laughing and talking, and I was trying to make this relationship be what it’s supposed to. I was trying to draw lines, but I drew the wrong ones.”

She shrugged like she didn’t care about my reasoning. “Well, great job. I see the lines very clearly now.”

I shook my head, feeling her slicing at my soul even though her knife didn’t move as I pressed into it with my chest. “No. Goddamn it. I want a do-over.”

“You don’t get one!” she practically screamed and poked me with her knife, so I took a step back. Then she waved it wildly around the room. “The lines are set in stone. I’ll have whatever man I want from now on, and you can too. Want to be a damn dog? Great. I’m happy to be a bitch too. I’ll sleep with every single man I can.”

“No. You fucking won’t,” I bellowed back, feeling anger and jealousy bubble up wildly and uncontrollably. “Because I’ll kill every one of them. I have half a mind to kill Archer tonight.”

“Oh, be a grownup and stop having a tantrum,” she spat. “You made your fucking bed bringing her here.”

If she was going to go there, I’d meet her in the middle. “You invited Archer in there knowing exactly what you were doing. You knew I would be pissed,” I threw back.

“I don’t really care if you’re mad or not. You want to pout like a little baby, do it without a woman on her knees for you.”

“A little baby?” Did she know who she was talking to? “I swear to Christ, you’re so far out of line I don’t know how to bring you back talking to me like that.” I pointed to the knife she had in her hand. “And I’m not even touching on the fact that you’re not supposed to have weapons on you.”

“Why? Because I signed a contract? Get the hell over it,” she screamed. “Treat me with the same amount of respect you want yourself, or I’ll dish out the shit you deserve.”

“Fine.” I threw my hands up.

She threw hers up and yelled “fine” too.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a few deep breaths before I tried again. “Look, I’m sorry. I really am. We need new lines before you kill me, Viper.” My jaw ticked. “Or before I kill a man for spending time with you … No more men in your room at night for dinners.”

“I can’t believe you’re afraid of your own men in my room,” she scoffed, but when I growled, she rolled her eyes. “Fine. If you don’t want me spending time with them, you better not be spending time with other women.”

“I wouldn’t have had her here had I not heard—” I snapped my mouth shut, not wanting to go into it again. “I agree. But I want it clear: There’s no way I would have been able to fuck Demi even if I tried.” She stared at me, searching for a lie that she wouldn’t find, and this time I went to her and moved my hand against her cheek. She didn’t flinch away, so I brought my mouth close to her ear, “I’m thinking of you all hours of the day. You have to know that, right?”

She scoffed and leaned back. “She was on her knees for you. Don’t act like you weren’t about to screw her.”

I groaned. “I couldn’t even get it up for her, Jas. It was a last-ditch effort—”

“You were hard as a freaking rock.”

“Because you walked in wearing this.” I dragged my finger against the strap. I licked my lips and glanced down at the swell of her breasts against the V-neck. “Were you wearing this the whole night?”

“This being my pajamas?” she asked like I was incompetent.

I tried to exhale some of the white-hot jealousy coursing through me. “Was Archer in the room when you had these on?”

“My pajamas?”

“That’s a damn bra, Viper.” It wasn’t, but it was revealing enough.

“It covers literally my whole stomach. Stop being ridiculous.”

“I hate it,” I grumbled as I moved my lips back and forth over her collarbone and nipped at her skin before licking it better. Her skin wasn’t hot and angry against my lips, but warm like I might be winning her over.

“Well, I hate that your pants were unbuckled when I walked in here,” she retorted petulantly and shoved at my chest, but I stayed right where I was, not giving her an inch of space.