Page 180 of The Sinner's Bargain

“What do you mean?”

I raised my head off his chest to peer down at him. “The day I went in, I saw a woman. It wasn’t fog or my eyes playing tricks. I saw her dress. But...” I nibbled on my lip as I tried to explain. “Someone called my name. My name. Naya. No one knew it then, and it sounded like you. It was your voice. I know that sounds—”

“Stay out of the gardens, Naya.” His voice was harsh and ... scared. “Stay ... I’m going to burn it to the ground.”

His heart was racing under my palm.

“What? No. The roses—”

“I don’t give a shit. I don’t care.” He touched my cheek. “I’ll fucking torch whatever’s in there. I won’t let it hurt you.”

I wanted to argue the possibility of a homeless person, or someone playing a trick, but they knew my name and they shouldn’t have.

“Board it up,” I said instead. “Stone doors closing all the entrances, especially that weird pond. It’s dangerous.”

Thoran blinked. “Pond?”

I described the marsh area I’d stepped into and nearly lost a shoe.

Even with only the moon as illumination, I didn’t miss the grinding of his jaw. “You walked into the swamps?”

My stomach tightened. “I didn’t know that was what it was.”

His chest rose deeply, slowly with his inhale. “Bed. Now.”

I didn’t argue. I nuzzled my face into the hollow of his throat and shut my eyes.

I woke Thoran up with his beautiful cock in my mouth several hours later. He let me swallow him and I did with greedy gulps until he was limp across the mattress.

I swatted his hand away when he tried to pin me down.

“Stop it. You’re supposed to be resting. That’s what Dr. Roberts said.” I started to climb off the bed. Only to get captured and dragged under his weight.

“Not so fast.” He pinned my waist down with a single arm across my hips as he wiggled down between my thighs. “I want my breakfast, too.”

Cyrus had to come get us when we were almost late for breakfast. We were just getting out of the shower when he knocked on the door. We dressed quickly and I helped reapply ointment and fresh gauze around Thoran’s arm. I didn’t fail to notice there were only five, neat stitches and each one was over a rose honoring the other women.

There was definitely something wrong with Cyrus’s face when Thoran opened the door. His eyes were bright and a sly, little quirk fitted the corner of his lips.

“What’s your problem?” Thoran muttered, guiding me out into the corridor.

Cyrus shrugged. “Was wondering if I was still fired for not wanting your babies.”

Despite my best efforts, I had to cover my pinched lips when a laugh threatened to slip.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Sexual harassment in the workplace,” Cyrus said without batting an eye. “Getting fired for not sleeping with the boss. We need an HR department so I can file a formal complaint.”

Thoran stared at him like he’d lost his mind.

I’d wondered if Thoran would remember the conversation when he was heavily medicated. Judging from his bemused expression, he didn’t.

I filled him in as we walked down to the dining room and almost enjoyed his darkened cheeks and deepening scowl, until he seemed to realize something and glanced down at me. I waited for him to speak, but he merely grinned to himself and kept walking.

“What?” I asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

Cyrus immediately turned and continued on, leaving Thoran to back me into the stair railing with a warm hand firmly clasped across my collarbone. My pulse jumped under the firm hold. Warmth bubbled in the pit of my stomach as his face loomed over mine.

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