Page 171 of Taken By Touch and Torment

“Secrets, secrets,” Durian slurred behind us before laughing like a madman.

The cadence of it made me wince, and Brennan sighed, cupping my face.

“I’m sorry, Brennan. Did I do something wrong?” I asked, putting my hands over his.

He had more unanswered questions. My glamour still hung in the balance, racked by political instability and powerful emotions. But I was stronger. I maintained perfect control, flooding the room with my power.

There’s an explanation for all of it. She is everything you’ve ever wanted. She chose you. You love her flare of danger, and it does not contradict her sexy human innocence. Durian is attempting to get inside your head—don’t let him.

Brennan inhaled deeply, his eyes filling with both violence and lust.

“No, Scarlett,” Brennan said. “You’ve done nothing wrong, I’m sure.”

My smile faltered. “Why didn’t you tell me Rosalind was alive?”

Brennan lifted a brow. “I didn’t think you’d care.”

“She was my friend,” I said. “I mourned her. I thought it was my fault she was killed.”

Brennan let out an exasperated sigh. “The thought truly never crossed my mind,” he said, his voice dripping with annoyance. “Can we let all of that go now, please?”

Without waiting for my response, he tore off my bra. He hungrily gazed at the peaks of my breasts, a familiar frenzy in his eyes.

Brennan turned back to Rune now with an arrogant smirk. “You should be thanking me, Rune the Ruthless, for allowing you to see these perky tits one last time.” Brennan grabbed the back of my neck roughly and pushed me forward to face Rune, gesturing to my body as if I was a sculpture he was auctioning off. “Take a good look. It’s all you’re ever going to get.”

Brennan laughed, tearing off my golden thong next. He dragged his eyes slowly from the space between my thighs to Rune.

“Have a final look at this sweet pussy too,” he said. “You should be praising me for my generosity.”

Anger boiled in my blood. Brennan loved to act like he was the better man, a bastion of chivalry and nobility.

I was as much an object to him as I was to Durian.

I welcomed the divine feminine rage that rose like specters from Crescent Haven’s graves, the cemetery where mine and Rune’s parents were buried. The place drunk men had torn open my dress and stolen parts of me that didn’t belong to them.

None of me had ever belonged to any man.

Though I’d freely given myself to Rune.

We locked eyes—two halves of the same soul, two beings of wrath and darkness. Lillian’s divine serpent coiled up my spine, and my eternal flame rose into the night sky, reaching for the cosmos.

The tips of Rune’s lips curved ever so slightly, as if he saw what was building inside me.

“How tight is your pretty pussy, Scarlett dear?” Brennan asked, playing with my nipples as he taunted Rune.

“Really fucking tight,” I purred. “According to Rune.”

Rune made no comment, much to Brennan’s growing agitation.

Brennan suddenly fell over the edge of an emotional peak, turning back toward me and slapping me hard across the cheekbone.

I gasped, caught off guard. My eyes stung with tears. My face seared with heat.

“Do not remind me of your impurity, please, sweetheart,” Brennan said with a heavy exhale. “I do not want to hear about the men who came before me.” Then he stared at me pointedly, waiting for something.

“I’m sorry,” I lied.

He kissed my forehead. “Now, where were we?”

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