Page 92 of Obsession

“That’s a hell of an assumption, Aris!”

His jaw sets. “Like I said, I cannot stay here.”

I stare at him. I know he’s made up his mind and I can hardly be angry—I’ve been thinking the same things. Still, he’s saying that he would leave me, that his interests outweigh my own.

Something twists in my chest, a fissure rocking my heart. He is as he always was.

He’s made his decision; he will go. Either I come with him and try to police and cull him, keep him tame as he has been, or I stay and wait for Jaegen to return and punish me.

“Please, don’t look at me like that. I want you; I want to stay with you. And I want you to be happy. Certainly, you want me to be happy as well?”

I just stare. Is he trying to help me understand, or is he manipulating me? I hate that I’m uncertain.

“We are isolated here,” I say slowly. “If we left, others could find us: the Following, the mages, Jaegen—humans. It isn’t safe out there.”

“You aren’t hearing me: I will keep you safe.” His eyes flash, cold certainty reminding me of the eldritch terror he is beneath this suit of flesh. His tone is almost sinister. “Do you not believe me?”

A flush of dark power rushes through the room, halting my response. The shadows tremble in response, a dog’s ear rising to the call of its name, and my hands burn from the sudden cold. I feel I am a candle before a hurricane.

I take a slow breath to compose myself, properly intimidated.

“Mary,” says Aris. His tone is a little gentler, but his expression is no less fierce. “Nothing will take you from me; I would not allow it.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.” The uncanny blackness of the forest strikes me again, and I amend, “Not really, anyway.”

“What is it, then?”

“You want more,” I say quietly, raising my hand to stroke his cheek. We are the same temperature, which he notices is dangerous, and the room starts to warm.

His hand captures my own, squeezing my chilled fingers. His eyes bore into my own. “And?” His voice is quiet now, too.

“What happens when we leave, and you want more? And more still? What if it isn’t enough?”

“What if I want the world again someday,” he says, smiling at the sentiment like it’s ridiculous. “It won’t happen. I am asking only to leave the confines of Jaegen’s prison, a creature who betrayed me and tortured you. When it is just us, I will want nothing more than you.”

“And how can I hold you to that?”

His fingers tighten on my own. “Because I won’t risk losing you. One world is not worth that.”

I swallow thickly. It’s a good line. If this were one of my romance novels, I’d be swooning. But this is the real world, where men, and certainly gods of chaos, do not put women first. Not over power. “Tell me that you mean it. Tell me, Aris.”

His thumb slides over my knuckles. “I mean it.”

To solidify the promise, he seals it with a kiss, and, as kisses do between us, it deepens—hands fisting hair, scratching at skin, pulling each other tighter, closer. My brain shuts off as base desire takes over, my blood humming and bones shaking from his electric grip.

I want to believe him. I want it so badly.

He pulls away suddenly, panting, resting his forehead against mine. “We will be free, you and I,” he says, with such weight that it could be nothing but a promise. He pulls me into an embrace. “But Mary…”

“Yes?”

He pauses for a long moment, his hold on me tightening. “Once we leave… you wouldn’t have to stay with me after.”

My brows furrow, and I pull back. “What?”

“I want you to be truly free. I want you to have the life that you want.” He takes a moment, jaw working. “What is it that you want, Mary?”

The question stumps me. It isn’t something I’ve thought about.

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