Page 14 of Currency in Flesh

She grabbed me by the hair, yanking my face back to hers and biting my lip so hard I tasted blood. She groaned as it coated her tongue, and she kissed me fiercely—forcing my mouth to accept her. I melted beneath her demands, submitting to her with a fluttering whine. Her other hand slid between my thighs, cupping my softly cushioned pussy and grinding the heel of her palm against my clit. I whimpered, pressing my thighs together to try and bring her closer—knowing she could feel through the fleece just how wet I was for her, how much I wanted it. She tightened her hand in my hair and I heard strands begin to tear with the force of her grip. Tears sprang to my eyes, but the pain only added to the torrent of heat and arousal pooling in my core. It began to build, shooting up my spine, and I knew I was on the precipice of climax. A genuine moan tore from my chest, vibrating against her tongue and urging her onward. I wanted her to tear the clothes from my skin, throw me to the floor, use me, claim me, take me however she wanted. And just as I felt the muscles of my stomach beginto tighten and tense with orgasm, she yanked her hand away, pulled her mouth from mine and slapped me across the face.

I should have felt revulsion, remembered Sean’s broad palm knocking me to my knees. I should have been enraged and disgusted. But instead, I cried out with a ragged sob—the sharp sting of her hand and the promise of climax faded from my limbs, twisting together into an ugly, shameful pain. She pulled my head back, forcing me to look at her as tears streamed down my flushed cheeks. “Sweet blossom,” she murmured, lips swollen and red from the violence of her kiss. “You will not be ready for me until you are ready to deal with him.”

CHAPTER TEN

Five Years Ago

The symphony’s crescendo surrounded me just as the sun dipped below the horizon. Sean stood at the back of the open amphitheater, on his phone as usual. It was nice, actually, being able to enjoy this without his looming presence. This month had been a bad one—I tried not to glance at where a bruise peeked out from the hem of my sleeve—but here, surrounded by stunning sounds and a brilliant California sunset, I felt like it might be okay.

I spared a covert glance at Sean, hoping to see a face marked by something other than anger. The set of his jaw and the angle of his dark eyebrows relieved me of that hope. Maybe, I could ply him with lingerie and an old fashioned when we got home. More likely, however, we would fight and I would have to decide whether I’d rather say no to him and deal with the aftermath, or give in and cope with my own sense of failure.

When it was a friend of mine, I seemed to always understand.Leaving is difficult. Abuse doesn’t happen suddenly—it’s insidious and develops over time. We can fix them.But now that it wasmesuffering, it felt like weakness. I hated every second I spent doubting myself, but other than with one of us in a coffin, I couldn’t imagine a way to escape. Was this how it would always be? I was so tired.

Sean didn’t bother returning to his seat when his call ended, just texted me that we were leaving. He’d driven the Bentley here, so it took me a moment to find it in the sea of black cars, and by the time I slid into the passenger seat he was already seething. He didn’t say a word on the drive, and I didn’t know whether it was good, or a harbinger of an evening of pain. I followed a few paces behind as he stalked toward the house, hesitating only slightly when he flung the door open. I didn’t expect to be thrown against the wall and it happened so quickly I didn’t even have time to react. Caged by his arms on either side of my head, I could only look up at him with eyes that rarely cried anymore.

“Are you fucking pregnant?” he asked. It sounded more like a threat than a question.

“No?” He had caught me off guard and I answered honestly. My period hadn’t come in a few months, but I was used to it. My periods had been like that my entire life—my OB said I likely didn’t ovulate as a result of PCOS. But I took a test each month if I didn’t know for certain, and this month’s had been negative. Like all the others before it.

“You didn’t have a drink at the concert and you’ve gained more weight,” he sneered.

I glanced down at myself. I’d felt confident, but I couldn’t help but view myself through his eyes. It would never matter to him that time had passed, and that he, too, had grown older. It was my job as a wife to remain attractive, after all.

He pushed off the wall and walked away, slamming the door to his office while I leaned against the wall and cried. I hated him, wanted him to disappear.I could do that.

Lady Cora satbeside me on the bed. I didn’t recall falling asleep, but when I opened my eyes to see her reading a book with an expression of bored indifference.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She glanced down, seeming to not have realized I was awake. “I was hoping your rest would show you some things that I feel you should know.”

My eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what that means,” I replied. “Can you see my dreams?”

Lady Cora rolled her eyes, the vibrant green disappearing momentarily below her lids. “I do not know how else to communicate that in my domain, I am omnipotent. I either control or am privy to anything which occurs in the Underworld.”

I sat up, pulling the sheet up over my mostly bare body. I was clothed in a silk nightie I also had no recollection of donning. “I guess you know, then, that I dreamt about Sean again.”

“I thought it might be important to remind you of how he treated you.”

“Have you been controlling all of my dreams?” It felt like a violation. Not even my sleeping mind was my own. “Do I truly have no freedom here?”

“You have many freedoms, you have simply chosen not to take advantage of them.” Her lips tipped up in an amused smile.

Ignoring her, I continued. “I don’t need help remembering how shitty my life was.”

She raised one sharply angled eyebrow. “And what of the things you werenotaware of?”

“What could it possibly change?” I asked. But my stomachtwisted, and a sense of dread washed over me. What more had Sean done? I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know.

“I will make you a bargain,” Lady Cora said, and my eyes snapped to her. Until now, everything she said always seemed like a command. A deal was an interesting proposition.

“What are your terms? And what do I stand to gain if I agree?”

“I will show you one more dream. If, afterward, you still do not want to personally seek retribution, I will not ask you again.”

My eyebrows drew together. “That doesn’t sound like a bargain. If I say no, you can still do it anyway—and there is no benefit on my end either way. Do you know what a bargain is?”

The light in the room flickered, going completely black for a breath. The darkness was absolute, like my eyes had stopped working. It was possible they had. After all, I was essentially dead and Lady Cora controlled whatever remained of my existence. I could have sworn her eyes glowed brighter when she fixed them upon me with a fearsomeness I had not seen directed at me yet. I’d made her angry.

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