Page 53 of Villainous Greed

Why did that knowledge make me tingle and burn?

Shaking the weird sensation away, I snatched a leg of chicken from the plate, took a bite, and got into the tub. My eyes nearly rolled back in my head as the hot water eased a hundred years of aches. My vision blurred as I swallowed the meat, and my nose tingled.

Sofia is alive. August is good. August is my mate.

I covered my mouth to stifle my cry.

Oh, Hades. I didn’t trust those feel-good sensations crashing over me. I faced the door as my heart raced. What if Harvest’s trick lasted for days or years? No, no.

This is real.

Why did I send August away? I needed to see him, breathe him in. Then I’d understand my reality.

I plucked another chicken leg off the plate and ate it. My heart rate kept increasing, and it was getting harder to breathe. I raised my knees and the wooden board holding the food clattered to the floor.

That uneasiness would never go away until I rid myself of my enemies. I’d never know peace until Harvest and Derrick were gone. When I made them pay, maybe then…

Right as I tried to cradle my legs to my chest, an arm prevented me from doing so. August’s firm palm slid over my chest, and he eased me backward. “Breathe,” he whispered near my ear.

I inhaled, and his scent flooded my senses as he leaned over the tub behind me. My heart slowed as his breath fanned my ear. I clung to his arm as he cradled it to my chest.

“I shouldn’t have walked out of the room,” he whispered.

No, he shouldn’t have, but instead of admitting that, I said, “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

“Rip me apart from the inside if you must.” He kissed the top of my dirty head. “I’m not leaving you again, and if you try to leave me, I’ll follow. I’ll always follow you.”

I shut my eyes and squeezed his arm. “I don’t think I can give you the things you want.”

“Youare all that I want.”

That’s not what I meant, and he knew it. He must see all of me, the haggard witch, beneath the water.I couldn’t stand the sight of my scrawniness. My skin didn’t know affection. I didn’t know what it was I was feeling when he touched or looked at me.

But…

I clung to his arm tighter.

Nothing made sense or felt better than him. So, even scrawny and weak, I didn’t care what part of me he saw. The toad image on my butt said he was mine. Every time I should have died and didn’t, it was because he was mine. When my reality was in disarray, his scent said he was mine.

Harvest couldn’t take him away from me anymore. And Harvest would pay for taking my family away from me.

My enemies would pay foreverything.

Chapter Twenty-One

August

Nova squeezed my arm against her chest. Her racing heart slowed until I could barely feel it thumping against my skin. As her breath evened out, mine became choppy. My limbs shook and my lungs burned as if I’d been yelling for hours.

Nova deserved better than crying alone in a tub of water. Nothing in any world would be enough to make up for her suffering. I wished Harvest could die a million times.

I wanted to pull my mate out of the water and hug her close. Yet, I feared doing so. We spent a long time at odds with each other.

Her finally being by my side was the only thing right. Everything else was a mess. I worried she’d always feel uncomfortable around me. Rewriting our past wasn’t possible, no matter how hard I wished I could. I’d only ever wanted to give the powerful creature before me comfort and luxuries, as she deserved. I wanted to give her a hundred thousand smiles to replace all the misery she must have experienced.

I was happy she was with me, but afraid of hurting her more. She consumed me. I didn’t know how to love her slowly. Alifetime was how long I’d spent loving, yet despising, a dead girl because she wouldn’t allow me to save her.

I kept my gaze on her curls, not wanting to take advantage of the moment. She was distraught. When she regained her fire within, I’d seduce my mate out of her clothes and show her my lust. While I didn’t stare at her naked body, I could feel how tiny she was. She wouldn’t be for long. I’d learn to cook or bake whatever she wanted. I’d empty myself if it meant replenishing her.

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