Page 62 of The Oath We Give

My eyes slit, words tasting of defiance. “If I do?”

When he stands to his full height, the slightest sliver of his taut abdomen peeks through the opening of his shirt. I let my eyes drop for a split second until his shirt falls back into place.

There is a crackle in the air.

The mention of the wordsexmakes me think of it with him.

Dirty, rough sex.

Sex with Silas.

I look at his hands, large palms that he’d probably bruise my ass with. We’d destroy each other in the bedroom. Neither one of us would be willing to give up control, leaving us both littered with bruising kisses and deep scratches.

Lust hasn’t been an emotion I’ve felt in a long time, and I don’t like admitting that I miss it. The way it licked the backs of my heels, heat crawling up to my stomach and burning away inside.

I match his stance, standing up straight with my arms crossed, not saying a word as his eyes roam my body openly. It’s my ego telling me he’s thinking the same filthy thoughts as me.

Silas leans forward, eyes narrowing as he considers my words.

“No deal,” he grunts, the sound sending a tingle down my spine. “No one will believe that I’m unfaithful to my wife. They all know what happens when someone touches what belongs to me.”

“I am not yours to own.” I seethe, my jaw tightening in anger.

Heat and irritation swirl inside of me, a flame burning.

“Right now, you aren’t.” His sharp teeth grip his lower lip making my body twitch as his eyes rake over my body, “In private, you can call all the shots. But to the rest of the world? You’re fucking mine, and I don’t share.”

Electricity shoots down my spine.

I’m not a thing to be owned, never again.

But I can’t deny that the idea of letting Silas Hawthorne control my body turns me on.

I desperately need to get laid or at the very least have an orgasm before this happens.

“Then that leaves abstinence until we divorce because I am not sleeping with you.”

Even though I want to, if our circumstances were different, I’d do wicked, wicked things to him. However, we are already too close. Sex will only blur the lines, and neither of us needs that.

I can’t risk it.

His gaze darkens as he silently smirks at me.

“Then you better stock up on batteries, Hex. You’ll need them.”

My cheeks flush, a vivid picture of him watching me touch myself with one of my toys sinking into the back of my mind. But I shake it away, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Arranged marriages are a common thing, Silas. Why do we have to put on a show for the public?”

The fire, that burn in his eyes, is snuffed out, emotion disappearing almost immediately.

“My parents.” He sighs, running a hand across his rugged jaw. “It will break my mother’s heart if she knows I married for anything but love. I won’t do that to her. That’s my only condition.”

As much as dislike the concept of being owned both in private and public, I get it. I resent that I understand it, but his loyalty to his family makes me admire him in a way I never expected.

Silas doesn’t want to be in this situation either. I’m sure being hitched to me wasn’t in his plans.

But he’ll do it ’cause he has to.

---