Page 41 of Infernal

Iwasn’t well.

I spun around and faced him. I had every intention of telling him to enjoy his night, but that wasn’t what came out of my mouth. “Make her leave, Dominic.” My voice was lower now, more desperate. I honestly wasn’t sure what was driving me anymore—my disdain of the entire situation or my desire to keep her away from him.

“Why? Did you want to take her place?” he asked lowly—daringly.

I resisted the urge to smack him. “No.”

“Then why would I send her away?”

Because it’s bothering me. Because it’s making me jealous. Because I don’t want you touching other women.

“Because her voice is getting on my nerves!”

Really, Jemma? Really? That’s what I went with?

He laughed at my outlandish response, and I didn’t blame him. The more I spoke, the more ridiculous I sounded.

He took a sip of his drink and shifted closer to me. “Try again, angel.”

“Because I don’t want her here.”

“And why is that?” he asked, tucking my hair behind my ear and sending a parade of shivers down my arms.

“I just…don’t! Okay?”

He shook his head. “Not good enough.”

Damn him!

I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to get me to admit something—to admit I had some kind of feelings for him. But that wasn’t going to happen because I did NOT have feelings for Dominic Huntington.

Anything I felt for him was directly related to the bloodbond. It had to be. So why the hell did I care what he did with his free time? Why did it bother me that he had another woman here? The answer scratched just below the surface, desperate to claw its way through, but I staunchly jammed it back down into the pit of darkness where it belonged.

I seriously needed to get a hold on myself, and damn it, I was about to do just that.

“I shouldn’t be here,” I said, shaking my head as I took a slow step away from him. I’d somehow allowed my jealousy to nearly drive me off the deep end. “This right here,” —I flicked my fingers between the two of them— “this is none of my business.” There were two consenting adults here, and I wasn’t anything more than a spoke in their wheel.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” he said, disappointment set heavy in his eyes. “You were so close.”

“So close? Close to what?” A split second passed before I pushed that away too. “Forget it. I don’t even care.” I turned to leave, but he reached out and took my hand.

“Angel, wait.”

“Wait for what?” For more humiliation, more confusion. I already had enough of that. “I’m going to bed.”

“Ask me again,” he said quietly, intimately, as though we were alone in the room.

I met his eyes and faltered. There was no bravado there, no cockiness to be found, though I still wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted me to ask him: For his date to leave? Whether or not he was in love with me? I’d asked him so many questions in the last twenty-four hours that I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

And the truth was, I was too beaten down to even try.

“I don’t have anything to ask you.” I unclasped his hand from mine and watched as he shuttered his eyes. “Goodnight,” I said and then left the room, leaving the two of them free to enjoy each other’s company.

15. PAY IT IN BLOOD

Back in the safety of the guestroom, I locked the door behind myself and pressed my back against it as I released the breath I’d been holding since I walked away from Dominic. From the window, I could see the moon hanging low in the distance. A soft glow of red still encased it like an ethereal prison, and as awful as the meaning of its presence was, I couldn’t help but find beauty in its carnage.

I pushed off the door and walked to the bed, hoping that sleep would take me quickly. The anxiety had returned with a vengeance and was slowly chipping away at my insides again. I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to get any sleep like this, and while my cure lay within a few dozen feet of me, I wasn’t willing to venture down that road again.

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