Page 113 of Oaths & Vengeance
Bright sunlight shone into the room, filtering through my eyelids. I lay on my stomach naked and fully relaxed after a long night of hard sex. Darrow had taken me at my word, pushing my body to new heights in the roughest, wildest ways to get us both off. I was entirely sated but also sore—not that I would dream of complaining. It had been good, almost too good to believe.
For a moment, I resisted waking until I noticed the finger tracing my back. It followed one of my many scars that I’d failed to keep glamoured in my sleep. I stiffened and turned my head to find Darrow with a cold, hard expression on his face. This was a conversation I’d hoped to avoid. A part of me had thought his inability to love would include not caring about things like the numerous wounds I’d received over the years.
His gray gaze shifted from my back to my face, softening slightly. “How did you get these?”
I swallowed. “Can we please not talk about it?”
“There are layers of scars from your shoulders to your lower back, some of them must have been quite deep, and they didn’t happen all at once.” He drew in a deep breath as if he needed to gather himself to stay calm. “Cam said you had them, but he had no idea how they got there and that you never would tell him.”
Dammit, I’d forgotten my former lover might have mentioned that during their talk.
“Yes, because it wasn’t his business,” I replied, twitching when Darrow began tracing another one.
He stared at me intently. “I’m not him and won’t accept that as an answer. You’re my wife, and someone hurt you. I need to know who did it.”
I rolled onto my back and sat up, angling my body so he couldn’t look at the scars anymore. “It’s not a problem you can fix, Dare. Please let it go.”
“No. Tell me,” he commanded.
Running a hand through my tousled hair, I glared at him. “This is one subject that is off limits between us, so forget it.”
He climbed out of bed, grabbed a robe to pull over his nude body, and began pacing the room. He looked like a caged animal ready to tear free. I watched him with trepidation. At the summer ball, I had wondered how he would have reacted if he’d known about the healing wounds on me. I was right to say nothing about them back then because he wasn’t handling it well now. A part of me was relieved by his show of concern, but the other part recognized that it would create a conflict we couldn’t easily resolve.
Darrow worked his jaw. “Was it a past lover who did this?”
I kept my mouth shut because I’d almost rather he thought that than the truth.
He glared at me. “Yes or no?”
I shook my head and looked down, letting my hair fall over my face to hide my expression. “It doesn’t matter.”
“TELL ME WHO DID THIS TO YOU!” he shouted, losing patience.
Now, I was getting angry. I lifted my chin. “Dammit, Dare. You don’t get to pry into every part of my life just because we fucked all night.” I tugged on the sheet, using it to cover myself as I stood and faced him. “Someday, when I’m ready, I’ll answer you. It’s not going to be today.”
“How do I know that I’m not sending you back to the person who did this?” he asked, voice still raised but a degree lower.
I shook my head in denial at his astute question. “You don’t, but that’s my problem.”
A knock sounded at the door, and a second later, Faina poked her head inside. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I said.
“No,” Darrow answered.
She lifted a dark brow. “You two sounded like your night went fine, so what’s the problem now?”
Before I could stop him, Darrow spun me so my back faced his sister and yanked the sheet down to my waist. The gasp Faina let out let me know she saw everything. I jerked out of his hold and covered myself again. When I turned around, I found she’d opened the door wider so the others in the hall were in view. Their expressions told me everyone had seen my scars.
“Seriously?” I shot Darrow an accusing look. “This is private.”
“I would have told them anyway,” he replied, anger still in his expression.
Faina came farther into the room, giving me the gentlest look I’d ever seen on her. “Those are whip marks—a lot of them.”
“Agreed,” Darrow said, and strangely, he looked at Bogdan. The dark elf nodded his head but didn’t comment on the matter.
My husband turned his gaze to me. “I’m not going to ask again, Aella. Who did that to you?”
