Page 49 of The Dark Rising
“I’m not going to do that.”
“And why would I believe you?”
He says nothing, because he’s got nothing that could counter that.
“Why is it so important?” I mutter.
“I want to know everything.”
“That is something you don’t deserve to know, nor have earned.”
“I still want it.” His fingers tense, his jaw ticking. I look over him curiously. Who is this male to ask such a thing of me, when he has already seen and been told more than he should have.
“Selfish,” I grumble.
“With you, always.”
“What will it take to sate your selfishness?”
“Probably nothing short of a lifetime.”
I blink and then huff at him, shaking my head. “What do I get in exchange for this information?”
“This is not an interrogation.”
“It’s not?” I tilt my head. “Then you don’t need to know.”
“Rhea,” he warns in a low tone that I feel in the pit of my stomach.
“Darius,” I mock, and his thighs tense, like he’s about to stand and come near me.
I don’t want that, so I sigh and slump further into the furs. “The wolf wasn’t normal, or at least one I hadn’t seen before. It had two tails.”
“Two tails?” he repeats like a question.
“Yes.” I wait for a roll of his eyes, even a shake of his head.
But I get a reaction that I don’t expect.
His eyes turn black, and goosebumps pepper my skin when silver flecks flow through his eyes. It’s been a long time since I had the chance to watch those flecks this close, counting them as I move to the next one, only to lose count and start all over again. I feel Runa stretch within me before shaking her fur out, then sits down, head tilting as we watch them together, I can feel her contentment through me. Traitor.
“No, I wouldn’t think you’re mad,” he whispers as he blinks, and his eyes turn light green again.
“You believe me?” I can’t keep the shock out of my tone, and he nods. “But why?” My heart rate speeds up at the way he’s looking at me. The softness of his eyes, just like that night in the Eridian forest with the wisps, and when he was playing with the pups.
Why is he looking at me like that now? I don’t want him to look at me like that, I can’t have him looking at me like that. Like he didn’t whip me, like I mean something to him, like I fucking matter when we both know I don’t.
The marks on my back prove that.
My mind is a chaotic mess of emotions and confusion as I just stare at him, wondering what he’s going to say, but also scared he’s just going to sweep the rug right under my feet again. I can’t trust him, or his words. I can’t be near him, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.
Keep it fucking down, Rhea.
He sinks deeper into the chair, spreading his legs out, and my damn eyes can’t help but glance over his thick thighs before coming back to him. His smirk says he caught me, my returning scowl says I don’t have to like it though, even as his eyes roam over me, heating and piercing, like he wants to devour me. Like he has a right to my body, and I hate myself more when I squeeze my thighs together, hating, once again, my body’s reaction to him.
Because fuck him.
“While you have been gone for months, Charles has been acting strange,” he says, his voice low and my attention is fully on his words now, at the mention of Charles. “He’s obsessed with finding you, throwing every resource he has and demanding you be found by any means necessary. It was more than he has ever done with other traitors. Though with you being the cause of the rogures, I could understand it.” I bristle at him calling me a traitor. So he was bullshitting. Taunting me? He still thinks I caused the rogures? He blows out a breath, his voice with a hint of a growl in it as he speaks. “Then Charles has started hinting at me to create pups with another, to carry on my line.” I grip the furs tightly, my heart pounding. I say nothing as I try to ignore my own reaction to the thought of Darius creating a child with another. It shouldn’t bother me, but my insides revolt, aggressively and possessively and I blink, internally shaking my head as Runa bares her teeth. “I told him I’m not interested and me being an Heir won’t change that.” I let out a subtle breath of relief that I don’t understand. “But then he said when we capture you, I would create pups with you anyway. I told him no, and like fuck you would be willing, even if I decided to. He said it didn’t matter if you agreed or not, to fuck you anyway.” He stares at me, watching intently.
