Page 25 of Reveal Me
“He’d have to commit to just one woman first,” I scoffed.
“Is that really the only reason you rejected him? Because you don’t think he can commit? It’s not something else?”
“What else could there be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe his feet stink? He has bad hygiene? He’s a dog person?”
“He’s a player. A womanizer. He slept with someone else even after I told him we were fated mates.”
“Wait. You told him you were his fated mate?”
“Not exactly. But he definitely heard me say it.”
I didn’t want to tell Stella that he’d heard me say it to him when I assumed he was a guard. Nor that while I was saying it to the man I believed was a guard, and I was also trying to jump said guard’s bones. And while I was saying I knew who my fated mate was, about to seduce who I thought was another man, I was the one taking the bond for granted. It didn’t make me look good.
“He slept with someone else after he knew it was me.”
“How do you know he slept with someone else?”
Crap, this was going to make me look even worse. But I decided to come clean. I could’ve called Tori and come clean. She probably would’ve had my side. There was that girl code saying that you knew what kind of advice you wanted to get when you chose which friend to tell it to.
“So let me get this straight. You pretended to be someone else and seduced your fated mate.”
“Yes.”
“And when he took you up on the offer, you got mad. After a lot of orgasms.”
“It wasa lotof orgasms.”
“So you believed someone was a criminal. Then gave them the tools to commit a crime. Meanwhile, you stood by and watched? You know you’re culpable too, Niamh.”
“Whose side are you on, Stella?” I took a deep breath and let it out, wondering if it was too late on Tartarus to call Tori.
Her eyes softened, and she reached out, gently touching my hand. “I’m on the side that will make my best friend and my favorite cousin happy. You two belong together.”
“But he cheated.”
“No, babe, he did not. He’s a shifter. I guarantee he saw through my makeover. Or rather, smelled through it.”
Stella tapped her nose. And that’s when I remembered. I remembered Stella assuming I was Dion during her session when I’d walked into the room. I remember Oz thinking Dion was in the room and then frowning at me.
Dion had said he’d known. He’d said he’d known it was me the whole time. Holy shit.
Was I the asshole?
Chapter 18
Dion
Icouldn’t wait any longer. I needed to speak to Niamh. To tell her that I had no intentions of letting her go. Not now, not ever. The tension between us, the unfinished business—it had to end tonight.
Her scent hit me before I even reached her door. Rich, intoxicating, like a rare flower blooming in the darkest part of the woods, sweet and alluring, but underneath it—underneath that sweetness was that sharp hint of danger. It was the kind of fragrance that beckoned you closer, promising pleasure but warning you with every breath. A subtle, toxic bite hid beneath the delicate petals of the scent, something that made my instincts stir, setting my muscles tight and my mind alert.
It was the scent of a sweet poison—a flower that could lull you in with its beauty, then kill you with its bite. Just like her.
I didn’t bother knocking. This was my castle. I was her fated mate. Permission was implied.
She was there, covered in the blankets, her breathing soft and steady. I stepped closer, my heart racing, and as I did, thatlush, lethal scent of her grew stronger. Yet it wasn’t quite right. It tasted… different on my tongue. Her body seemed softer, fuller than I remembered. Maybe it was the sheets?
