Page 21 of Sold to the Devil
“Tom?”
A sigh of relief escapes his lips and his arms wrap around me in a hug. My head against his chest, I feel myself relax at the sound of his heartbeat and his scent of pepper and mahogany. He makes me feel safe.
“What happened?” I whisper because my throat hurts too much to force my voice to be louder.
His grip tightens before he exhales and releases his hold again.
“I'm going to kill him.” He just answers in a harsh voice, full of rage.
“Tom…”
“After the interaction with Payne, Mattheo took you back to your dorm and broke his promise not to hurt you.”
I frown as I force myself to recall the events. The memories begin to flood back to me, and I snuggle closer to Tom. He runs his fingers through my hair and kisses my head.
“It's okay, honey, you're safe.”
I nod and close my eyes, letting him comfort me. His hand lightly brushes my throat, and I hold my breath, shivering under his touch.
“He fucking left a mark on you.” He growls, his anger seeming to grow again.
I feel tears threatening to fall, but I hold them back. I don't want to appear weak. Suddenly, I hear the door open, and I stiffen. I'm not ready to see him.
“Oh my- Aelys, you're awake!”
I relax at Nancy's voice, I soon feel her arms join Tom's. They both embrace me tightly, whispering reassuring words in my ear. We stay like that for a moment before Nancy speaks again.
“Okay, now you're going to explain to me why you have to share a room with Rigast, and apparently his bed since there's only one in this room, but also why he dared raise his fucking hand on you!”
So I tell her everything. That I must marry him, that I must give him an heir to please the Dark Mage, my task, how he treats me. I hide nothing from her. When I finish my tirade, she is furious. Tom lets go of me and she takes me in her arms while he gets up and begins to pace the room angrily.
“I told him not to fucking touch you. I promised to kill him if he did. I intend to keep that promise.” Tom speaks through gritted teeth, his fists clenched.
I stand up and approach him, wrapping my hand around one of his balled hands. He immediately relaxes his grip and intertwines our fingers. His blue eyes meet mine and soften. My traitorous heart, however, is fired up.
“You can't do this, Tom. Your fatherwould hurt you…”
“I don’t give a fuck, Aelys,” he shakes his head, lips pursed. “I promised you you’d be safe and I let him hurt you. I can’t let him get away with this.”
I glance at Nancy, silently begging her to help me, and she raises an eyebrow. She smiles and stands up, coming to stand next to me.
“She's right, Tom. It would be stupid to kill him,” he opens his mouth, ready to protest, but she raises a finger, telling him to shut up, and he does so, rolling his eyes. “But that doesn't mean we can't make him pay. First of all, I know you have to marry that asshole and you're going to try to be the perfect wife so you don't get killed, but you're not going to let him treat you like shit anymore. You have to stand up for yourself, baby.”
I nod slowly. I've let him humiliate me from the start, and I'm sick of it. Hell, he almost killed me earlier just because he was angry!
“You're right, being a good wife doesn't mean I have to let him treat me like trash.”
“That's the spirit, darling!” She squeals happily, clapping her hands. “Don't worry, I'll help you awaken your inner bitch.”
“Wait, you want her to become like you?” Tom raises an eyebrow skeptically, his muscular arms crossing over his chest.
She nods while rolling her eyes, nudging him playfully.
“First lesson tonight. There's a party in the faction common room, like every year. You're going to show him what you're made of. It'll piss him off.”
“He's not going to be jealous, Nance,” I roll my eyes. “I'm just a surrogate mother to him, he doesn't care about me, remember.”
“He still won't like it,” Tom insists. “He may not love you, but you're still supposed to be his. My brother doesn't like to share what he owns and we all know he considers you a possession.”
