Page 63 of Break Her Heart
With a sharp breath, I pushed her off me—not harshly, but firm enough to make her stumble slightly in the water. Her eyes widened, shocked, maybe even hurt.
I stood, the bathwater rushing off me in waves that slapped against the porcelain and spilled onto the marble floor.
“We can’t.” My reply was a choked off whisper.
She didn’t respond, just watched me with parted lips and a storm of emotion in her eyes. Lust, confusion, and something close to fury.
I didn’t look back again. I reached for a towel and stepped out of the room, leaving behind the ache of her body, the scent of her blood, and the weight of a line I’d already crossed too many times.
But it wasn’t enough.
The moment the door shut behind me, I slammed my fist against the stone wall. Pain exploded through my knuckles. I welcomed it. With a guttural sound I couldn’t suppress, I seized the edge of the dressing table and cracked it in half. Wood splintered under my grip, fragments flying. Playing with fire always had a price.
And tonight, it almost cost me everything.
19
Bronwen
My head throbbed. I sat on the bed and plucked another grape from the platter Jane had brought me this morning. The only bit of peace I felt was that I didn’t have a nightmare last night. I guessed drinking so much that you remembered nothing helped. August sat at the desk, flipping through another tome Benedict found.
“This one is useless,” he mumbled. He stood and walked over to me, but would barely look at me. “Get up. We’re spending as much time as we can in the archives today.”
“No,” I lay back on the bed and pulled the blanket over my head. “Let me rest a little longer.”
The covers disappeared. “Get ready.”
He stepped out and sent word for Jane before he began shoving all of his scratch paper in a drawer in the desk. I rolled my neck, feeling a little sore. I must have slept on it wrong.
“Good morning, Jane.”
She just smiled at me, glancing back at August as she stepped to me with a dress draped across her arms. Her pale hair was pinned neatly on the top of her head. She seemed so wary around August that I didn’t think she was one of the ones here for the promise of vampirism.
As she helped me into the simple, gray dress, her eyes never left August as he walked to the window and flung the drapes back. I sat at the dressing table as she began to brush my hair. I ran my hands along the smooth stone top. I vaguely remembered it being a dark wood.
“Is this new?” I asked as I glanced at Jane through the mirror.
She only nodded as she pulled my hair back to begin braiding and that was when I noticed it. A fresh bite mark on my neck.
I jumped out of the chair nearly knocking Jane over in the process. “What the fuck did you do?”
August turned from the window, that infuriating smirk on his face. “Jane, leave us.”
Jane almost ran out the door.
August came to me, slow, deliberate with his steps as if he knew the longer he took the madder I’d get. “You mean during our bath last night, Winnie?” He tilted his head to the side. “When you practicallybeggedme to bite you?”
It all came flooding back. Dancing like a fool with Simon. August carrying me. Me teasing him. And me in his lap just hoping it would go further.
“How did you sleep last night? Because I slept marvelously.”
I reared back and punched him. He could’ve stopped me. He was faster than me. But he didn’t. And he still smiled.
“Finish preparing yourself. We have things to do.”
* * *
“What is this?” I pointed at a drawing in the tome I had been looking through for an hour. It was dark with only blacks and grays creating the sketch. Tall slender trees lined the page and they looked as if they were leaning in to grab you. Strange beasts peered around some of the trees that looked like they came straight from a nightmare.
