Page 18 of For the Love of the Gods

“Nothing.” The response came out too quick to be true. She didn’t get to lie to me.

“Rose,” I warned.

Rose blew air out of her nose, turning towards me and back towards the sink three times before deciding to speak, the words rushing out. “I like my morning and night routines, okay! And I don’t want you ruining my peace. Especially if you are going to stand in the corner threatening to kill me like last night.”

That was…not what I thought she’d say. “I don’t recall ever threatening you.”

“You being a creepy shadow stalker would say otherwise.”

Creepy shadow stalker. New.

Rose was on a creative streak today.

I caught a shocked laugh before it was too late. She didn’t get to make me laugh twice in one night. “I will not creepy shadow stalk you. This is my bathroom too, you know? What if I like my routine?”

Her eyes did a little dancing thing over the stubble forming on my jaw, desperately in need of a shave, and then to the small pile of product in the corner of my side of the sink. Most of them were basically weapons, meant to keep my beard and hair under control.

“Fine.” The word was short, clipped. Compromise was clearly a new thing, but it looked good on her. Her cheeks flushed a vibrant pink in frustration.

That was a look I would be trying to replicate.

Rose let out a dramatic “ugh” before running back into her room.

Well, alright.

I needed a glass of whiskey and to have a conversation with Raiden, but I needed to get out of my suit more. There was a reason I never wore them. It smelled like the temple and an intoxicating scent that I had a sickening feeling belonged to Rose.

I went back into my room, and even though it was visibly unaltered, it looked different. Shaking off the unsettled feeling, I went into my closet and changed into a pair of low-slung flannel pants and an undershirt.

I walked back into the bathroom, eyes trained towards the floor as I tried to rub out a kink in my neck. I wasn’t alone, an experience I suspected I would get little of now that Rose slept infuriatingly close to me.

Rose was sitting in a chair she had pulled up the counter top, tying her hair back into a clip with teeth sharp enough to break skin. I’d have to search her things for weapons when she wasn’t looking.

She caught my gaze in the mirror and held it, not backing down. I broke her envy-riddled stare to trail my eyes down her neck and shoulders, resting on a black silk nightgown thin enough to definitively outline her breasts. Her nipples were peeking through the fabric, growing harder under my scrutiny.

Blood was rushing with upsetting speed out of my head, and when I lifted my eyes to find Rose’s trained on my chest and moving lower, I cleared my throat and moved toward the sink before things got out of control. I was not going to entertain any thoughts of her in a compromising position.

She probably bit when she kissed. The thought passed through my head with less revulsion than I expected.

I grumbled through splashing my face with water and some lotion, catching Rose’s eyes only briefly as she smoothed a cream down her neck. I practically fled back to my room, snapping the door shut behind me. Having her in my space was fucking annoying.

Raiden could wait until tomorrow. Rose was giving me a goddamn headache and I needed to distract myself. I picked up the glasses on my bedside table and unsuccessfully read for thirty minutes before giving up.

I laid down, and started listing off ways to make her life absolutely miserable in my head, resolving to start the official plan tomorrow. Right after I burned every nightgown in her closet.

Chapter 6

Rose

I was going to burn every nightgown in my closet. Tragic, really. I loved every piece of clothing I owned. But those nightgowns would have to go if they threatened to give Dominic the wrong impression again.

Yes, his slow, calculated perusal had sent a flash of heat whipping through my body.Yes, maybe I wasn’t even remotely cold, maybe I was rather feverish.Yes, I had to fight a full-body blush at the image of him in a thin white overshirt, finally able to catch a glimpse of the edges of a tattoo on his chest and the shadow of one on his side.

But that wasnotattraction. It couldn’t be. I wasn’t of the opinion you had to like someone to be attracted to them, but Dominic was so off-limits it was a joke. I was half convinced he was the embodiment of the punishment I deserved. Imposing, handsome, strong, andwrong. So, so wrong.

I just had to make sure I didn’t humanize him. It would chip away at my resolve.

The chisel was hovering inches away from that very resolve last night. It was clear that he didn’t want me anywhere near his stuff, but I couldn’t help it. His room was interesting.

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