Page 73 of Immortal Bastard

“No,” he said succinctly. “Just as it never occurred to me that deceit would come so easily to you.” His head cocked. “But I don’t believe you realize you’re lying. I think you’ve been making these excuses for so long they feel like truth to you. They’re familiar, and that familiarity comforts you more than the unknown ever will.”

“You don’t know shit,” she seethed, refusing to show the vulnerability he so precisely exposed.

He crossed the room to stare out the window at the fading sky. This time, if he threatened to jump, she sincerely considered letting him.

His shoulders hunched in a show of fatigue. “The bishop’s wife was kind enough to send some gowns over. Had there been civility between us, we could have enjoyed an evening stroll. I now see we’re a long way away from that sort of diplomacy and trust.”

These were the crumbs meant to manipulate her into cooperation. “You can’t buy me.”

“I’d never assume to. You’re priceless.”

“Stop!” She scoffed and held up her hand, looking away from him. “Just…stop. Saying stuff like that only makes me cringe. You don’t even know me.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t comprehend your value.”

“I’m not a fucking object! I’m a human being!”

“You’re an immortal.”

She pivoted, pinning him with a scorching glare. “Wow, you really are clueless. Do yourself a favor and stop talking for a while.”

“Or what?” He fully faced her. “You’ll eventually tire of waging this unwinnable war. How many more vengeful promises will you make? How many do you honestly think you can keep? You can’t hurt me any more than I could hurt you, so when the guilt gnaws away at your insides because you’re too stubborn to accept your reality, know that I will suffer with you.”

Fury hissed from her pores. “Good. I hope it’s excruciating.”

“Another lie.”

She looked for something else to throw at him, but there was nothing in this simplistic hell hole of a room. Tears stung her eyes as frustration choked her. Disarmed and dejected, she whispered, “Get out.”

“No. Distance is not the answer—” The moment he touched her she went ballistic, punching and clawing.

“I said get out! I don’t want to look at you! I don’t want to hear your voice! You make me sick! I hate you! I hate you!”

He caught her wrists and stilled her body as the fury built into a volcanic rage. Jerking her arms left then right, she tried to break his hold as she spewed every turbulent thought she had at him.

“You stole my life! You’re erasing me!” Crazed and vicious, disdain exploded out of her until she exhausted herself trying to escape his hold. “I hate you,” she panted, defeated and out of steam.

He collected her in his arms. “Do you feel better now?”

His lips pressed to her hair as he hugged her tight. She hated how much she relied on his physical bolstering. She ached to collapse into an unconscious heap on the floor, desperate to escape the turmoil overwhelming her, but he forced her to face it. He held her when every part of her felt like breaking, proving his vow never to let her go.

“I promise you, pintura, this change will bring more good than evil.”

Mentally she wanted to stop fighting, but self-preservation forbade it. With a jolt of impassioned rage, she shoved him and his grip once again tightened.

He met the fire in her eyes with blazing preparedness. In that single, silent glance, he reminded her that he was older, stronger, and determined to get his way.

She despised him. “Fuck. You.”

In a dizzying twist, he slammed her back into the wall, pinning her arms over her head and grinding his hard body against hers. “Is that what you want?”

The distraction of his fury felt better than her pain and she shamefully moaned, sinking her weight into him. “Fuck you,” she repeated, whispering the words through clenched teeth.

“Your filthy language only makes me think of all the filthy things I want to do to you. Filthy things I will do.”

Need softened her clenched muscles as he ground his body into her. Any pleasure was defused by an instant chaser of shame.

A gravelly purr emanated from his chest as an intoxicating scent surrounded him, luring her in. Body lax with desire, she slipped further into his hold. Sweet relief threatened to overtake her the closer she came to surrender.

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