Page 63 of Spindle of Sin

“You’re awake,” Rush said through gritted teeth.

Aura narrowed her eyes. “I suppose we need to have a conversation.”

Rush waved a hand in the air toward Astor, his nostrils flaring. “Leave us. Deliver a letter to Starnightnow.”

Astor looked as though he wanted to say something else, but he bowed his head and left at a brisk pace.

“You were in my dream again,” Aura said, breaking the silence.

“What did you hear?” His tone was more rigid than it had ever been.

Aura squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to remember anything, but she couldn’t. “I don’t know.”

“But I know some things. You’ve been speaking to my sister. You snuck a key from my library afterfuckingme, and then you went to the cellar that you knew was forbidden.”

“What other choice was I left with?” Aura asked, incredulous. “You’re the pretentious ass who put me in this predicament! Regardless,youare going to tell me precisely what you’re doing to me!Youare going to tell me why you have your sister’s dead body in the cellar!Youare going to tell me why you chose to bring me here! I demand to know everything!” With each sentence, she shoved at his chest, backing him farther down the hall until they’d reached her room, her original prison in this villain’s palace.

“I don’t have to tell you a damn thing,” he seethed.

She pushed her way into her bedroom and flung open the wardrobe, wrapping her fist around the blade she’d taken from the kitchens. Whirling around, she held the knife to her throat just as Rush stepped into the room.

“Tell me,” she bit out. “Or I’ll slit my throat right here and thwart whatever wicked plan you’ve been hatching.”

For a moment, only a brief one, she thought she caught his throat bobbing before he spoke, “I could easily take one of your sisters, or perhaps, your mother, and try again from the beginning.”

Aura dug the blade in harder, the sting biting into her flesh. Hot tears pricked her eyes. “Stop the threats. Confess everything to me.Please.”

Rush shut the door behind him, slowly walking toward her as though he might frighten her away. “You read the journal, kitten. I think you know why you were the one chosen. Now, put the knife away.” His hand brushed hers, drawing the blade from her throat. He took the knife from her hand and tossed it across the room before leaning into her, his smoky scent caressing her senses. “That was foolish of you. Incredibly foolish.”

Even in her fury, she hated herself for liking his closeness, especially in a moment like this. A moment where she hated him and wanted to shred him to pieces.

“Don’t act as though you’re the one who should be angry,” Aura hissed. “I started to feel sorry for you and your loss. I didn’t learn who the girl from my dreams was until recently. Even then, I believed she was a spirit. But I wanted to help her move on. And yes, free myself too.”

“Sheisa spirit, kitten. That’s the problem you’re here to solve,” he murmured, his eyes boring into hers. “You in exchange for her. I wanted revenge against Pax, wanted to see his face when she came back from the grave to confront him. I wanted himruined.”

Aura blinked, a pit forming in her stomach. “What do you mean inexchange?” When he didn’t speak, she shouted, “Answer me, Rush!”

He pursed his lips, his knuckles turning white as they tightened. “I wasn’t going to end your life, Aura. That was always the truth. You would still be alive in a permanent sleep. Pricking your finger with the spindle ensured that.”

Aura couldn’t believe her ears, couldn’t find air to breathe. “You fucking bastard!” she screeched, darting around him to grab the knife once more. But he was too fast. He crowded into her space until she was backed into the window bars. “That’s why I couldn’t touch the spinning wheel. Break the curse. Now!”

“No,” Rush said simply as she writhed.

“You are not my king. You are not my anything!” Aura spat in his face, and he didn’t bother to wipe it away.

“Is that so?” he purred. “Then why did you let me slide my cock into your sweet cunt so willingly? Why did you so easily quake beneath my touch? Was it only to get the key?” One of his hands left her arm to trail a finger across her jawline and down her neck to her collarbone. Her traitorous body heated, her eyelids fluttering.

“It was for the key,” she said, her voice breathy.

“Liar.” He took that perfect finger of his and drifted it lower, to just below her navel. “If I touched you now, would you be wet for me?”

“You’re heartless.”

“Am I? Seems my heart is beating just fine.” Rush smirked and took a step away from her as though taunting her to feel it.

Nostrils flaring, she slapped him across the face, not even a flinch in his expression.

“Again,” he cooed. “I told you I like it rough.”

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