Page 104 of Her Dark Promise

“I was raised to obey. If my father believed that I was straying from the path he had chosen for me then I was disciplined accordingly. I learned early on that if I didn’t cause him trouble then everything would be fine.” He sat up and I followed. “I pushed every desire and craving down to be the perfect son. I withdrew into myself and soon even I started to believe my father's narrative: to live a sedentary life with a wife and children.”

I hesitantly raised my hand to do something to bring him comfort—I could hear his voice hitch and thought he could be close to tears—but I didn’t want him to flinch from me or stop talking, so I placed my hand next to his, instead.

“Then I met you and you challenged me. Made me want to give in to every desire that I had and…it terrified me.” He finally looked at me, our faces inches apart. “It still does.”

This man was prideful, arrogant, passionate, obsessive, and ruthless when it came to those that he loved. But all of those traits and more were what drew me to him. It made me care for him. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that I cared… I cared more than I wanted to admit.

But I couldn’t tell him that…at least not yet. So I brought my hand up to his face, caressed his cheek, and slowly moved my thumb back and forth in a motion that I hoped would be soothing.

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“Sharing a part of yourself with me.”

He stared at me, as if seeing me for the first time, and nodded.

Chapter nineteen

Isat restless in the library, still feeling like Bastian was between my legs. I fought images of us in the kitchen—how he felt, the anger in his eyes, the passion we couldn’t deny. And I felt giddy from our talk afterward. He was coming around! My heart was still pounding.

I held the quill in my hand, ready to write to Belle. But what would I tell her? My mind felt foggy, my thoughts a strange mess. I could tell her the truth; that I was becoming attached to my prisoners, but then it would be too real. And I was already feeling so close to Bastian. It was probably best that things would progress slowly from now on; give both of us time to adjust.

I pushed up from the small desk in the hidden room in the library, pinching the bridge of my nose. I blew out the candles and left. I was tired and craved another full night's sleep. It was shameful to seek him out after having just been with his brother, but I needed him. The virgin had become useful to me, in ways I couldn’t have ever predicted.

I went to Soren’s room and pushed open the door. Mischief twinkled in my eyes, but he wasn't there. Strange. I conjured the ball of light and thought of Soren. He appeared to be in the chapel, bending over a stack of books. I sighed. I should have known he would be in there; it seemed like it was his new favorite room.

I wonder why…I thought to myself coyly.

I let the ball fade as I gleefully walked over there and saw that Emilia was scolding Soren.

“What’s going on?” All thoughts of lust went away when I saw Emilia tense and on guard. I thought they were past this.

She looked at me, then took a deep breath. “He is getting into things that do not pertain to him.”

I followed her finger and found multiple books open with a notebook next to them, having been just written in.

“Soren? What is this?” I was too stunned to fully understand why Emilia would be in such a rage with him when he constantly had his head in a book.

“Your grace—let me explain.”

I ignored him and scanned my eyes over the words and what I saw had me holding my breath. I slowly turned to him and asked, “Where did you get these?”

“I—”

“Do not lie to me!”

“I found it in your secret room.”

He had out a stack of my books—myprivatebooks—that I recognized from the room in the library. All the books were about witchcraft and my history, including the book he had shown to Bastian.

“You went in there after I explicitly told you—no—ordered you not to?”

“Just listen to me. I am learning so much from these texts, and I know that if I have more time with them Iwillfind something.”He was trying to plead his case, but the room was starting to spin. He needed to be punished.

“You had no right!”

Violence. Always your go-to when emotions run too high. I taught you well.

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