Page 76 of Claimed
My eyes drop to the towel again. “Ah.”
She shifts. “I was going to ask to borrow a shirt, but I can ask one of the others.” She moves to duck back into the room and I lunge, grabbing her arm.
“My bag is in the bathroom. Anything you need,” I say.
She pulls from my grasp. “Thank you. But I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Onyx—”
Her head comes up and her amber eyes are burning and way too damn shiny. “I would rather not try to sleep with your scent on my skin right now.”
I try to palm her cheek and she jumps back like I burned her.
Unease ripples through me. “Onyx—”
“Don’t,” she says coolly, her tone frigid. “Please.”
“Onyx, what’s wrong?” I step closer. “Whatever it is, I can get—”
“Stop!” Her scream is pure pain. “Just stop. Stop acting like you’re worried. Or that you fucking care. Just leave me alone.” She turns on her heel and storms for the door.
The one wreathed in my magick.
“Let me out,” she demands, without looking at me.
“No.” I stalk into the room and grab her and turn her around. She bucks in my hold, trying to break free. She’s strong, but I have a lot more muscle. “Stop,” I hiss.
“Let me go, Caine.”
“Not until you tell me what the fuck I’ve done.”
“Let me go.” Her tears track her pretty tan cheeks and my chest caves.
“Onyx, please don’t cry. Please.”
“Then let me go,” she cries. “Please.”
I slip my hand up her cheek and scrub away the glittering drops. “Tell me what I did. Just tell me and—”
“You love her.”
The words hit me like bricks. I stare at her. The emotion brimming in her eyes, the tears. The devastation.
Shit.
“Onyx.” She turns her head away, trying to get as far from my touch as she can. “Yes, I love her. I have for months.”
She remains silent, her soft sobs like punches to my gut.
“She doesn’t love me. Not like that,” I admit. “And I’m … working through it.” I try to smile, but it comes out brittle, I’m sure. “She’s my friend, Onyx. More than anything, she is my friend. The only one I have ever had. She called to talk to you. To get to know you.”
She sniffs, but I can tell she is listening.
“And she forced me to admit the truth.” Onyx’s pretty amber eyes peer at me. “I love her, and I always will. But I like you. More than I have ever liked any woman who has been in my bed, and I don’t know what to do with that. I don’t know how to balance the two. To be fair to you and not destroy my friendship with her.”
“You’re a demon, Caine. You shouldn’t love her at all.” The words are stated matter-of-factly.
“Half, and you don’t care that I’m a demon,” I remind her.
