“Why did you let them cut you?”
Guilt danced across his noble features and he turned his cheek to her, and her stomach fell as he all but confirmed she had been right. He had let the daemons hurt him.
She gathered her courage and lifted her hand. Water sluiced down her bare arm and dripped from her elbow, the sound mingling with the gentle bubbling to fill the thick silence.
Daimon tensed when she touched his cheek, and then he closed his eyes, frowned and exhaled through his nose as he leaned into her palm.
“Tell me, please?” she murmured.
This time, he turned his face the other way, away from her, placing himself beyond her reach. He stood and backed off a step, and fear seized her again.
“Stay,” she commanded. Her heart lurched into her throat. “Don’t leave me. I need you here. I need to know.”
“You don’t… and I don’t want to talk about it. Let it go.” He turned and stalked into the house.
Like hell she would.
Cass gritted her teeth, gripped the edge of the tub and pushed herself up. The water weighed her down, making her legs tremble beneath her, but it quickly drained noisily into the tub. Her entire body shook as she lifted her left leg, clutching the tub as she laboured for breath. Her muscles cramped and protested, bones burned but she pushed onwards.
She managed to get her leg over the side of the tub.
Her foot pressed against the broad white tiles of the terrace.
Her leg gave out the moment she put all her weight onto it and she shrieked as the flagstones came at her.
Strong arms banded around her waist and stopped her from hitting it face-first.
Daimon pulled her onto her feet and set her down, muttering, “Foolish woman.”
She felt as though she was. She was pursuing a man who wanted nothing to do with her, a man who electrified her and made her feel alive for the first time in her long life. A man she didn’t want to leave.
She hadn’t been prepared for this—for him.
Cass looked up at him, her brow furrowed as her eyes locked with his.
His beauty, the melancholy he wore, the heat that shimmered just beneath his frosty surface, all of it had entranced her.
Bewitched her.
Now, she didn’t want to leave him even when he made her feel as if there was no point in her staying.
More of her strength returned, enough that she could probably cast smaller spells if she dared, maybe even transport herself if she pushed herself hard enough.
A gasp tore from her lips as he slid the zipper on the side of her corset down and her heart jerked, her hand flying to the front of the garment to keep it against her breasts.
“Just trying to get you warm. Getting you out of these wet things is a good place to start.” He averted his eyes. “If I didn’t think you’d fall on your arse, I’d let you do it yourself.”
Cass hesitated, told herself not to read into things and failed dismally.
“I know how you can warm me.” She looked up into his eyes when he glanced at her. “Kiss me.”
He glowered at her. “No.”
“Why not?” She sidled closer, pressing her body to his, and some of the ice in his eyes melted, giving way to heat.
“I can’t,” he croaked.
“Sure you can. Just purse your lips.” She tilted her head up and leaned towards him. “Press them to mine.”
“No.” It was firmer this time and he gripped her shoulders and pushed her back.
She frowned at him. “Why not?”
“Because,” he whispered, the sound tortured, distant, carrying so much pain that her temper shifted course, the spike of frustration and anger she had felt giving way to softer feelings. His eyes leaped between hers. “You are… You… can never be mine.”
Cass blinked.
That was why he had changed, going from warming towards her to cold and seeking pain? Because he thought she could never be his?
His hands trembled against her bare shoulders and his breath shook as he stared at her.
Waiting for an answer.
“What made you think that?” It wasn’t an answer, but she had to put it out there.
He turned his cheek to her. “You’re promised to another.”
His eyes brightened, dangerous white ringed with black, and he growled. His hands tightened against her shoulders, pain pricking her there in several places. She angled her head and looked at his left hand, at the icy claws that pierced her.
“Daimon?” She flinched when he snarled and pushed away from her, stalking into the house again. Cass slowly walked after him, not trusting her legs. They were stronger now, but pushing herself would only end with her hitting the ground and she needed to reach Daimon before he did something annoying like teleporting away from her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she made it to the door of the house and found him still inside. “Who am I promised to?”
She winced as she remembered he had seen the letter. For a wonderful moment, she had forgotten about that.
He growled over his shoulder at her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Well, she did. He had snooped at her things and now he was presuming things about her, things that weren’t true.
Things that were on the verge of ruining everything.
She crossed the room, caught his wrist and pulled him to face her, almost falling on her backside in the process. “I’m not promised to anyone.”
He wrenched free of her. “You are. Someone… I don’t know. The letter said it. You must return to bear a child.”
A child she didn’t want.
With a man she didn’t want.
Words bubbled up her throat, things she had only just realised but still hadn’t thought she would confess to anyone.
“Daimon.” She reached for him.
He smacked her hand away. “Don’t!”
He stormed towards the room with the king-size bed in it.
Cass transported herself there and regretted it when she landed in front of
