And of course, if she did, she would kill me. It would have been ironic, had she been able to, seeing as I had been the one to teach her how.
“Stop,” I said again, louder this time. I pried her fingers from my neck and held her hand at an arm’s length. When she slapped me with her free hand, I grabbed that wrist as well. “You cannot kill me, Atlanta. No matter how much you may want to.”
“Why not? You deserve to die, you baz-terd. You betrayed me! You betrayed Gallix and Ronan too! Give me one reason why you deserve to live?”
“Because,” I said, “this is all part of the plan.”
That at least made her blink in confusion for a moment. Her limbs slackened. Her brow lowered.
Then she snarled and went for my throat again.
“Atlanta. Blood, you ridiculous female. Stop trying to kill me, so I may explain myself.”
“You mean so you can lie some more? Like you lied to Gallix and Ronan? They’ll probably be dead come morning, thanks to you—if they aren’t already.”
“Gallix and Ronan will be fine,” I assured her. “Rutharians like to play with their victims before they kill them.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“They will not be tortured until the wedding festivities, I am certain. It is traditional for Rutharian weddings to involve at least a few sacrifices,” I explained. “They will be kept in the dungeons until then.”
“Oh, how wonderful.” She rolled her eyes, still straining against my grasp. “So they’ll be tortured then killed two weeks from now to celebrate your Lady Idria’s glorious marriage, then you’ll hand me over to her husband so he can rape a baby into me. Wow. Thanks, Apex. So generous of you.”
“Do you truly think that is my design?” I could hardly believe the words coming from her lips. After all I had done for her, after all the time we had shared, she still thought so little of me. “Do you have no faith in me at all?”
“I trusted you. I believed in you.” Her eyes narrowed, sharp with cruelty. “I fucked you, you piece of shit.”
“I was under the impression we were making love.”
“Love?” Her eyes widened, incredulous. “Oh, that’s rich, coming from you. To think, a second before they came in, I was actually going to tell you—”
“Tell me what?”
She looked away as a flush rose to her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter now. You don’t deserve my love. You don’t deserve any part of me. You never did.”
“You are wrong,” I told her simply.
“And you’re a liar. Nothing you say matters anymore. I may have been dumb enough to trust you once, but I’m not such an idiot that I’ll make that mistake again.”
“And there is nothing I can do to change your mind, I suppose.”
“No. There is not.”
I hauled her over to the bed. She did not make it an easy task. She dug her heels in the entire way. But unfortunately for Atlanta—and luckily for me—she was small, and I was strong. I threw her onto the bed like she weighed nothing at all.
“So that’s how it is.” Her fingers curled into fists as she stared up at me. “You’ve had me willingly. Now you want a few more rides before the Rutharian king takes me away.”
“No.” I shrugged. “I am trying to reason with you, but you are being unreasonable.”
“I am not being unreasonable!”
“You are,” I assured her. “Let me prove it to you. Tell me what you wish of me, and I will do it.”
“Kill Lady Idria.”
I closed my eyes. “You know I cannot do that.”
“Kill the Rutharian king.”
“And start a war here on Nightmoor? I think not.”
“Get Gallix and Ronan out of the dungeons.”
“Stage a jailbreak, while they are safe in their cells? It would get us all killed.”
“Then what can you do? Oh, I am the incredible Apex. Gaze upon my big fat muscles and my giant sexy cock while I do nothing to help all of the people I have endangered.” She puffed her chest out and made a stupid face, mimicking my posture and my voice. Poorly.
“I am glad to hear that you find my cock acceptable, Atlanta.”
“I did not say that.”
“It does not matter, I suppose.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and leaned down so I could look directly into her eyes. “All of this is my design, Atlanta. I have asked nothing of you except what is necessary. All I need from you now is your obedience—”
“Fat. Fucking. Chance.”
“And your faith.” Moons, how I longed to kiss her even now. Her snarling lips told me it would not be a welcome offering, but I wished to do it just the same. “Think harder. I cannot do that which would turn everything we have worked for all these weeks to dust, just to win your trust. Truly, I do not need it. All that I have planned will transpire exactly as I will it just the same.”
“Then why do you care what I think of you, you pathetic, groveling asshole? If your big important plan is going to go off with a hitch no matter how I feel, then what does it matter what I think?”
“It does not,” I said with a shrug, “Except that I believe the next few weeks will be more pleasant for the both of us if you do not hate me.”
“I will never stop hating you.”
“No, I do not suppose you will. For as long as you do not trust me, there is only room for hate in your heart.” I released her shoulders and turned away. I did not want to admit it, but it was a difficult thing to look upon her when the only thing I saw staring back at me was her hurt and her disgust for me and her heartache. “Ask of me something that I can
