Their Wife: Book 2

Fourteen (Part 1)

I couldn't move.

"You were more difficult to find than I expected." His voice sent me back to a place I thought I had escaped. "But then again, I also didn't expect you to meet my eldest brother, let alone marry him."

Brother?

A quick glance at him was enough for things to click and to determine who he was talking about. It explained why I found the man being referred to so frightening since the moment I had met him. Well, aside from obvious reason.

My hands visibly shook in his presence. I curled them into fists as I hugged my middle, shying away from the man who had begun to circle me. He looked to be more interested in the smaller rocks he was casually kicking than me. I didn't know if his refusal to look at me was a good thing or a bad thing.

I realized quickly, good or bad, it was better when his attention stayed off me. When he finally looked towards me with eyes that could haunt the monsters that lurked in my mind, he immediately honed in on one specific spot.

The crook of my neck.

When he saw what awaited there, time seemed to still. His eyes widened slightly as he processed what I was sure he knew the mark meant. The surprise only lasted a split moment before violent anger blanketed the shock.

Seeing the familiar sight, I couldn't help a whimper from escaping as I raised my arms over my head in protection while huddling down.

I should have known it was a useless effort after all these years.

I yelped in pain when his hand wrapped in the tangled locks of my hair. Gripping my hair tightly near the scalp, he yanked my head back, freeing it from the protective cage I had created with my arms. With his hold, he pulled me towards him as he towered over me, causing me to crawl and rise to my knees.

An invisible pressure hit my temple as the invisible strings extending from my chest vibrated softly. The small change was barely noticeable but quickly forgotten when the hand in my hair tightened.

Angling my head back sharply, he exposed Jaxon's bite to get a better look. The movement caused the scabbing wound to pull and split. I could feel blood begin to warm it as it bubbled up out of the cracks that had formed.

"It looks like you did more than just go off and play with my brother." His words were spoken through clenched teeth.

He pulled me up sharply, forcing me to my feet. I clenched at his hand that held me captive as he shoved his face into my neck. Terror kept my muscles locked, and any thoughts of fighting back from my mind.

"That fucking dragon." He pulled back, looking down at me with sharp, heated eyes. "I'll take care of this-" his eyes flashed down to the bite mark, "-and him later. We don't have much time, now. Not if he's marked you. He's probably on his way here now, so I'll make this quick." His hand tightened. "You're going to pretend you don't know me when they show up. You were frightened because you ran into a stranger in the woods."

The sudden change in demeanour was what allowed a crack to form in the paralyzing fear I felt. I swallowed thickly when he loosened his hold on my hair. When he raised a hand to caress the side of my face, I flinched away. Sighing, he cupped the side of my neck and stroked my cheek with his thumb, ignoring my reluctance to the touch.

"I'm mad you let someone I didn't allow to touch you. Furious you let him sink his filthy fangs into you, into your soul." He trailed the back of his fingers down the side of my face as he looked down at me gently.

If I didn't know what he was truly like, he could have convinced me with his gentle eyes that looked on at me with tenderness, that he missed me. But I was no longer a young, naive, fool.