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I glared at him. “Go away.”

“How was church?”

“How is it that you know exactly where I was?”

“I told you, Evie, I know everything.” He sauntered into the bathroom, kneeling down beside the tub and leaning on his forearms on the domed edge. “And? Did you find absolution?”

“I don’t think that’s possible for people like us.”

Azriel flashed me a wide grin. “Like us? And what are we like, beloved?”

“Filthy. Broken. Debauched.”

Azriel shrugged and swirled a hand through the water. “Was your maid very shocked when you admitted to her where you had been?”

“I thought you knew everything, Azriel?” I said with a smirk, narrowing my eyes. “As it is, I have not yet told her. The poor girl would probably drop dead from shame.”

“I see.” His gaze flickered down my body. “And how did you explain the marks upon your skin?”

I sank down into the tub with a sigh. “I did not explain and she had the good sense not to ask.”

“What a sensible and discreet girl.”

My eyes flashed up to his. “What do you want?”

“I am doing the gentlemanly thing. After a night like the one we shared, it is unbecoming not to inquire after a lady.”

“Go away.”

“Are you sore?”

My cheeks burned violently at the question. “What do you mean?”

“Your cunt, beloved.” He chuckled quietly at my outraged gasp. “You are so very sweet when you act the part of the innocent.”

“Of course I am sore.” I crossed my arms over my chest to impede his lecherous gaze on my breasts.

“Did I hurt you?” His serpentine voice sent goosebumps erupting over my skin.

“I bade you to slow down. I told you that you… You are too big.”

His smile widened. “The words every man longs to hear.”

“I told you to slow down, to… to take your time.” I swallowed hard, shifting my hips and once again feeling the dull throb between my thighs. “Why did you not listen to me?”

“It wasn’t possible, Evie. Yearning for you, all these years. How could I take my time after that?” His fingertips brushed my knee. “I want to, though. I want to look upon your face as you come undone for me.”

I jerked my legs away from his hand. “Stop it. I don’t even want to think of it, and yet it’s all I’ve been able to think of all day.”

The corner of his mouth tilted, shifting his face into a crooked grin. “So you thought of me then? Every time you moved?”

I shook my head, wishing I could somehow muster up the strength to drown him in this very bath water. “I had no choice. Just like last night.”

He leaned closer, reaching out a hand to run the backs of his fingers down my bare shoulder. “Do you know what it does to me to know that I brought you pleasure?”

“Pleasure?” I slapped his hand away, sending water splashing against the edge of the tub. “You call that pleasure? You violated me, and I felt no pleasure in it.” God I hated him. I hated his proximity and the wickedness in his eyes.

“I felt your pleasure when you came on my cock, beloved. I heard it. I saw it.” He rose to his knees, leaning over me in the tub and caging me in with his arms. “You can deny it all you want, but we both know the truth. You were aching for me, Evie, aching to be fucked properly. That is why you are sore today.” He brushed a hand against my cheek, and I flinched. “Your body aches for me still.”