Page 43 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood (Tales So Wicked #2)
I can’t deny the guilt I feel for finding release with someone who isn’t Harrow.
I’m attracted to Cassius. Of course I am.
It’s not like Harrow and I are even technically together.
My thumb finds a loose piece of skin on my index finger.
What would Harrow think if he knew how I’d let Cassius treat me?
More shame settles in my gut like a wriggling fish.
Despite my anger with him earlier, I would have given anything for Harrow to be the one who swept me away to a cottage.
Even if I had asked him to be rough, this encounter would have gone differently.
I wouldn’t have felt so… gross afterward. I’m positive of that.
There’s an uncomfortable silence between us. Cassius clears his throat.
“I’m sorry, that was too much. I got carried away.” He combs his hands through his auburn hair, sighing.
I move up to the head of the bed, rubbing the sore spots on my arms where his fingers left their mark.
The trail of dried blood along his chest catches my eye.
He might be right. It may have been too much.
I’ll never admit that. “No, you did exactly what I asked for. Don’t overthink it.
” I give him a smile that I hope looks genuine.
At least I’ve stopped crying. Still, I am a little shaken up.
Don’t be a baby, Lenore. He only did what you asked .
Cassius inhales. “Do you smell that? There must be something burning nearby.”
I sniff. “Honestly, I’ve cried so much today, I can’t smell anything.”
His eyes bulge. “The soup.” Flinging himself from the bed, he darts to the kitchen.
Soup? So that’s what he was doing when I was up to my eyeballs in a mental breakdown.
Gone is the dark, dominating man whose bruises I currently wear and back is my sweet, silly prince.
Smoke fills the kitchen. Watching him, bare-assed, racing around to save what must surely be a ruined meal, brings a real smile to my face.
The lingering fear from our sexual experience evaporates.
My guilt eases. I’m reminded why I enjoy Cassius’s company. The ease of his energy is unmatched.
“You better not spill. You’ll burn your dick,” I tease.
His eyes flit to his lower half. He sets the pot down and grabs his trousers. “Can’t lose that. I’m worthless without it.” He winks at me as he buttons them up.
Cassius blows on the spoon, cooling the steaming liquid before holding it in front of my mouth. I raise a brow. “You’re trying to spoon-feed me?”
“Eat. You’ve had a rough day.” He ferries the spoon closer.
“I am perfectly capable of?—”
“Stop arguing with me and eat. Or should I bend you over my knee and spank you until you agree to do what I say?” There’s that flicker of his darkness, looming at the surface.
My mouth opens obediently, and Cassius pushes the spoon inside.
I close my mouth down around it, jerking back. I have every intention of bitching about the parental treatment but the moment the soup hits my tongue I fall silent. “Mmmm.” Salty broth with melt-in-your-mouth chunks of smoky meat and fresh vegetables. “This is incredible.”
“Eat all you can. You’ve lost weight since I first arrived.”
Heat swallows up my cheeks. He noticed that ? “Too much stress.”
“Well, I’ll do everything I can while we’re hidden away here to de-stress you.” He smiles wide enough to reveal his dimples. “Now open.”
I down another spoonful, practically moaning. “Where did you learn to cook?” Royalty don’t receive lessons in the kitchen. I doubt I contain the culinary skills necessary to do more than add jam and cream to my scones.
“My early adult years were unconventional. I learned many things.”
“Oh? What kinds of things?” I speak between mouthfuls.
“I could show you a few, but it will be hard for you to eat soup on your back.”
Broth coasts down the wrong pipe, making me sputter and cough. Cassius’s grin grows. He loves toying with me.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” I point to the pot.
“I can’t feed myself if I’m using my hands to feed you.”
“I told you I am perfectly capable of feed?—”
“Be quiet and open up, you stubborn thing.”
I allow Cassius to feed me an entire bowl of soup. By the time he’s convinced I’ve had enough, I’m warm, full, and satiated.
Grabbing a bowl for himself, he sits next to me and begins eating.
“Don’t I get to feed you?”
He swallows what’s currently in his mouth. Handing me the spoon, he leans back. A dangerously smug smirk dances across his lips.
“Open wide,” I singsong.
My hand lifts to his lips but stops just before. Tremors possess my fingers, forcing the liquid to spill out and all over his bare chest.
“Lenore?” Concern replaces the haughty look in his eyes.
My limbs are shaking. A cramp forces my stomach to seize up. Gasping, I double over, wrapping my arms around my middle. The soup splashes across the floor. Daggers dig at my insides.
“Something’s…” I heave, “…wrong.”
“ Meat …” Cassius’s voice sounds distant. “ Spoiled …” Sweat coats my entire body. Streams of it pour off my face, landing on the comforter. “ Healer …”
My vision blurs.
Cassius’s strong arms hook beneath my elbows as he lifts me to my feet. I scream as pain burns its way through my intestines. Cassius instantly sets me back down.
“ I’ll get help .”
My tongue is thick. I want to tell him not to leave me. That I’m scared. But my jaw has locked itself shut. The cabin spins around me. I catch a glimpse of Cassius’s cape as he rushes out the door.
All I can do is writhe in agony as my muscles cramp so hard that it twists my body into bone-breaking positions.
I become aware of tapping. Repetitive sounds echo from all around me.
Squinting, I struggle to focus. There are animals in the windows.
Birds peck at the glass. Deer slam their antlers against the panes.
A great boom echoes through the cabin as the front door explodes inward.
It’s the elk whose baby I brought back. The massive animal shoves through the doorway and a whole host of animals file in behind her.
Velvety muzzles press against me, huffing air into my hair and nudging me.
My animals know something is wrong. Sharp pain zaps across my skin as something hard presses against my back. I’m being pushed to the edge of the bed. My neck is so weak I can’t look behind me. The sounds of distraught animals become deafening. Their message is clear. I need to get out of here .
There’s no time to wait for Cassius. I need help now. Lifting my arms takes monumental effort. The elk drops her head, allowing me to hook my arms across her antlers. She lifts my weight, carrying me out into the forest as the tops of my feet drag through the earth.
A rippling in my gut warns me the soup is coming back up.
Using the last of my strength, I shove myself off the elk’s rack and onto the forest floor.
Vomit, so dark it’s almost black, spews out of me as I hit the ground.
My arms shake as I try to support myself.
I’ve been food sick before but never this extreme.
I wretch again and again. I can barely catch my breath before more hot, bitter liquid explodes out of me.
My stomach feels permanently contracted and my throat is so raw I’m sure it’s bleeding.
Spinning, spinning . The soiled ground slams into my cheek as my arms give out.
Miriam nudges me, rolling me onto my side.
The deer’s gentle face is so hazy. Her smaller form replaces the elk’s.
The treetops above are filled with panicky birds.
None of them are ravens. Where are Harrow’s messengers?
Surely if they saw me in this condition, they would summon him.
He could save me. An overly tight feeling squeezes around my chest. My rampant heartbeats have been slowing. They’re thick now, too far apart.
I’m going to die here. My animal companions will be the only ones that know what has happened.
The next time I vomit, my mouth remains slack.
My tongue is so swollen. Liquid pools in my mouth and throat.
My vision goes while I’m still conscious.
It’s so dark. Darker than nights during the new moon.
Hopelessly black and endless. A void beckons me.
The distorted sound of my name brushes past my ears.
Are the shadows calling me home? The sounds of the forest drop in pitch, becoming low-toned vibrations. I can’t feel my body.
I’m pulled under. Thump . My heart contracts, but so, so weakly. Thump . A stillness settles over me. Thump . And then my heart beats no more.