Page 102 of Tethered Souls

“I kid you not, Dayne,” I mutter into my phone as I sit in my car, recently gifted to me by Varius. I’m in the parking lot of a grocery store, the backseat filled with stuff I need to take home. No one sits in the passenger seat or trails me as a silent shadow. I’m in Shadow Domain territory, and if I had a bodyguard here, that would be screaming proof that Varius cares, that he won’t risk my safety even when there’s little chance I’ll get hurt. Granted, it also means his enemies are more likely to ignore me as I’m not important enough to kidnap.

“Every time I think we take a step forward,” I say, “he shoves me back three times as far. He tattoos my…” My neck heats as I clear my throat. Despite getting absolutely railed nearly every night, I still get a bit flustered when it comes to talking about my sex life.

“Your pussy?” he teases as I managed to choke out the story to him a couple months ago, so he already knows it.

“Mmm. Yeah, that. He gets jealous a waiter gave me his number. Makes meweakfrom railing me so hard, but then he ignores me for the next week. Like, do I mean something to him or not?”

“He’s dead, you know.”

“Inside?”

“No, the waiter.”

“Oh… Really? Did he kill him?” I ask, perking up a little at the thought of Varius’ jealousy being that uncontrollable.

“Nah. Suicide.”

“Dammit.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” But I’m pouting. My lips are in a downwards curve, and I’m slumped in my seat.

“He doesn’t even trust his family, Micha, and he’s known them for a lot longer.”

“Yeah.” I pinch the top of my nose, then rub it between my fingers. “Yeah, I know. It’s just…”I’m falling in love with him.It’s only polite if the fucking neanderthal falls in love back. “He hasn’t even had me test for pregnancy yet,” I say so Dayne doesn’t call me out for being dumb enough to fall for Varius fucking Shadow. Not that I’ve actually fallen for himyetthough.

It’s just...he’s got his damn name on my pussy, and there are moments where I think he might actually like me, so I can feel myselfstartingto like him. That whole date night was amazing, but we haven’t had another one since, and…ugh. Overly frustrated and confused, I ask, “So, like, does he want me for my womb or not then? Because if he did, he’d have me check every day, right? But if he doesn’t, then –”

“He’s probably just addicted to sex.”

My eyes narrow.Not what I want to hear, bestie.

“If you’re pregnant, he won’t have an excuse to fuck you anymore without admitting youaremore than a womb.”

“But if that was the case, he wouldn’t be fucking me while I’m on my period, and he does that.” My cheeks heat, but my embarrassment can just hold up for a second as I try to figure out if the guy I like likes me back. Dear gods, I sound like a pathetic teen.

“But women can conceive on their periods,” Dayne says.

My eyes narrow slightly. “No, we can’t.”

“Yeah, you actually can. The chance is smaller, but it’s not zero.”

“You serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck. You think he knows that?”

“I don’t know.”

“He probably does,” I grumble beneath my breath. Just like him to annoy me even more.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. So are you saying hedoeslike me for more than a womb?” I ask hopefully.“And he’s just in denial?”

“I’m saying he could give lessons to Fort Knox. The only one who’s ever going to know what he feels is Varius. How is he when it’s just you two?”