Page 81 of Thorns of Deceit

“Five minutes,” I whispered into the quiet room, glaring at the thing like it had personally betrayed me. “Five minutes to find out just how stupid you are, Raven.”

I resumed my anxious pacing, bare feet whispering against the floorboards. My heart thudded too loudly in the quiet room. I tried to focus by taking measured breaths, but it wasn’t quite doing the trick.

Think positive. No, think negative.I let out a sharp laugh. “Right. Negative. Definitely negative.”

What were the odds of getting pregnant the same night I lost my virginity?

One minute down. Four to go.

The minutes stretched, filled with too many unknowns.

Maybe I should run. My gut warned that Aiden was up to something, and even worse, I feared that my libido might be on board. And that simply wouldn’t do.

I was working through various doom scenarios when I heard a faint thud. I froze, listening, and gave my head a subtle shake.Paranoid now too, Raven?

But then I heard it again.

It came from the window. A smart person would have run in the opposite direction, but the idiot I apparently was padded over to the window, my heart ricocheting in my chest. I stoodthere and watched the outline of a shadow appear at the French door.

I spun around to bolt, but I was too late. The glass doors busted open, hitting the wall with a thud, and a hand clamped around my waist.

I gasped, a scream rising in my throat.

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Aiden murmured.

“What are you doing?” I breathed, my voice cracking.

“Taking back what’s mine.”

I remained frozen, ignoring my instinct to kick him in the balls.

Slowly, Aiden turned me around, his stare unwavering and his hold on my waist firm.

That last, sweet night we spent together right before the explosion flashed before my eyes, so many what-could-have-beens and happily-ever-afters lost to a series of unimaginable events.

My mom’s death left a toll, and living the last five years looking over my shoulder wasn’t easy. Yes, there were many events that my best friends and I went through that were reckless and stupid. But in the back of my mind, the fear that I was trying to outrun ghosts lingered.

The void my mom’s death left threatened to open. Pressure squeezed the oxygen from my lungs, threatening to suffocate me. The anxiety tightened around my throat, and I had to push it into a dark corner of my soul where my gnawing ache and terror lived.

“I’m not yours,” I rasped, my ears ringing with adrenaline. “I’ve never been yours.”

Aiden’s lips twisted in a cruel smile. “Our marriage certificate says otherwise.”

“You forced me to marry you,” I hissed. “You were…aretoo old for me. In fact, at this point you’re pretty much ancient. We have nothing in common. We were never meant to be.”

“See, I have to disagree, because your body tells me we are more than meant to be.”

“You’re delusional.”

“Call it what you will. Either way, you’re mine.”

His hot breath fanned across my face, making my thighs tremble. It only served to piss me off.

“Don’t be clingy, Aiden,” I spat. “It’s not a good look.”

His jaw clenched, the sound of his teeth grinding breaking the tension. “I’m not clingy. I just have the urge to lock you in my house and tie you to the bed, because the last time I let you go anywhere alone, you disappeared for five fucking years.”

I winced at the vulnerability in his voice and the betrayal etched on his face. But how dare he? He was the one who betrayed me. He didn’t lose someone he loved. I, on the other hand, lost the only family I’d ever had.