Vipers and Virtuosos (Monsters & Muses, #2)(47)

Deciding to return back to my cabin to investigate her history further, I lean down, inhaling and trying to see if I can sense a slight change in the scent of her lotion.

My hand comes up, fingers coasting over her jaw, and I let out the smallest sigh.

Then, her eyes pop open.





23





My vision is blurry as I peel back my eyelids, the presence of someone in the room yanking me from an Ambien-induced sleep.

At first, I’m irritated that not even pills can keep my fight-or-flight response subdued.

When my gaze focuses on the hauntingly beautiful face hovering over mine, though, I can’t help wondering if this actually is a dream.

Tension ripples through my stomach, tying my organs into knots.

Jesus Christ, this has to be a dream.

There’s no possible way Aiden fucking James is sitting on my bed right now, staring at me like he’s seen a ghost.

Somehow, he doesn’t look spooked; he looks like someone who lives in an abandoned house because of the spirits. Like he’s been expecting me.

But that can’t be right—I never even told him my real name all those years ago, and if he were here right now, calm resignation is the last thing I feel he’d be experiencing.

The longer he stares, a still silence coursing between us while our breaths mingle, the more convinced I become that I’m still sleeping.

It’s the only plausible explanation.

“Pretty girl.”

Oxygen catches in my throat, and I feel my eyes widen, but for some reason, I’m detached from the actual movement itself. Just like when he lifts a palm, dragging a ringed finger along my jaw; his calloused print is rough on my skin, but it’s almost as if there’s a thin barrier separating us.

Something protecting me.

When he pauses at the corner of my mouth, the air stuck in my esophagus escapes in a panicked whoosh, and my chest compresses with horror.

I glance at the lamp across the room, then back, pushing my head into the pillow in an effort to evade his touch. Hoping that he can’t see well in the dim lighting.

Gray eyes narrow just slightly; his stormy gaze penetrates deep, pricking at my soul like a needle drawing blood.

“So many secrets,” he says, voice as low and gravelly as ever. His hand shifts, his thumb coming to my mouth and sliding over the scar there up to the one on my cheek.

Applying the slightest pressure, he traces the jagged sliver, a blank expression on his face.

My mouth dries up, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth like sandpaper.

“Nothing to say, even after all this time?” he continues, cocking his head to one side. “No questions, concerns… admissions?”

I try to make my lips move, try to make some sort of noise to appease him, but my body refuses to cooperate.

He tsks, letting his hand fall to my collarbone. My lungs expand, expressing a gust of air when I remember I’m naked.

That my entire body is bare beneath my blankets.

Just centimeters away from the handsome phantom before me.

As if sensing my renewed panic, Aiden hooks a finger in the comforter, tugging without displacing it. I tighten every muscle in my body, folding in on myself to keep out the intrusion.

“I have a lot of questions for you.” His eyes dip to my throat, and I feel his thumb sweep back and forth over my skin, just above the hem of the cover. “Should I quiz you now, or is this not a good time, with you being naked and all?”

Forcing a swallow, I finally find my voice. “How are you—”

“Ah, ah.”

His free hand flies toward me so fast I don’t even have time to register its direction until it lands. He claps it over my mouth, mushing my lips into my teeth, and I wince at the sharp sting of bone cutting into sensitive flesh.

“You had your chance to speak, and you didn’t take it. Now it’s my turn. Besides, it shouldn’t matter how I’m here; did you honestly think you’d be able to hide from me forever?”

Yes. That was the goal, anyway. My escape from Riley Kelly was meant to provide me safety, but also keep me from ever having to face the secret my brother made me keep.

Pulling the blanket down, he exposes the tops of my breasts, keeping my nipples covered. I hiss, back bowing as the cool air lashes against me, and he tightens his hold on my mouth, pushing my head farther into the pillow.

“For every question you get wrong, or you don’t answer, or that just generally pisses me off, I’ll slide this blanket down until your dignity ceases to exist. Got it?”

God, please let this be a dream.

I glance at the table to my right where my phone sits, and he follows my line of sight. With a heavy sigh, Aiden rips one corner of the throw off my right breast, and I squeal as the apex pebbles because of the sudden change in temperature.

His nostrils flare. “Don’t even think about calling anyone. You owe me this, at the very least, and you fucking know it, my little liar. So, either take this like a good girl, or I’ll put some truth behind those goddamn rumors you spread about me.”

His words slice me wide open, the accusation flying directly from his mouth somehow worse than knowing someone made it up in the first place.

Because not only was the rumor concocted, but now my worst fears regarding it are confirmed; Aiden believes I started them.

I can see it reflected in his eyes. The kind of anguish you gain from a personal betrayal, it hardens you and sharpens your focus at the same time it snuffs out any misguided positive notions about the world.