Sin & Suffer (Pure Corruption MC #2)(51)

How could I risk being such an idiot when my livelihood was on the line?

I shivered as Cleo gripped my thigh. Her fingers landed so damn close to my cock.

That’s why I played roulette with my brain. Her.

Buttercup was my Achilles’ heel—a witch who made me hot, hard, and so f*cking weak.

Her green eyes flickered from me to the Doc. “Um, excuse me if I’m slow to catch up, but what do you mean? Kill more brain cells?”

I stiffened. “Nothing. She meant nothing.” Digging my hands into the soft cushions, I propelled myself upright. The room spun, but I deliberately kept the vertigo and throbbing pain from showing on my face. “Thank you, Doc. I feel ten times better and would like to get dressed.”

The doctor looked at me with far too much understanding in her gaze. She knew I was embarrassed, pissed, but, most of all, scared shitless that this seemingly simple thing had the power to strip me of everything I knew.

Is this how Cleo felt with amnesia?

I shook my head—that hurt far too much to even consider.

“Yes, thank you for coming again.” Cleo stood. Her face was gentle but her eyes burned with questions—no doubt preparing to spit them in my face the moment we were alone.

“I’ll see you out.” Planting my feet on the carpet, I tugged the blanket tighter around my waist.

“No, just stay there.” Doctor Laine pressed my shoulder. “Rest, remember?” Letting me go, she cocked her head toward the kitchen. “I’ve left some higher dose anti-inflammatories for you on the counter. Take four in the next twenty-four hours, then stop. They’ll destroy your stomach lining and you’ll have more problems to deal with if you don’t.”

I nodded. “Got it.”

Rolling her eyes, she nodded at Cleo. “If you need me again, you have my number on speed dial. Goodbye, Mrs. and Mr. Killian.”

Cleo flushed.

My heartbeat picked up, imagining an existence where we became irrevocably joined. My insatiable need to make it a reality almost had me dropping to a f*cking knee right there.

With one last disapproving look, Doctor Laine disappeared briskly from the lounge and the faint click of the front door was the starting gun for Cleo’s impending tirade.

She spun around, her soft flush transforming to bright anger.

I tensed in preparation for her onslaught.

I waited …

Only, it never happened.

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. My heart splintered as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Ah, Buttercup … don’t.”

She swiped at her cheeks, backing away from the couch. “Don’t ‘Buttercup’ me.” Dragging hands through her lust-tangled hair, she bared her teeth. “You passed out while inside me, Arthur! Do you have any idea how terrifying that was? How scared I was when you wouldn’t wake up? How much I screamed when I had to roll you off me and felt you slip out of me like you were dead?”

She wrapped her arms around herself, trembling. “It was awful! And what’s worse—it was all my fault!”

I sat forward, clutching my head in my hands. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes, it was. You wanted to stop. You kept trying to go slow and I forced you.”

My own temper unfurled. “This isn’t about you, Cleo. I knew better, but I have no f*cking control when it comes to you.”

“See, my fault again!” A sob existed behind her sharpness.

Standing, I moved toward her. I had to hold her. Had to apologize. Holding out my hand, I murmured, “I’m sorry.”

She stumbled away. “What is going on with you? Why won’t you tell me?” Taking a shaky breath, her voice turned cold. “I’ll tell you why. Because you’re pigheaded and arrogant and think you’re invincible. You’ve hidden your pain all your life. You never trusted me to help you.”

Her face twisted but she didn’t break down. “Well, newsflash for you, Killian. You are mine. If you’re not well, I need to know. If you’re keeping things from me, I deserve to be informed. Now that you’re awake, I need … I need some time alone. I can’t deal with your secrets anymore.”

Her voice disappeared to an axe-sharp whisper. “You can’t keep things from me. I won’t let you. You’ve always had every part of me—but I never had all of you. And that … that hurts me so much.”

Before I could argue, she ran.

I’d never shared a house with a pissed off female before.

It officially f*cking sucked.

Cleo somehow managed to fill the house with her outrage, spreading it in every room. Everywhere I moved, her petulance followed me. It redecorated the entire place, successfully making me feel like a jackass.

I didn’t know if I was meant to go to her or wait until she came to me, but by eleven p.m. I’d had enough.

I’d taken my prescribed drugs but my head was no better. I’d spent a few hours trading—which was absolutely f*cking useless. And all I wanted to do was sleep again.

She’d had five hours to stew. It was time to get over it and let me make it up to her.

You’re banned from sex.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t afford to be so reckless again. I’d sensed the entire time I held her on the countertop and seduced her that I wouldn’t last. Every pump of blood that’d disappeared into my trousers had clanged warning bells behind my eyes. The lance in my brain grew to epic proportions the more I gave in to her spell.