A Vow Of Forever (A Vow Of Hate Novella)

My scars itched at the unexpected praise. “You’re just being sweet.”

Gabriel patted his chest. “I’m an honest man.”

I opened my mouth to respond when I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. My husband was stalking toward us and when he was close enough, I noticed the look of pure rage on his face.

“Gabriel,” he snapped.

My eyes widened at his tone but his friend wasn’t fazed at all. “How are the horses looking? Do you think you can handle them?”

Killian snatched the rein from Gabriel. “Leave,” he ordered coldly.

“What–

He glowered at Gabriel and the poor man didn’t even have a chance to say anything before Killian was leading Ragna back to the stables. Once we were inside, he pulled me off my mare and settled me on a stack of hay. This place was smaller than the one we had on the island.

But with Killian running for President, we had to leave Isle Rosa-Maria behind. So, we had officially moved to Spencer Manor in Washington D.C, bringing our horses with us.

Killian locked Ragna in her stall before finally facing me. My husband was positively livid and I internally winced. He stood to his full height, shoulders rigid and his fists clenched to his side.

“What is this all about?” I slowly asked.

His eyes flared darker. “He was flirting with you.”

“He wasn’t!” I hissed, getting to my feet. “He’s your friend. God, what is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with me is that you deliberately went against what I told you when all I wanted was to protect you and our baby,” he said in a deceptively low voice. Killian didn’t raise his voice at me; he never did – and I couldn’t remember the last time he was angry at me.

“You’re overexaggerating!” I couldn’t even hide the indignation in my voice. “I was completely comfortable and safe with Ragna and Gabriel. I was in no imminent danger. You’re speaking as if I am new to horses. I’m not. You taught me everything I need to know about horses. Are you saying you’re not confident about your own teachings?”

“I’m not here to tempt fate, Julianna,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Neither am I!”

“The risk of you injuring yourself–”

“So what? Am I going to spend the rest of life confined–”

“Hey, is everything okay?” Gabriel interrupted, slowly walking back into the stables. His gaze flickered between Killian and I. “Is there a problem?”

Killian tensed. “I’m speaking to my wife,” he practically snarled at his friend.

“It’s fine,” I said, giving Gabriel a practiced smile. “We’re just talking.”

“Right. Um, okay.” He backtracked quickly.

Once he disappeared from our view, I rounded on Killian. “I know you’re worried but you need to calm down for a second.”

He took a staggering breath. His eyes were still dark and furious but I could see the moment he started to calm down. The corded muscles in his neck unclenched and his jaw was not longer tight.

I moved forward, pressing my body against his. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just missed taking Ragna on a run.”

He swallowed hard before his arms curled around me. Protectively. Finally. “I didn’t like how close he was to you,” he rasped.

“Killian,” I started, fighting back a smile. “Are you jealous?”

He scowled. “I’m not jealous.” His voice dropped to a low growl. “You’re mine and I’m territorial. Big difference, Princess.”

It was basically the same thing but I wasn’t going to argue with him now.

“Fuck,” he swore under his breath, shaking his head. “I saw you up on Ragna and my heart fucking stopped, Julianna. I forgot how to breathe. A hundred different scenarios of you being hurt played in my head.”

I pressed my face into his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Thud. Thud. Thud. “You’re right. I should be careful and I was. Ragna is safe and I wasn’t alone. Don’t be mad, please.”

His arms tightened around me. “I’m not mad.”

“You are.”

“I am,” he finally responded.

I stroke his chest. “How can I pacify you?”

Killian’s finger dug in to my hips. “You don’t want me to answer that.”

My eyes flickered up to his face, taking in his harsh and raw gaze. Hungry and possessive. “Tell me,” I breathed.

His hips bucked against mine, in a silent answer. “Here? Now?”

“Here,” he rasped. “Now.”

When I didn’t refuse, he walked me back to the stack of hay. Killian unbuckled his pants and my throat went dry as I stumbled back and planted my ass on the hay. I stared up at my husband’s brutally handsome and my sex clenched.

He wrapped his hand around his semi-erected cock and jerked it. His eyes darkened when I licked my lips, suddenly craving the taste of him.

Keeping our gazes locked together, I slowly got on my knees in front of him. I was now eye-level to his groin. A better position for what I had in mind. I knew Gabriel was somewhere close and he could probably hear us and I bet that was he reason Killian wanted to fuck me – here and now.