Verum (The Nocte Trilogy 2)

“You don’t scare me,” I lie.

There’s savagery here, there’s grace.

But above all, there’s oblivion and no matter what I do, I will be sucked into it.

I know it.

I feel it.

I’m crazy.

And it doesn’t matter.

I’m the rabbitrabbitrabbit and I’ll never be free.

Chapter 16

For some reason that I can’t explain, I’m holding my breath, waiting to see if Dare comes to dinner.

He does.

Dressed in black slacks, shiny black loafers and an oatmeal-colored soft shirt. He wordlessly moves across the room, sits in his seat, and places his napkin in his lap.

I look at my plate, remembering the way his hands touched me yesterday, the way I’d wanted it, the way I can’t forget how he makes me feel.

My cheeks flush and I take a bite. They’re both staring at me, or at least it seems that way.

“The fish is delicious,” I finally offer, without looking up.

I think I hear Dare smile. My discomfort probably amuses him.

“Adair.”

Eleanor’s tone makes it sound like she just ate a persimmon.

“Yes?”

I look at Dare and it’s easy to see that he can’t hide his disdain.

“Play for us.”

She commands him like a monkey, like he’s expected to jump when she beckons, which of course he is. We all are.

Wordlessly leonine, he walks to the piano in the corner. Sitting at the bench, he gracefully does as he’s told.

The song he plays is something sad and dark, which is perfect, because that’s the mood I’m in. The notes brush my cheeks, play with my hair, and then fall limply onto the floor when he’s done with them, after he strokes each of them from the keys.

I watch his hands and I can’t help but remember yesterday, the way those same strong hands skimmed my wet body, tracing my curves. I can’t help but remember how I’d let him touch me, how I’d folded into him.

I know I wouldn’t have resisted if he wanted more.

But then he didn’t.

I feel like I’m a lamb, and he’s a wolf. But at the same time, I feel like he doesn’t want to be. He’s caged, when he should be wild, and I don’t think he knows what to do about it.

The room is silent as we listen to his song, and I’m more emotionally charged by the minute. My past wells up in me, my present, my future. None of it looks good and then the music stops and my emotions pause.

Dare pushes the bench back, and he walks straight for me