Page 61 of Once Upon a Fable

I’d been idiotic to believe he didn’t have a clue what they were. He honestly didn’t. His confusion when he’d first seen them hadn’t been faked. But I’d underestimated his need to stay hidden, and I’d miscalculated the aggression hidden beneath the glimmers of kindness in his stare.

He wasn’t cruel by nature but he was by design, and I struggled to remember that, especially when I caught him looking at me as if I was more dangerous to him than he was to me.

Rubbing my arms, I swallowed past the new bruises he’d given me and prepared to use honesty to hurt. To make him understand. To appeal to the boy inside the man who’d obviously been tortured at some point in his life. Who wore his trauma so plainly—tooplainly. He was the scarred dog left behind by a family who’d mistreated him. The dog who’d grown up left to his own devices, remembering faint rules on how to behave but far too removed from them to be governed.

He cleared his throat, impatience radiating off him. “Strip, shower, and—”

“Please.” I took a step toward him, allowing my shields to drop. For my bravado to vanish against the true pain and embarrassment I felt. If his honesty could scramble me this badly, then perhaps my honesty could do the same to him.

I wouldn’t lie or threat.

I would be myself.

I won’t betray who I am.

I made another deal. A deal that sounded weak to my ears but was the only way I could think of to win. “Please...” I didn’t know his name so I couldn’t add that as an extra tool of persuasion. “I know you don’t like me, and I did something unforgivable by trespassing in your home, but...I’m begging you. I need some privacy. I need...” I looked over my shoulder at the toilet and flushed with heat. “I need you to close the door and leave me alone.”

He shook his head, his forehead furrowing into harsh skepticism. “If I leave, you’ll climb out the window.”

I glanced at the window in question. The glass wasn’t frosted and showed the convenient vines of ivy and other plant matter that would be a perfect ladder down to the ground. Even if I wasn’t a professional climber, I could’ve scaled the wall and been gone within a matter ofmoments.

My stomach cramped, and I dropped my arms to hug there instead of my chest. “What do I have to do to convince you to leave? What if I promise to come get you the moment I’m done? Then I’ll let you watch me shower. Then you can touch me, command me, use me in any position you want...all you have to do is let me have a few moments alone.”

His jaw clenched; his dark eyes turned black. His long hair tumbled to the side as he tilted his head. Obvious lust flared, but his lack of trust was stronger. “Nothing will convince me. I’m not moving.”

I glanced around the room. I tried to come up with a way to assure him I wasn’t going anywhere even though every molecule in my body screamed to bolt. A curtain cord bound the white gauzy drapes by the non-existent mirror. Odd to have curtains in a steamy bathroom, but it only added to the level of silver luxury.

Dashing forward, I unwound the cord and held it up. “You could tie my ankles.”

“Won’t work. You’d just untie yourself if I didn’t bind your hands.”

“I need my hands to...eh, undress.”

He shrugged. “So I stay. And I watch.”

Nausea flowed up my throat. “I literally won’t be able to do a thing if you do.”

“Not my problem.”

“Itisyour problem. My death will be your problem.”

“Your death would be a relief.”

I narrowed my eyes. That wasn’t a flippant phrase. He genuinely meant that. He showed no fear of corpses or the hypothetical clean-up of my demise.

Argh!

How could I get through to him? How could I make him care?

You can’t. You’re his enemy.

The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be.

Easy?

Ha, this would never be easy!

Every second with this bastard was the hardest thing I’d ever endured.