a light squeeze.
I thought back to being chained up in that room. My God, I’d come so close to cheating on Christian. How could he ever trust me again? I covered my face with my hands. “How did you know to come get me?”
“Claude. I tried to get there as fast as I could. He wedged something in the back door so I could get in.”
I lowered my arms. “You shouldn’t have come for me. It was risky.”
“Are you out of your fecking mind? Do you really think that flimsy note on the door would have kept anyone out of that room? I’m sure Chitahs two blocks away could scent your arousal, and a Sensor could easily touch the door and feel your emotions from the other side. I came for you so you wouldn’t have to suffer the guilt of taking another.”
I averted my gaze. “I almost did.”
“Not by choice.”
I glared at him. “I wanted him to do things to me. I don’t think I would have stopped him.”
Christian scratched his cheek and then stroked his chin. “Sensory magic isn’t just a novelty. Maybe that’s all you’ve seen, but it can be weaponized and completely inhibit your ability to make rational decisions. When it’s powerful enough, you can’t fight it. How did it happen?”
I reached for my coffee. “Someone spiked my drink.”
“Are you daft? That wasn’t a spike. Those wear off in a couple of hours. Yours raged on through the night. Whatever you drank was in its purest form, and not many Sensors are powerful enough to do it. Someone infused a shite-ton of magic into your drink. That takes either skill or money.”
“Money?”
“Aye. People buy bottles of it on the black market. Whoever did that to you is on my hit list for life.”
I sipped my coffee. “So you’re not mad? Don’t lie to me now and tell me it’s nothing if you’re going to hold it against me in the future.”
He took the cup away and leaned over me to set it on the nightstand. Instead of sitting up, he rested on top of me, his face an inch away from mine. “You’re not to blame. Do you understand me? I’ll not have you doubting me on this one. That’s why I didn’t touch you last night. It wouldn’t have been right. No matter how I feel about you, Raven, I’ll never take advantage when you’re under the influence of magic.” His voice softened. “That’s not to say you didn’t drive me mad with desire. How’s your fanny this morning?”
“Traumatized.”
He kissed me softly on the mouth. “Another time.”
“What were you going to say to me last night in the shower?”
His gaze lowered as he searched his memory. “I thought about charming you into submissive behavior. Then you’d be easier to control. But I vowed to never use my powers on you.”
My head thumped against the wall. “I’m mortified everyone saw me like that. I was licking people’s ankles and dry humping them—people I work with. And the cab driver! I’ll never be able to look at the hotel desk clerk after this.”
Christian chuckled darkly. “I charmed the cab driver to ignore your condition. And if it gives you peace of mind, I’ll do a memory wipe on the staff downstairs.”
I rolled away from him and got up. After dressing in sweatpants and a T-shirt, I sat at the foot of the other bed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I stared at his reflection in the television. Christian looked like a shirtless model lying diagonal on the bed, his head propped in his hand. How could I express the immense guilt I felt? “I almost betrayed you. I don’t think you should brush it off. We need to talk about it.”
“Put it out of your mind.”
“I can’t.”
He got up and stood before me. “You will.”
My lip quivered. I rested my elbows on my knees and lowered my head so he couldn’t see. It suddenly dawned on me what had felt so insidious about last night—my shackled wrists, the vulnerability, and a man abusing his dominance. It was everything I’d tried to forget about Fletcher Black, my Creator. Those months I’d spent in captivity, when he tried to break me, had never left my mind. Nausea slithered in my belly like a snake when I remembered last night. That stranger had struck me while I hung helpless in chains, and I liked it.
I bolted from the bed and into the bathroom. As I vomited the coffee that Christian had generously made