wrong with me?” A sob tears from my throat. “She didn’t even attack me, and I was about to kill her.”
He slowly places the towel on my head as if not wanting to startle me. With meticulous hands, he dries off the wet strands. “She did attack you.”
“No, she didn’t. She just stood there defenceless.”
“She provoked you.”
“Provoked me?”
He continues his strokes on my hair. “It’s been accumulating for a while. Not only does Queens threaten you, but she’s also been provoking you.”
“You think I hit her because of that?”
“Yes. You don’t attack people without any reason. You only go after those who provoke or pose a threat to you.”
“How do you know that?”
He clutches my arm and pulls me closer to him. I stop rocking as he manoeuvres me to straddle his lap. “It’s a theory.”
I peek at him through my blurry vision. “Have you been psychoanalysing me or something?”
“Maybe.” He continues drying my hair. “You don’t need to worry about Queens anymore. She knows her place now and won’t provoke you again.”
“Why?”
“I made her.”
“You made her how?”
“By less violent methods?” He grins, and I wince.
He places a finger under my chin and lifts so I’m facing him. “You don’t have to be ashamed of who you are with me, Elsa. You can be a fucking lunatic, and I still won’t let you go.”
Wow. That’s surprisingly sweet coming from him.
It’s almost like he accepts me whole. Aiden isn’t interested in mere parts of me, he wants the whole thing.
And my heart nearly bursts open at his acceptance.
It’s like I’ve been waiting my entire life for someone to take me as I am and I finally found him.
He sees me.
And he’s not scared of what he sees.
Hell, I’m more terrified than him.
My teary eyes search his cloudy ones for any sign of manipulation, but all I find is acceptance.
Unconditional acceptance.
He shouldn’t accept this part of me. I don’t accept it myself.
“You shouldn’t joke about that,” I whisper.
“It wasn’t a joke. I don’t care who or what you are as long as you’re mine.”
My lower lip trembles and the hysterics’ wave from earlier threatens to hit me all over again. “What if… what if I hurt someone?”
“Why would you think that?”
“I keep having these nightmares about pools of blood. A normal person wouldn’t have those nightmares. I m-must’ve hurt someone before… right?”
“It could be that you were the one who got hurt.”
I pull back. He pauses drying my hair.
“You know, don’t you?” I choke on the words.
There’s a slight shift in his features before that infuriating poker face slips back on. “I know what?”
“Tell me, Aiden, please.” I grind against his erection, rubbing my arse cheeks all over him. “I’ll do anything.”
“Stop.” He grips my arm hard, causing me to whimper. “I won’t fuck you when you’re like this.”
“When I’m like what?” Frustration and the fear of the unknown claw at my chest and I just snap. “A mess? A fucking maniac? I hurt my aunt in the hospital, Aiden! The wound I left in her wrist is so deep, I can’t look her in the eyes without feeling like a monster. I scratched you the other time and I almost bashed Silver’s head to the pavement just now. I keep escalating with no way to stop it and you’re refusing to fucking tell me what happened!”
Harsh breaths heave out of me after my outburst. I try to push off him, but he grips me by the shoulder and keeps me pinned to his lap.
“Do you think you’ll feel better if you know the truth?” He grinds out every word.
“Of course!”
“Believe me, sweetheart, it’ll be a lot fucking worse.”
“Let me be the judge of that. It’s my life, Aiden. Mine! I’m tired of people making the decision for me. Let me screw up on my own! I’ll take responsibility for it all.”
He throws the towel away, wraps a tight arm around my waist, and stands up.
I’m thrown over the bed before I can think about what’s happening. Aiden lunges at me and rips my shirt open. I gasp as buttons fly everywhere. The sound dies in my throat when I stare at his crazed expression.
He’s about to snap.
And I’m the one who drove him to the edge.
“You want to know, huh?” He grips the middle of the bra and yanks it open.
I cry out, but it’s not only out of surprise. No. His brute strength always got me in a knot whether I like to admit it or not.
He hovers over me,