112

Nerthus

My heart explodes in my chest, and I shake my head. “No! No! No! You told me I could be honest with you. You told me you wouldn’t hate me!”

“I don’t hate you,” he tells me calmly while my voice gets louder.

“Then why? You can’t do this. We had just discussed-”

Grabbing my face with his hand, he interrupts me brusquely.

“You need to calm down, Nerthus.” He orders me, making me whimper. “And you need to let me finish.”

“I always do,” I say lowly, massaging my gums as he lets go of me.

A loud laugh explodes from his chest. “Yeah. Yeah, you do.”

Taking my glass from me and setting it down along with his, he scoots closer to me, laying his hand around my hip. I take a deep breath, his mouthwatering scent and the heat streaming from his body calming me down. “I don’t want to keep you bound by a contract where you would have to fear enduring a clause that hurts you. I didn’t know how bad it was and I shouldn’t have done it. Please forgive me.”

He leaves me speechless as I never had s