CH.99

Serena’s voice had risen to a near-hysterical screech as though the floodgates had just burst open.

The words were tumbling out in a frenzied rush between ragged sobs.

"Just because my marriage to that bastard Alex ended like a burning dumpster fire doesn't give you the right to treat me like some charity case by marrying me out of pity over a drunken one-night stand! I never asked for your pity or your last name!"

Speaking of last name, Serena suddenly realized she even didn’t know what his last name was. “Is your name even Knox? Or some staged one to deceive everyone along with that damn mask on your face?”

“Are you done?” Knox finally had heard enough.

He crossed the short distance between them in a flash and dropped fluidly to his fists on the bed, fisting the rumpled sheets tightly as he lowered himself until their faces were mere inches apart.

Serena flinched at his sudden proximity and her tirade cut off with a harsh hiccup of surprise.

She could feel the heat radiating off his body, smell the intoxicating blend of his cologne mixed with something uniquely and irresistibly him.

"You think that's why I've been away?" he growled in a low tone.

Anger was radiating off him in waves so palpable and intense that Serena shivered involuntarily.

His blazing eyes bored into hers with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat.

"You think I've been off shacking up with some whore while leaving you here alone? Don't be so quick to jump to foolish conclusions." Knox’s words were clipped. However, the muscle in his jaw ticking with the effort showed of restraining his rising temper.

Serena could see the storm brewing behind his eyes, barely held in check.

"Every moment away from you has been to protect you from myself!"

Serena's brow furrowed in a residual anger and bewilderment, her mind struggling to make sense of his cryptic confession.

Knox pushed in closer, their foreheads nearly touching before she could express her confusion.

She could feel the scorching heat radiating from his powerful frame, smell the intoxicating blend of his crisp, masculine scent blended with the metallic tang of his anger even more now.

"Do you know the thought that plagues my mind when I look at you?" His voice lowered to a rough, rumble that made her tremble.

"How badly I want to claim you completely. To bury myself deep inside your tight, wet heat and fill you with my seed. To make you scream through the entire night from the exquisite pleasure and pain as I mark every inch of your body, making you utterly mine for all to see. To show the world you are my mate.” He paused. “But I can’t do any of that because my powers are out of control!"

The raw, primal possessiveness in his tone made Serena's core clench with a sudden, shocking rush of arousal despite her lingering anger.

There was a part of her that secretly wished he had done all those delectably wicked things he detailed in explicit terms. To be claimed, marked, utterly possessed by this dangerous and powerful male.

It was a desire so intense and unexpected that it left her breathless and disoriented.

Knox squeezed his eyes shut. His brow squeezed together as if struggling to rein in his control.

When he opened them again, they burned with an intensity that made Serena's breath catch.

The air between them crackled with an almost tangible electricity, charged with unresolved tension and desire.

They stayed locked in that heated standoff with their rapid breaths mingling in the charged space between their flushed faces.

One move and their lips would crash together in a searing, hungry kiss that would likely consume them both.

Serena found herself swaying almost imperceptibly towards him, drawn by some magnetic force she couldn't explain or resist.

‘Don’t be deceived by his good looks and sugar-coated tongue, Serena,’ she mentally chastised herself.

But then somethings he said finally registered.

"Wh-what do you mean by mates...and marking me as yours?" Serena finally found her voice again with her brow furrowing in confusion.

Her earlier anger was now momentarily overshadowed by bewilderment. "And what's this about protecting me? Your powers being out of control?" The questions tumbled out in a rush, struggling to make sense of his strange words.

Knox was silent for a long moment. The muscle in his jaw continued to flex as an internal battle raged within him over how to react.

His eyes searched hers like he was trying to gauge her reaction to what he was about to reveal.

"Exactly as I said," Knox finally stated flatly. "I'm no ordinary human, wife. You are my fated mate - my other half, bound to me by forces you can ever hope to understand or control."

He paused, letting his words sink in before continuing in the same low tone. "The reason I've been away isn't because I've been unfaithful. It's because there was an incident between us that you have no memory of. One that left me unconscious for days and struggling to regain control of my abilities to keep you safe."

“Enough!” Serena's eyes flashed with a fresh wave of fury at his words, thinking he was just making up ridiculous excuses and supernatural nonsense to cover for being an unfaithful, lying sack of shit.

The hurt and betrayal she felt earlier came rushing back with renewed force, drowning out any curiosity or confusion his words might have sparked.

“Leave!” she shoved at his chest with all her might, her palms stinging from the impact against his rock-solid muscles.

"Get out! Get the hell out before I really hurt myself just to be rid of you and your bullshit lies!" she shrieked, hot tears of rage and heartbreak streaming down her face. “I promise never to fall in love with such an unloving, cold-blooded monster as you!”

Knox recoiled as if struck and his expression contorted with hurt and anger at her threat of self-harm and her harsh words.

"What gives you the impression that I would ever chose a monster like you over members of my own kind?" Serena had said these same words just before she destroyed him in their past life.

For a brief moment, Serena thought she saw a flicker of something inhuman in his eyes - a flash of otherworldly power that sent a chill through her very being. But it was gone so quickly she wondered if she had imagined it.

Knox’s fists clenched tighter in the sheets for a beat, the tendons straining beneath his tanned skin.

Then, he abruptly stood and strode out without another word.

His steps were light and nonchalantly as though the last couple of minutes didn’t happen at all. However, the slamming of the door behind him was hard enough to rattle the walls and send a framed photo crashing to the floor.