Page 87 of Sinful Curses
It was treacherous to start feeling anything other than wariness and dislike for him, but he had a way of battering her defenses into little more than rubble. He also had a way of making them become a brick wall… like by declaring she was his in a bathroom.
Asshole.
As the word crossed her mind, she knew it wasn’t entirely true. Yes, he was a jerk;noonewould deny that, but he was also changing, or at least he seemed to be.
She could also be trying to see something in him that wasn’t there. However, his actions said something was different about him.
Instead of leaving Zeth, he’d returned to help a man he disliked. He could have easily left Zeth to die; she was sure he’d left many others behind to save his ass, but he hadn’t left the demon.
Why?
She wasn’t sure about the answer. He’d left the safety of the pub behind to help her against the scarog beetles, but he felt a sense of family duty toward her and was also trying to have sex with her at the time.
Orin had been determined to win that game of his and couldn’t screw someone who was dead. He’d won and moved on, yet he continued to help her.
She could attribute that to his sense of duty to family, and she was also the only one who would feed him by screwing him out here, but he didn’t haveanyof those reasons for saving Zeth.
She couldn’t be certain, but something about the Cursed Realm was changing Orin. Yes, he’d told Elsa he’d kill her, and Sahira had no doubt he would do it to survive, but Orin also toldherthat he’d choose her life over anyone else’s.
She was beginning to think that might be true.
It wasn’t something she would have believed possible a few short weeks ago; she did now. He was still cold-hearted and always would be, at least on some level, but something had changed with him.
Being trapped in the Cursed Realm hadn’t humbled him. She didn’t think anything couldeverdo that, but the changes in him were taking shape and becoming more prevalent. She couldn’t deny it anymore.
She didn’t know what it meant for him orthem,but she couldn’t deny how much she’d come to care for him. Yes, he enraged her, and there were days when she loathed him more than she’d ever believed it possible to hate someone, but there were also times, like now, when she stood on the precipice of falling in love with him.
If this continued, it would result in a broken heart for her; she was sure of it. But despite her determination to keep him at a distance, he’d broken through her barriers. And she’d come to care for him more than any other man who’d walked through her life.
How can that be possible?
Feelings were never really involved in any of her past dealings with men. She liked some of them and spent more time with them, but most were simply a fling, and she was okay with that.
She was immortal; she had plenty of time to find someone to love… if she ever decided to do so. Until then, she was content to keep the party going, or at least until Lexi entered her life.
Things changed for the better after that, but the party aspect of her life screeched to a halt. She could continue the party now, but after helping to raise Lexi, it was far from a priority.
Sahira was sure the same couldn’t be said for Orin. He was far from ready to stop his fast-paced, bed-hopping lifestyle; he’d proven that to her with the nymph and the other women who followed.
Sahira glanced at her burnt hand as she recalled his tender touch. At the time, she couldn’t feel his fingers moving against her, but she’d seen the care he took.
He doesn’t do that with other women.
So what?
It was true; he wasn’t like that with other women, even Elsa said so, but what did it matter? So what if he was kinder and more protective of her; he was also manipulative and content to screw any willing woman who crossed his path.
What a messed-up, soul-sucking relationship this was.Relationship? Are you insane?
With a shake of her head, she tried to clear her mind of the treacherous notion there could ever be anything more than what they were. She could see herself waiting at home while he went out to doanyoneelse because he would never be faithful.
A life like that would destroy her. No matter how much she’d come to care for him, it could never happen; she wouldn’t survive it.
She had no idea what he was becoming or who she was anymore, but she was certain of that much. She also might be stressing about nothing, because she might not have long to live.
There’s looking on the bright side of things.
CHAPTERSEVENTY-SIX
