Page 64 of When Roses Burn

“I hate that you can do that,” I told him.

When he shrugged, his broad shoulders pulled the fabric of his black shirt across them. I worried the buttons might let go, but they must be stronger than they appeared, as they held firm.

He smirked as he patted the spot beside him at the table. “Join us.”

I wasn’t going to sit anywhere near him. I smiled as I sauntered toward a plate heaped with pancakes, strawberries, blueberries, and bacon. My stomach rumbled in anticipation as the delicious scent drew me closer.

I smiled at Knox, but instead of pulling back the chair, I lifted the plate and carried it to the other end of the table, as far from him as I could get. The legs scraped against the floor when I pulled another chair back. The scraping noise grated on my nerves, but I kept my smile as I set my plate down, sat, and scooted the chair back in.

Knox’s friends stared at me before their heads swiveled toward him. Knox smiled, but a wicked gleam shone in his orange eyes.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Briar

“I trust you slept well,” he said.

I tensed. What game is he playing?

“After you finished watching the show, of course,” he continued.

Three heads swiveled toward me. I was determined not to let him rattle me, but heat burned my nape and crept into my cheeks.

“I slept fantastic,” I lied and cut a piece of pancake before shoving it in my mouth.

I’d been looking forward to the sweet treat with all its brown syrup and melted butter oozing over the sides, but it was like chewing sawdust as I glowered at him. My hands rested on the table with my knife and fork clenched in them; delightful musings of jamming one of them into his eye danced through my head.

Knox watched me while his friends continued their meals. I’d resumed eating my pancakes when his voice sliced through the silence.

“What was your favorite part of the show?” he inquired.

My head rose as the handles of my utensils dug into my palms. Oh yes, I’d gladly plunge them into his eyes. He was trying to humiliate me, and while I couldn’t control my blush, I wouldn’t let him bully me into backing down.

“I’m not sure what my favorite part was, but my least favorite was when you came into my room with a stiff dick and an attitude,” I retorted.

I hadn’t known it was possible to shock these shifters, but Dromon froze with a fork full of pancakes halfway to his mouth, and the other two stopped breathing. Slowly, their gazes went from me to Knox.

The cruel spark in his eyes didn’t lessen, but rage radiated from him. He didn’t like having his game turned on him. Well, good, because I didn’t like being a pawn in his cruelty.

I cut off another piece of pancake and shoved it in my mouth. I chewed as I smiled at him.

“Maybe you’d like to join the three of them tonight,” he stated. “If I remember correctly, you were an amazing fuck.”

The three shifters exchanged a look as it dawned on them what show we were talking about. How they hadn’t figured out they were screwing beneath my tower last night was beyond me, but they’d been pretty focused on each other.

“That’s funny, I remember the same thing about you,” I replied. “But that was before.”

“Before what?” he growled.

I was walking a razor-thin line with him. The only problem was that I didn’t care. What more could he possibly do to me? I’d already had everything stripped from me… including the hope of him.

“Before you turned into a walking nightmare,” I told him.

His friends’ heads turned toward him.

“I am what you made me,” Knox said as he lifted his cup and sipped the liquid inside.

“I didn’t make you anything. I didn’t tell my mother about us.”