Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

29. Slade

29

SLADE

A urora was quiet all the way home and I cursed the bad luck that had put the fucking L’Crist Noble in our path. I shouldn’t have punished the bastard in front of her. She wasn’t used to the ways of Clan Cruel —she didn’t yet understand that the honor of our women is the most important thing to us. We don’t tolerate anyone disrespecting a wife or a fiancée because if we did, where would it end?

I wished I could explain all this to Aurora , but she didn’t seem to be in the mood for explanations. She was sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the viewscreen with a shocked look on her face. To make matters worse, it had started raining and the gloomy atmosphere outside seemed to magnify the feeling inside my ship.

I had planned to take her out for lunch to a nice restaurant but when I asked her, she only shook her head and claimed she wasn’t hungry.

“ Please , could we just go home? Er , back to the penthouse?” she asked in a low voice. “ I’m tired— I’d like to lie down.”

My heart ached to see her looking so low. I wished I could pull her onto my lap and wrap my arms around her and comfort her. But something told me she didn’t want me touching her right now.

We got back to the penthouse and I had some of the resort staff bring up all the packages and bags from the store. Our shopping trip—which had been so much fun to start with—had definitely ended on a sour note.

Aurora said nothing as we rode up the lift and as soon as we got into the penthouse, she locked herself in the bathroom. I heard the water running and realized she was going to take a bath.

That upset me— I wanted to be the one to bathe her. I wanted to wash her hair and massage her beautiful curvy body. Not just for my own pleasure, but for hers as well. And to prove to her that I could be gentle as well as violent.

But I sensed that for now, the best thing I could do was leave her alone.

I went back to my office to call Drake for an update. I wanted to see if that fucking Skeezix had been caught. The Darkness inside was angry. It had wanted to feed on the feeble human Noble . Having been denied, it hungered for some other prey and the Brute who had attacked my wife would do just fucking fine.

I hoped he had been caught— I wanted to serve out more justice and this time I was going to finish the job.