Her gaze never left the water, but the miniscule twitch of her body confirmed she'd heard the words. That even when she'd withdrawn, I could reach her. "Isa," I said, waiting to see if she would look at me. When she didn't, I stepped around the daybed and directly into her vision. "Come." I held out a hand for her, and she shifted her gaze down to it.
There was a moment of recognition in her eyes as she remembered all the other times I'd asked for her consent in the same way. As she realized they'd all been a ploy, because she'd never had a choice.
Her life had become mine the moment I laid eyes on her.
Her lips were dry as she turned her stare up to mine, a glare in it as they met mine in fierce challenge. I watched the moment mi princesa died on the pyre, her innocence lost as the last pieces of my deception snapped into place.
Mi reina was born from the ashes, her face twisted in fury as she uncurled her legs from her body and slid along the mattress. The night before, Isa would have fled off the other side of the bed. She'd have craved the distance between us.
Instead, she welcomed my darkness, meeting it with her own as storms swirled inside her green gaze.
"I hate you," she whispered, sliding off the edge of the daybed to stand before me. With the defiance in her face, I almost didn't doubt the words.
But that pulsing attraction between us couldn't be denied, no matter what words her mouth formed. I knew the truth that tormented her twisted little soul.
"Such a pretty lie," I murmured, stepping closer. Her breasts grazed against my chest as she drew in a deep, steadying breath. "You love me, and you fucking hate yourself for it," I said, lifting a hand to touch her face. I wanted to bottle her anger, to remember the fierce look in her eyes as she proved that everything I saw in her hovered just beneath the surface.
She'd always been one break away from unleashing her darkness on the world.
She slapped my hand away before I could touch her, the crack of her hand against mine echoing through the silence around us. "Don't fucking touch me," she growled. There was no fear in her face, no moment of recognition where she realized I'd killed people for less. I lifted my hand to stare at the pink skin where she'd struck me in surprise, before turning a smirk back her way.
"You shouldn't have done that, mi reina," I purred, tilting my head to the side as a sick smile transformed my face.
"Sorry to disappoint the great El Diablo," she said mockingly. "But I don't live to please you." She planted her hands on my chest, shoving me away from her hard enough that I stumbled in a moment of shock. She spun away from me, moving to walk back toward the house and leave me staring after her in the night.
I stepped forward, snatching her arm up in a tight grip. She twisted it and slapped me away again, glaring at me as if she could tempt me into her trap.
But she already owned me, and Isa was slowly realizing the depths of my obsession.
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