The Darkness Within Us (The Shadows Between Us, #2)

by Tricia Levenseller

“Perhaps you are daft. I’m trying to give you an out, woman.

“Listen carefully, little man, for I will not say this again.

“I see your bodyguards are not in the room with you. Aren’t you afraid someone might murder you in the study?” I don’t know why it amuses me to keep bringing up his death. Perhaps because it will make me seem less suspicious. Perhaps the idea is titillating enough to carry me on another day. Or maybe I simply look for ways to belittle the man, because it is the little things in life that provide the most enjoyment.

Attractive and man standing in the way of everything I’ve ever wanted should not go together.

“I imagine her eyes were not all you were admiring from your position spread-eagle atop her,” Dyson says. “Oh, piss off.” Dyson snickers.

Fair? Fair! Men do not get to utter that word in a world that favors them in every single space of life.

“You are not the only one who has led a hard life,” he says. “You are not the only one who has had to live to the whims of others. You are not the center of the world.” “No, but I’m the center of my world, which is why I have to look after myself. No one else will.”

So you did want a gift from me. I hurl the box across the room.

He scowls as we walk. “I didn’t realize ladies were in need of such help.” “We’re not. Think of it as an opportunity for men to think about someone other than themselves.”

“That’s because you don’t know all the tricks men pull in public places and get away with. How would you? They don’t try that kind of stuff on those who have the strength to fight them off.”

“No one,” he says, “no one is going to touch you like that again. I will make sure of it.”

Men are the most sensitive individuals I have ever met, yet they claim it is women who are always close to hysterics.