“Absolutely not,” he snapped. “I’ll share you with him, if I have to. But I’d rather you didn’t come to my bed smelling like drugs and booze. You’re not a heathen.”

I rolled my eyes. “Felix, you know I drink said booze with him.”

He crossed the room in two steps, kneeling down before me and taking my face into his hands. “What you do with him is none of my business. But when you’re with me, whether Theo is there or not, I have expectations I want to be met.”

I slapped his hands away from my face, and glared at him. “And I have certain expectations, too. Like, don’t tell me what to do. I’m sure you remember that conversation.”

“I remember it ending with you moaning my name as I held you up against the wall.” Felix smirked, leaning into my face. He smelled like pine, and the soap we all used, mixed with something I couldn’t put my finger on. I hated that I was looking forward to breathing it in for eternity.

“Funny, I’m recalling it differently.”

“Don’t push me, darling. If there’s one thing I have less of after a hundred years, it’s patience.”

I frowned. “Shouldn’t you have more of it? You know, after pining and waiting for all that time?” God, Felix was annoying. He thought so fucking highly of himself, it was honestly a wonder I slept with him at all. But the dick…oh, so good. I held my hand up to stop him from snapping back. “Look, thanks for the dress. I’m sure I can get some good use out of it. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Fine,” his dark eyes darted to mine, unspoken words hanging between us. I expected him to say more, instead he gripped my face in his hands again, bringing my lips to his in a bruising kiss.

I didn’t pretend I didn’t want him anymore when he came to me. Pretending was futile, and a waste of both our time–even though we had endless amounts of it. Instead I kissed him back, channeling every emotion I had into our embrace. Anger, annoyance, and hopelessness tangled with longing and need. A moan slipped out of my mouth when his tongue skated along the seam of my lips. Eventually he pulled away, his fingers leaving my body last as he turned away and left my room without another word.

I carefully folded the dress and laid it on my bed, before I left my room to find Theo. Whenever I had a rough day, I sought Theo’s gentle nature, the soothing pattern of his voice. I needed it now. As I took the stairs, I worked through what I knew about my time in the house, and what I knew about Felix in particular.