Tears spilled down the corners of my eyes, and I closed them, hoping to stem the flow and to stop feeling like this. I hated all of this. The pain was more than I could bear.

“Aurora.”

“I know you have … women,” I said.

“You do, do you?” he asked.

With how he held my arms, I couldn’t cover my face. I couldn’t hide away, and at that moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to hide.

He wouldn’t let me.

“Please, get off me. Leave me alone.” I was in control now. I didn’t yell but spoke the words calmly.

“No,” he said, and this made me open my eyes. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck that was all about.”

Why did this have to happen? I felt so embarrassed.

“Can we just forget the whole thing?”

“First, I come home and see my wife has spent most of the day here. I open the door and you were leaning against it. I try to talk to you, and you freak out.”

“I know … you have needs. I don’t want you touching me with the hands you touched her with.” I hated this woman so much. I didn’t even know who she was, but I despised her.

“You are my wife. You will do as you’re told and submit to me. You don’t get a say, and if I decide to fuck other women, then you will do what all women do and learn to live with it.”

His words shattered my being.

They struck me more than any blow could.

“I don’t know where you’re getting your information, Aurora, but I don’t have the time to fuck. Ever since we’ve been married, you’re the only woman I’ve been with.” He pulled away from me.

“What?” I asked.

“You heard me.”

I rubbed at my temple, already feeling the headache start. “You haven’t been with any other woman?”

Slavik merely glared at me. “And if I was with other women, you’d deal with it.”

“So, I can take a lover as well?” I asked.

He grabbed the back of my neck with a snarl and pulled me close. “No. No other man will ever touch you. If you so much as try, I will fucking kill him. Do you understand me? You do that and you’ll be signing his death sentence.”

Slavik shoved me back, and I landed on the bed. He’d been so close, and it was crazy, but at that moment, all I could think about was the fact we’d never kissed. Not even after the priest pronounced us man and wife. He’d kissed me on the cheek. Even the lack of passion had been something to talk about on our day. People had laughed at how he couldn’t even stand to kiss me on the lips. He never had.

Touching my lips, I couldn’t believe how I felt.

I hated him, but I’d wanted him to kiss me.