Sweet Desire (Tales of Dystopian Decadence Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

the edges, laid down the small rug, and sat back down to knit a new scarf.
    At first, he didn’t seem to notice anything as he stomped just inside the front hall, knocking the snow from his boots. He took two steps and then there was silence.
    I tried to ignore the sensation curling in the pit of my stomach, and sang and knitted as if oblivious to his presence.
    He gave a very low but audible grunt, and walked into the living room. I kept my eyes on my work as the harmony faded in my throat.
    “Why are you doing this?” he asked as he leaned against the opposite wall.
    “Doing what?” I focused on the action of needles – knit a row and then purl the next row. I could visualize his brow furrowing, as it so often did. Didn’t he have any expression other than angry and angrier?
    “Why are you afraid of me?”
    “I’m not,” I answered, aware my voice trembled slightly. Damn it.
    “Then look at me.”
    I exhaled and lifted my gaze to his.
    After a few heartbeats, he said, “I don’t need some girl who can fill my house with pretty, useless things.” He waved his hand at the items I had worked so hard to craft. “What good is any of this to me?”
    Setting my knitting aside on the loveseat, I ran my palms over it a few times to smooth the yarn. I cleared my throat and then nodded. “You’re right. This was a mistake.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “This was a huge, enormous, fucking mistake.” My voice rose with each word. “Do you even know who I am? No, you don’t, because you’re living in disgrace, far from the real world, so I’ll tell you who I am.” I stood, clenched my fists at my sides, and glared back at him. “I am Violet Glory Morningside, daughter of one of the most prestigious families in the Southern Territories. And here I am – wasted on a man like you, a man with no name and no connections. You are nothing and nobody. Based on the contract I signed, I have to live here. Since you are not the usual patron – since you don’t want me for companionship or even some basic sexual services, all I ask is some comfort. Maybe something to keep me from being so bored, too. But, no, you don’t care about me. As long as I keep the house clean and put food on the table so you don’t have to, you don’t care whether or not I’m happy. You aren’t just a nobody. You’re a selfish nobody who means nothing to me or anyone else, and you don’t care if I’m miserable too!”
    The shrillness of my tone startled me, but I had to speak the words or hold them back forever.
    “I didn’t even get a real chance to refuse the match – to meet you first and let the headmistress know you are entirely unsuitable for me. No – I am stuck here with you, you asshole! I deserve so much better than this! You are an ungrateful barbarian with no sense of civility or kindness, and I hope you get lost in a snowstorm! You don’t care about anyone and no one cares about you, either. The world would be better off without you.”
    His hands shook at his sides and, for a brief moment, the wild fear that he might strangle me flashed through my mind. Then he spun on his heel and stalked out of the room.
    Hissing out a loud breath, I squeaked, “Shit!”

Chapter 4
    I dined alone that night, which only ratcheted up my anxiety. The sleepless night that followed made it worse. As I tossed and turned, I fretted about what would happen when I was once again face to face with Nicholas. There were a few moments of elation, when I decided the only thing he could possibly do was contact the school and send me back. But even if he were to do that, I would have to wait for someone to fetch me. That seemed like a very unlikely possibility, so I returned to worrying off and on throughout the night.
    The next morning, he sat down to breakfast and said, “Dress warm. We’re going outside.”
    I looked up from my waffles and syrup, which I had no appetite for anyway. “We’re going outside?” I repeated, my body going numb with fear.