Goldsin (The Chrysophilist Trilogy Book 1)
Goldsin: Chapter 26

“You’re not fucking killing her.”

The door slams shut behind me as I barge into Aurelia’s bedroom, the abrupt noise echoing in the silence of her room. The only sound is the ragged rhythm of my breath as it matches the pounding in my head.

I was lying in bed unable to sleep when Valentine called to inform me of Aurelia’s plan with Victoria. Without even needing to get dressed, I rushed here.

She’s lying in bed, blinking the fogginess from her eyes. “What time is it?” She squints up at me, a sleepy frown stretching her features.

A pillow is trapped between her legs as she hugs it to her side. A long shirt covers her body, leaving her bare thighs on full display.

I pause for a second. That looks a lot like my shirt. The one I gave her the night she slept at my place.

She looks so vulnerable right now.

So tempting.

“Three in the morning,” I reply, standing at the foot of her bed to hover over her delicate body. Her bedsheets are long forgotten.

She rubs at her eyes. “Have you lost your mind?”

Sitting straighter, she rolls her neck, massaging the base of it. The soft glow of the bedside lamp captures the bite Lucian left on her, and all the frustration I was feeling seconds ago turns into pure anger.

Maybe it’s the tick of my jaw or the way my demeanor shifts, but she notices and quickly hides it with her hair. It looks like embarrassment is evident in her gaze.

She feels embarrassed?

If I didn’t already have a million reasons to kill the bastard, this one would be enough.

He managed to make her feel ashamed of herself. Of her strength.

I wish she knew how easy it is to bruise when you fight back.

And she fought back.

“You can’t kill Victoria,” I let out before I forget why I came here, forcing the anger fuming inside of me out of my voice.

The green speckles in her eyes turn warm with the gold light caressing the side of her face. Her scowl from before deepens as she says, “Is that why you’re here—to tell me what I can or can’t do?”

“There are consequences to your actions. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Neither do you, Julian.”

I don’t know if I want to marry the girl for how stubborn she is or fuck her. Either way, I can’t seem to not want her when she makes it so difficult for me to convince her. Maybe I want her to challenge me for the rest of my life, or maybe I want to see if I can fuck the stubbornness out of her.

I like a good fight. Especially when it’s with her.

“You can’t kill Victoria, because the Inferno Consortium needs her help right now.” The next words to leave my mouth have an acrid taste. “Especially my family.”

Asking her not to kill Victoria to benefit Lucian’s business is like asking her to let him win. Again.

Her laughter fills the room, her chest jerking with the movement, and my shirt slips down her left shoulder. “That’s exactly why I need to kill her, Julian. She’s part of the reason all these terrible things are happening.” She glares up at me.

Somehow I don’t care if she takes me for an idiot. Not when I’m fighting with myself not to push her down on the bed, open her legs, and taste her. Her exposed skin is too tempting as it radiates all her softness, a perfect contrast to her sharp attitude.

I’m trying to save our heads. But I can’t stop thinking about giving her head.

“Aurelia.” I try to reason with her. Or more with myself, really. “You can kill Victoria. I can help you do it, just not so soon.” I grit my teeth as she rolls her eyes. “We need her for now.”

“Is that so?” She crosses her arms over her chest, climbing onto her knees on the bed to level our stares. At least she tries to. She still needs to tilt her head up to stare into my eyes. “I didn’t tell you about my plans so you could intervene, Julian. This is my mission, and I won’t let you or anyone else stand in my way.”

“Do you think you’re some kind of superhero out to save the day? You’re going to get yourself killed, and then what? What will be the point of all this?”

“Maybe it’s worth dying for!” Her gaze blazes with determination. “Maybe there’s more at stake here than just your precious business deals.” Her voice turns condescending with the last few words.

Your precious business deals.

She knows my only business is the Den. Nothing else.

“I know you want to avenge your mother. I understand that more than anyone.” My voice turns dangerously calm. “But if you go after Victoria now, you could bring everything crashing down on our heads. The Inferno Consortium needs her alive, her business going strong.”

“Maybe that’s what needs to happen.”

She doesn’t mean it. She’s just a committed, stubborn girl⁠—

“Maybe this whole twisted world we live in needs to burn so something better can rise from the ashes,” she seethes in all seriousness.

Fish are born in water, so they don’t fear swimming. Birds are born in trees, so they don’t fear flying. Bats are born in darkness, so they don’t fear the night. So I’m not surprised that a girl born from death doesn’t fear it either. That a girl born from selfishness doesn’t fear altruism, and that a girl born nameless doesn’t fear being alone.

But it doesn’t mean I get to accept it.

A boy born of abuse doesn’t fear fighting for affection.

“Damn it, Aurelia!” I shout. “You’re not thinking clearly! You can’t just go around killing people without knowing the consequences! You can’t just give yourself away so easily!”

She inches closer. “Watch me.” Her voice holds chilling resolve as she stares at me, daring me to stop her.

We taint the surrounding air with anger. It’s palpable between us as we feed it to one another. Her opposition is only fueling me, and as I stare down at her, green eyes blinking up at me, I can’t help but drown in how fucking beautiful she looks.

There’s something admirable about the trust, the strength, she puts in herself.

At my silence she adds, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make things right.” Her eyes narrow. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“I don’t think so.”

At my calmness she snaps, grabbing the nearest pillow and hurling it at my face. It hits me square in the nose.

I’m too stunned to react.

Her eyes round as she remains frozen, perched on the bed. Waiting.

Did she just . . . throw a pillow at my face?

In a second I’m lunging forward on the bed to get a hold of her. Anticipating my move, she leaps off and darts to the other side of the room, as far away from me as possible.

“Come on, Julian!” she laughs.

She grabs a plush elephant toy from a nearby shelf and doesn’t hesitate, throwing it in my direction. This time I dodge it.

“Is that the best you can do?” she jeers.

Did I just create a monster? Maybe I shouldn’t have woken her up. Isn’t 3 a.m. the devil’s hour or some shit?

“What? You’ve lost your words?” She snatches anything her little fingers touch and throws it at me.

A navy book first.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what a bad girl I am?”

Pink and yellow pencils follow next.

“You can’t kill Victoria, Aurelia.” She mocks me by trying—but failing—to copy my voice.

Then erasers in the shape of little watermelons hit me in the chest, and I just stand there incredulous as I watch them hit the floor.

“I’m going to have so much fun slitting her throat.” She punctuates each word, making sure I catch every single one before tossing rolled-up socks toward me.

I move my hand quickly and stop the collision midair. Snatching the pair for myself, I throw them back at her, hitting her right in the face.

Time seems to stop, and we both stare at one another, panting and wide-eyed. She glances down at the pillow and then back at me before bursting into laughter. And despite everything, I can’t help but feel a smirk tugging at the corner of my own lips.

It’s been so long since the last time I heard her laugh. No—that’s a lie. I heard her laugh a lot of times with Adrian. Too many times. But it’s been so long since she last laughed with me.

It only took her throwing a pillow at me to make her laugh. I’d let her suffocate me with them if it’d keep that serene, genuine look on her face.

“All right.” I close the distance between us. “You think you can just run around doing whatever the hell you want? Let’s see how you like this.”

Without leaving her time to react, I yank her against me, trapping her wrists behind her back with my hand. She cranes her neck back as I force her to look up at me, her chin pressing on my pecs.

Her laughter dies.

“Let me go, Julian,” she hisses, squirming as she tries to loosen my grip. But the more she brushes her body over mine, the more I don’t want to let go.

I tighten my hold on her.

“You’re going to listen to me.” I lean closer. “You’re not going to kill Victoria tomorrow night. If you try, you’ll have me to deal with.”

Her eyes flicker back and forth between mine. “No.”

“I’ll spell it out for you.” My free hand threads in her velvet hair, and I yank her face to the side before whispering in her ear. “You can’t kill Victoria, because there’s so much more going on here than you realize.” My voice is low but crisp enough for her one-track mind to understand. “Your actions could cause a domino effect that would destroy everything the Inferno Consortium has worked for.”

“There is nothing you can say that will make me listen to you.”

“Is that so?” I stare into her eyes then shove her backward until her back hits the floor-to-ceiling window. Air leaves her lips, and I use her dazed appearance to rip the curtains and bind her wrists, securing them to the railing above her head.

“Julian! What are you doing? Untie me right now!”

I ignore her.

Taking a step back, I admire her all tied up.

She sways left and right, putting force into untying her wrists. But the movement only serves to make my dick harden as her shirt rises, revealing more of her skin. She’s standing on her toes. This position elongates her body, showing me more of her that I never considered branding as mine.

Her struggled noises echo throughout the room, a symphony of deprived need and hidden necessity.

She likes it.

Giving her my back, I rummage around the place. “See, this is what happens when you don’t obey me,” I tease as I pick up a bottle of body oil from her vanity and a scarlet feather bookmark lying on the floor next to the navy book she hurled at me.

“Really?” Her eyes narrow at the items in my hand. “You’re going to threaten me with a feather and some coconut oil?” she scoffs.

I chuckle at how naïve she is. She has no idea what I have in store for her, and I can’t wait to put that smart mouth of hers to better use.

With the items in hand, I ignore her comment and move around the bed. Kneeling at her nightstand, I open the drawer and pick an old metal comb from inside.

“Julian, what are you doing?”

I’m ready to ensure that you will never defy me again.

But first we need an audience.

Walking over to the window, I open the other curtains, making sure what I’m about to do to her is visible from the outside.

“You know.” I stand in front of her, making a scene of sliding my eyes down her body with tantalizing slowness. “As much as I enjoy seeing my shirt hugging those perky tits, I need it out of the way.”

In a second my shirt is lying at her feet. In pieces. She squeaks in surprise, sprouting one question after another, while I intentionally focus on my next move, ignoring her countless questions.

The lid of the body oil joins my shirt on the floor as I let the liquid drip down her naked body, cascading between her breasts until it dips between her legs. Fingers twitching, I follow the trail, spreading the oil over both her nipples, swirling and pinching as she arches her body toward my touch.

Silently begging me for more.

“See, you should learn to do what I say.” I slap her left breast, and a moan heaves out from between her parted lips. “Or I’ll be forced to take something else from you each time you disobey.”

I pull the old metal comb from my pocket, twirling it between my fingers before pulling out my lighter. Her eyes round as she watches the flame flicker to life, dancing before the comb as I hold it over it.

The silvery leaves adorning the antique comb turn a bronze shade before igniting into a ruby red. I keep the flame on it until the prongs are a scorching branding iron.

Color drains from her face.

“Don’t worry, golden one,” I whisper with a sinister smirk. “I’m not inconsiderate. I promise I’ll make you come.”