Lovers' Tussle by India-Jean Louwe Page A

tender.
    Suddenly Roth’s eyes popped open so fast Aiden stumbled back in shock. His eyes glowered dangerous amber, and his voice was hoarse from disuse. “You killed me.”
    Aiden peered at him cautiously, wondering if this was Roth’s ghost, come to haunt him for his sins. Goblins and ghouls could never be discounted when one kept company with the devil. “Obviously not very successfully.”
    Roth bit out in a scratchy tone. “The fact that I am not dead doesn’t change your crime.”
    It certainly does to me . “Would you like for me to give it another go?” he joked even as relief surged through him. He was part beast already, but he’d kept himself from turning into a monster by remaining a gentleman and by never taking life. The possibility that he had killed his own brother would have damned what little was left of his cursed soul.
    Roth struggled to sit up, and for some odd reason, even after having nursed him as delicately as a mother to a newborn babe, Aiden now felt uncomfortable. Besides, Roth could still tear his throat out should he get too close. “There’s wine.” He gestured to the side table while keeping his distance.
    Amazingly, Roth reached for the ruby-stained glass and drained it as easily as though he’d just risen from a night’s sleep instead of the dead.
    “How?” Aiden’s voice broke. He cleared his throat and tried again. “How is this possible?”
    A dark, slender brow raised a notch as Roth smiled slyly. “Sorry to disappoint your efforts, brother, but Tienna obviously was not willing to accept your decree.”
    “I didn’t kill you on purpose, and well you know it.”
    “An accident would have been if I had run into your sharpened claws. If I recall correctly, they came after me.”
    They had. What was the point in quibbling? Bloodshed was life spilt. What did the miniscule details matter in view of the overall picture? With fingers curling in a futile endeavor to hide his shame, Aiden tried to explain the feeling that had come over him that fateful moment. “Someone touched her. An odious presence had sought to trespass upon what was my property. The rage gripped me within such a fierce hold that I simply reacted. The blow was indeed intentional but not meant for you.”
    Silence greeted his statement, and just as Aiden was contemplating offering an apology, Roth sighed. “Yes, I am aware. In that very last instant I myself was gripped with that consuming fury.” He settled back against the pillows, but thankfully he looked more colored, alive. “Who was that cad? I want to rip out his heart for his audacity.”
    “I took care of him.” The rule that dictated over them did not differ greatly from that of man. The severity of the punishment did, however. In the world where primal instincts ran high, vengeance was the only solution. No man or beast could stop a slighted wolf. An eye for an eye, blood for blood. He should have killed the bastard.
    Roth nodded in silent acceptance. “She didn’t let me go, you know.”
    Aiden stiffened. He wanted to know how this miracle was possible, but the implications attached were damning to say the least. Roth had been brought back by Tienna herself, and while he was glad to have his brother back, or being let loose of the guilt anyway, he was not sure he wanted to hear about Tienna’s ardent desire not to let Roth go.
    Roth, odious bastard that he was, seemed intent on filling in all the gory details. “Even as I felt the tug of death so great and had submitted myself to its beckoning, she clung on. She refused to surrender her hold on me. Each gentle, determined swipe of her tongue against my wounds was like a lover’s moan of ecstasy. I rode that tide of passion she provided until it finally delivered me once more into the light. The result was far more intimate, more powerful than any orgasm. Tienna became a part of me and I a part of her.”
    Without warning, jealousy descended over Aiden like a dark, ominous cloak and