Plausible Deniability

No one follows Aila after she walks away from Liam. She spends the walk seething. First Tania, then Liam. What’s next? Niall deciding she’s too ‘pure’ for this life and leaving her? She should have punched Tania when she had the chance.

Halfway back to the city, her anger vanishes. Maybe the others are right. Maybe she isn’t cut out for this. Maybe she should give Niall back the ring, tell him thanks but no thanks, and tuck tail. Go back to Tarris where she never fit in. The worst that could happen there is—nothing. Judgement, perhaps, but very little in the way of anything.

Aila has just reached the outskirts of East Primden when a black sedan pulls up alongside her. She glances at it then turns her attention away. Mully drives slowly, easily keeping pace with her steps. The back window rolls down, and Niall frowns.

“Get in the car, sweetheart.”

“No.”

“Aila. Get in the car.”

“No.”

“Damn it, get your arse in the car.”

“No.”

“Why are you being so fucking stubborn?”

Aila whirls to face him, and Mully steps on the brakes so she can stare Niall directly in the eye. “Because you have me wondering if I can even do this. If I can marry you, if I can kill for you. If I even deserve to be with you or in this fucking city.”

“What are you talking about?”

Aila scoffs, throwing her hands into the air. “I’m talking about leaving. I don’t want to go back to Tarris, but I will if I have to. I’m sure my parents would love the chance to rub it in my face that I’m running back home with nothing to show for my time here.”

“You are not leaving Primden,” he grits out as he shoves the door open. His blue eyes spark with something undefinable—it’s more than anger. Rage. Aila refrains from stumbling back when he comes to a stop in front of her.

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” she commands. “You don’t own me.”

His arm shoots out, wrapping around her, and he yanks her in against his chest. She gasps as his nails dig into her side, painful and dangerous. She struggles fruitlessly against his hold. He leans down, his breath ghosting across her ear.

“You may think that, but you’re wrong. You’re mine.”

“Let me go.”

He doesn’t. Instead, Niall drags her to the waiting car and shoves her into the backseat. He’s already beside her before she can gather her wits about her, and she pushes against him. The car lurches as Mully starts driving again. Lunging past Niall, her fingers scrabble for the handle, but he swats at her hand.

He takes her anger, the impact of her palms against his chest. He smiles through it all. A cold smirk that says he knows he is winning. He’s the cat, she’s the mouse. She will never be the victor in his eyes.

“You. Don’t. Make. My. Choices.”

Aila blindly smacks at him, vision blurred with tears. Her hand lands on his cheek, and the echoing crack forces silence upon them all. Niall’s eyes flash, and she swallows down the fear. He grabs her wrists, holds her immobile, and crowds her against the door behind her.

“Why don’t I?” he murmurs, soft and silken. Dangerous. “After all, you make mine, so why can’t I make yours?”

“Because I’m my own person. I have my own thoughts, my own feelings. I won’t be controlled.”

Instead of replying, he kisses her hard and demanding. Aila shoves at his chest, even tries turning her head, but he doesn’t relent. His hand curls around the back of her neck, and his thumb presses to the skin beneath her ear as the other four fingers find a home on the other side. Holding her still, forcing her to accept the way his tongue dances against hers. She whimpers—she can’t help but fear him right now.

He tugs her onto his lap, laughing into her mouth when she tries to fight it, and holds her wrists together behind her back. She still struggles as his teeth sink into her neck. Each wriggle of her body only amuses him further, and she squeezes her eyes closed as he sucks at her skin. As his cock stiffens beneath her.

“Stop it,” she breathes, launching her torso backwards when he forces her closer. He transfers her wrists to one large hand, his other slipping between her thighs. “Do you hear me?”

His chuckle grazes her flesh, his hips thrusting abortively, but he doesn’t push further. He pulls back to stare at her. His pupils are blown wide, and he hasn’t softened under her. Aila can feel him twitching as if his cock is begging to slide into her.

“I told you before, darling. Remember? I said I’d get you to obey when I try to keep you safe, even if it means tying you to the bed and fucking you into submission.”

“I will never submit to you,” she growls, biting back a moan when he kisses her collarbone, down the curve of her breasts. “I said stop. Mully, let me out now.”

“You do, Mully, and I’ll kill you myself.” Niall doesn’t take his eyes off of her as he leans in, and she chews on her lower lip when he kisses the bite marks he left behind. “You’re always going to be mine, darling. Nothing will ever change that. You will always find yourself right... back... here.”

Aila stares out the back window for the rest of the drive to the manor. Niall doesn’t release her, and he doesn’t try for anything else. He just holds her on his lap with her knees pressed to his waist, and he watches her. His guard is down, she can see that. She should try for the door again.

But no, he tightens his grip on her wrists as if he can read her mind. So Aila swallows down her anger, the terror, until she can escape.

She will escape.

Mully betrays her. She’s just gotten a running start down the lane when his arm slams into her belly, his fingers clenching the back of her shirt, and he yanks her around to face the door. Niall stands there with his hands tucked into his pockets, smiling pleasantly as if this is only another evening. As if the freezing blue of his eyes doesn’t petrify Aila.

She lets Mully force her inside then rips free from his grip. Niall’s soft laugh follows her as she starts up the stairs, and she raises a middle finger over her head. On the landing, she makes a split-second decision.

Niall’s bed has too many good memories. Recollections that will make her falter, forgive him too quickly. So she slams the door to the guest bathroom behind her and strips naked for a shower. Thankfully, there are still a few pairs of underwear in the guest dresser.

The door creaks once, twice, then footsteps near the bed. Aila curls into a tight ball as Niall slides in beneath the sheets behind her. It’s barely six in the evening, but she just wants to sleep off the day. Between the conversations in the house and Niall’s behaviour, Aila can’t handle much more.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs as he presses his face to her hair. “Darling, I’m so sorry.”

“What, realise the alpha male routine doesn’t fucking work?”

“I—I lost control of myself. Aila, I can’t lose you. I can’t. I told you I don’t love people but I love you. And if you walk away, if you go back to Tarris, I can’t protect you.”

“I’m just confused, and I… Niall, I don’t know what to do. I need some time to think.”

“I understand.” He shifts to kiss her shoulder, exhaling a slow breath. “I’m sorry for earlier. I don’t want to control you. I only want to keep you safe. You didn’t have to slap me in the face, though.”

Aila shrugs and buries her face into the pillow. She doesn’t want to apologise—he deserved being slapped, he deserves the little punishment she can dole out. His arm is so warm, though, his heartbeat so steady against her back.

So she doesn’t apologise. “Like you, I lost control of myself.”

“It’s okay, darling,” he murmurs, nuzzling into her hair. “I like that you fought back. Makes me feel like you’re still you, despite what you’ve decided.”

Aila pulls away, scoots to lean against the headboard. “I’m always gonna be me. You lot keep saying I’ll lose who I am, but who I am? I’m loyal to a fault. I was so fucking loyal to Colton, I ignored all the red flags. I’d do anything to keep those I love safe. Niall, killing someone isn’t something I want to do, but I will if it means Strickland can no longer come after us.”

“You said you couldn’t.”

“I have to, don’t I?” Carding her fingers through her hair, she stares at her legs. “How could you be proud to call me your wife if I can’t actually do anything to help you? If you’re the only one who takes a life while I stand back and twiddle my thumbs?”

“Darling, I will always be proud to call you mine. You’ve forgiven me for far too much, and you love me. I’ve not doubted that once since we started dating. Hell, you’re marrying into a fucking crime syndicate. How much more could you possibly show you love me? That you deserve me?”

“Killing Strickland would be a good start.”

“If you say so. I… I don’t like the idea of it, but I won’t stop you,” he sighs and sits beside her. His arm wraps around her shoulders, and she leans into him. Her judgement tells her she’s being stupid. “I—I didn’t make you uncomfortable, did I?”

“What, when you were all but grunting in caveman that I belonged to you? It wasn’t so much that as it was… I was scared you wouldn’t listen. Niall, I can’t ever feel like that again with you.”

He groans, head falling back. She glances up to see he’s squeezed his eyes shut. “Darling, I may not always do my best to hear your perspective on something, especially when it comes to your safety, but I will never force you to have sex with me. You will always be able to say ‘no’, and I’ll stop immediately.”

“You didn’t in the car,” she mutters mulishly, and his hold tightens. Tugging her onto his lap, Niall stares up at her with eyes so dark with—remorse, maybe? “You tried again then stopped when I told you to twice.”

He pulls her in for a soft kiss, his lips warm and yielding beneath hers. His breath fans across her cheeks as he whispers, “And I can’t apologise enough for that.”

“Don’t ever make me feel like that again. You’ll be my first victim if you do.”

“I won’t. I swear. Do you want to be alone?” he asks after a long pause, and Aila blinks. He’s giving her the option?

“I don’t know,” answers Aila, shrugging awkwardly. “I feel like I should say yes, because I’m so goddamn angry with you, but I just…”

“Tell me. Aila, tell me what you need, and I’ll do it,” he pleads. His arm pulls her impossibly closer, and Niall exhales sharply when she presses her face to the curve of his neck. “I’d give you the world if I could, darling.”

“Can you just hold me like this for a while?” she whispers, closing her eyes as he laughs softly.

“Of course. I thought you’d ask me for something hard.”

Aila’s tears soak the collar of his shirt, but neither of them speak of it. He just keeps her tightly to his chest, and she lets him comfort her, atone for his behaviour. It’s good enough for the moment.