Delphine
Delphine pressed into him. One good thing about being groomed to read a man was that she had learned to apply that to every man she ever dealt with. She could tell he was grieving, angry, enraged. And instinct said that was her fault. He apologized, and she murmured to him, “I learned a lot.” The girl had learned to keep house, care for children, at one point she had run a daycare under her husband’s insistence that she needed something to do. And a daycare kept her from kidnapping children.
“That’s what Zariah tried to tell me, mmm… but I thought… it was. She tried to help me be more independent, and with everything she taught, he un-taught it. He turned her into a villain, and that’s why we aren’t friends anymore.” She explained, quietly. He’d kissed the top of her head, reassuring her that his anger wasn’t at her, and that movement reminded her of Bellamy too.
But was there anything Noah could do, that wouldn’t remind her of the only man she’d ever been with? “I was with Neron when I was younger, but… my brother threatened to kill him if I kept seeing him, so he doesn’t like me either.” She explained. Another mark against her with the Launceleyn’s, because Zariah had sent Neron to woo her back, guide her from Bellamy, and she had wed the Shadow Man anyway.
“But… what is real love, Noah?” She was silent when he asked if she thought that he was controlling. Pushing herself upright, so that she could study him. “I… don’t think so. Not in the same way, anyway.” She leaned to kiss him, to soothe the blow that he was controlling in ways because that was not something anyone wanted to hear. Breaking the kiss, she murmured, “I like someone who can dominate me, without running my life.”
And she did, Delphine got off on being ordered around. But Noah had helped her get clean through an order, he'd kept her clean, and... he let her have a life, where he wasn't the focus.
“That’s what Zariah tried to tell me, mmm… but I thought… it was. She tried to help me be more independent, and with everything she taught, he un-taught it. He turned her into a villain, and that’s why we aren’t friends anymore.” She explained, quietly. He’d kissed the top of her head, reassuring her that his anger wasn’t at her, and that movement reminded her of Bellamy too.
But was there anything Noah could do, that wouldn’t remind her of the only man she’d ever been with? “I was with Neron when I was younger, but… my brother threatened to kill him if I kept seeing him, so he doesn’t like me either.” She explained. Another mark against her with the Launceleyn’s, because Zariah had sent Neron to woo her back, guide her from Bellamy, and she had wed the Shadow Man anyway.
“But… what is real love, Noah?” She was silent when he asked if she thought that he was controlling. Pushing herself upright, so that she could study him. “I… don’t think so. Not in the same way, anyway.” She leaned to kiss him, to soothe the blow that he was controlling in ways because that was not something anyone wanted to hear. Breaking the kiss, she murmured, “I like someone who can dominate me, without running my life.”
And she did, Delphine got off on being ordered around. But Noah had helped her get clean through an order, he'd kept her clean, and... he let her have a life, where he wasn't the focus.
How can I begin again?
How can I try to love someone new,
someone who isn’t you?
How can I try to love someone new,
someone who isn’t you?
