“What, Princess? You finally ditched Daddy and decided you wanted to finish up?” I drawl, not turning around, though that’s a damn difficult task. “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass. My curiosity about your whereabouts is no longer withstanding.”
Bloody liar, I am.
And a damn good one, at that.
But she’s not going to make me cock-up all the things I’ve worked so diligently to prepare.
She snorts derisively, as though the thought of such a thing should be appallingly ludicrous, but we both know exactly how compliant she’d be under me. Which I have to say surprised me in the worst possible way, because it makes ignoring her that much harder to do.
I’m still dealing with the wayward erection a day later that refuses to lose interest in how completely fucking willing she was.
“You’re strong enough to actually train me, and you’re going to do just that. I need to be a weapon. Not a distraction. Not a hindrance. You help me, and I’ll let you bend me over your table and work out all your sexual frustrations,” she says too easily.
I lower my eyelids, feeling them flutter, unable to see her, since her close presence silences the visions. There’s always a little annoying throb in my temple when she tempts me. I want to choke her even as I fight not to take her up on her offer.
“I’m not interested,” I lie like a dodgy fucker. But she usually doesn’t pick up on a lie, or so I’ve noticed. She’s far too trusting and exhaustingly persistent. “You’re too much of a liability for anyone to suffer around. You’d likely blow us both to hell when you got good and mad at my training methods.”
My methods with her would be entirely too physical. I’d rather not feel tortured more than necessary for however long I have left.
“You could at least look at me instead of being a full-blown cunt pucker.”
I do turn at that, and arch an eyebrow. What the hell kind of insult was that?
She somehow manages to keep a straight face, despite the crude and absurd words that just left her delicate mouth.
“Nice. Now I know how to get your attention.” The wicked little grin on her lips reminds me of who she really is. She loves to quit pretending around me. Reckless girl. “In the future, I’ll make sure to come up with some more immature insults.”
My eyes narrow, and she smirks like she’s winning an award.
It isn’t until my lips twitch and I take a step forward that her confidence falters. She clears her throats and blinks as she looks away.
She wants me, wants to play with me, wants to be chased, and fears as much as she anticipates being caught. To a human, she’d seem wishy washy. To an immortal? It’s like she’s purposely ticking off a checklist of ways to excite the very primal predator in me.
And I need her the hell away from me before I unleash more sexual frustration—as she called it—than she could possibly handle in one dose.
“I’m afraid you misinterpret my interest in you, Princess. I might want you alive—for reasons you don’t need to know—but as far as being desperate to feel the inside of you? Well, that would simply be a perk and only at my leisure. I’m a bit busy now.”
As I turn,
she’s suddenly in front of me, her bravado back on her like a shield. I release an exasperated breath.
“You really don’t get it, do you?” I ask her, giving her the most disappointed look I can muster.
“Get what?” she asks, sounding bored. “That you like to chase or that you’re just a dick trying to fuck everyone over? I don’t care either way. You’re strong enough to train me, and I need to be ready.”
I put my hands on her shoulders, gripping a little harder than necessary to hold myself back from doing more than putting on a show. Her eyes search mine as I smirk at her.
I’ve gone for the heads of two of her people, yet she stupidly refuses to fear me.
“That’s what you don’t get, Princess. You’re not strong enough to be anything more than a burden, because you can’t teach control to the broken.”
No tears. I truly expected at least a little glistening of the eyes as she went to pout off in the woods until she needed saving again.
I must be losing my touch.
She steps into me, the heat of her body just shy of touching mine and teasing me with a chill in place of the barely missed warmth.
Her head craned back so she can meet my eyes, she says, “I’m not broken. But the next time you break in and try to play those games again? I’ll remind you why it would be a good idea for me to train and get control. See if you can put out the flames when you’re the one who has pissed me off.”