Calder Promise (Calder Saga 8)

Laura was deliberately uncommunicative in her answer. “Tara would tell you it’s a wise woman who keeps a man guessing.”

He smiled. “I expect she is an expert at it, too.”

“You’re probably right.” She almost laughed again. It made her wonder. “Have you always had this knack for making people laugh?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only tried it with you.”

“With me? Why?” Laura asked, puzzled by his answer.

He moved fractionally closer, one hand slipping to her waist and the other tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “Mostly because much of the time you seem too serious, too self-contained. I think I like to reassure myself that you are human and not some beautiful goddess walking among us mere mortals.”

The light touch of his hand, like his nearness, only made her want more, as if it might somehow ease the hurt she felt. “I’m no goddess.”

“Enchantress, then. Or siren.”

“How about vamp?” Laura suggested with an upward tilt of her head.

Sebastian responded with a small shake of his head, his eyes narrowing in disagreement. “Too crass. That is something no one could ever accuse you of being.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“Don’t you know the truth doesn’t count as a compliment?” he murmured, lowering his head to rub his mouth over her cheek in a nuzzling fashion that had her heart skipping beats.

She closed her eyes, conscious of both the pleasure and the pain she felt. As much as she wanted to surrender to his embrace, Laura had a greater need to confront him with what she knew.

Without any preliminary, she said, “Tara thinks you may have designs on my money.”

Sebastian never hesitated. “At the moment I have designs on your virtue,” he said and proceeded to nibble on her neck, igniting little shivers of excitement through her body.

A part of her wanted to pretend she hadn’t caught his failure to deny her accusation, but Laura couldn’t do that. “You also want my money, don’t you?”

After a slight pause, Sebatian lifted his head and met her gaze. “The truth?” he asked.

“That would be a change,” Laura replied, her throat aching.

“I was attracted to you the moment we met. Believe me, it had nothing to do with your bank balance, considering I was completely unaware that you had one.”

She believed him, as far as he went. “But you did find out.”

“I did,” Sebastian admitted. “And it seemed a bit

like gilding the lily, as they say.”

Laura was suddenly and inexplicably furious. She shoved his hands away and made a spinning turn. “Don’t touch me.” Her low voice vibrated with the heat of her anger.

But Sebastian paid no attention to the warning in either her voice or her words as he caught hold of her and pulled her back around. Laura lashed out immediately, swinging the flat of her palm at his face. Sebastian captured her wrist before it could reach its target.

“You said you wanted the truth,” he reminded her, something like anger glittering his own eyes.

“I didn’t expect you to be so disgustingly cavalier about it.” Laura made one twisting attempt to free her wrist, then ceased any struggle, pride keeping her rigid in nonviolent resistance.

“What did you expect?” Sebastian challenged, the hard light in his eyes changing to something softer, more delving in its study of her. “Did you think I would pretend that none of what you said was true? That I would insist I had no interest at all in your money? You’re much too intelligent to have believed that. Still you set this trap.”

“I set no trap for you,” she denied with firmness.

“I don’t know what else you would call it,” Sebastian countered, his expression smoothing with a new certainty. “And I suspect you did it hoping to catch me in a lie. It would have made it easier to despise me, wouldn’t it?”

“I got what I wanted,” Laura insisted, icy-hot in her regard of him. “An admission from you that you were after my money.”