I’m going to find out whoever put her up to this. Clearly someone who knew the value of that vase and wanted to fuck with us or me, and that doesn’t sit well, even if it was only a prank.
Juno doesn’t seem to notice that I’ve come out of my room, so I clear my throat, and she jumps. “So here’s the deal,” I say. “I obviously haven’t talked to anyone about our little arrangement yet, so you won’t have your own room.”
The look on her face is sheer horror, and I realize that she thinks that I’m going to make her sleep in a room with some random Granite House guy. I walk down the hall until I’m closer to her, cause it’s still loud and I don’t feel like shouting all of this. “You can sleep in my room until we get things more settled.”
The horror on her face turns sharp, and she slaps her hands against my chest and shoves me hard. Immediately I laugh.
That wasn’t what I meant, but I like that it was what she thought I meant. I get close enough to her to see the flecks of gold in those green eyes. “See, Juno, you thought I meant that we would share a bed. But I only meant that you could have my bed and I would sleep on the floor.”
“Oh,” she says, a perfect pink blush painting those cheeks. “Okay.”
That blush makes me lose a little control. My dick has a mind of its own and it wants to push Juno’s boundaries a little to see how far she’ll go. If she’ll still melt for me.
“Though with that reaction,” I say, “maybe you want to share a bed with me after all?” I lift one eyebrow, savoring the expression on her face.
She’s so obviously torn between fury and temptation. For a split second, I’m not sure which will win out. But then, “I don’t,” she snaps. “That’s revolting.”
“Is it now?” I tilt my head, and bring one hand to her face, cupping her cheek and sliding my hand down to her neck. I can feel her pulse fluttering under my fingers and her chest moves faster as she breathes. With how close I am, I have an excellent view of her perky little tits heaving, and I have to cement my hand to her skin to keep it where it is and not slide it down to feel her.
“It is revolting.” Her dark eyes flash with defiance. “I’d never sleep with someone like you.”
I grin down at her. “You’ve got a lot of mouth on you for someone who’s now a pet.”
“I’m not a pet.”
“You are,” I tell her. “You’re my pet. And I wonder if my pet liked the way I kissed her earlier. And I wonder if she wants me to do it again.”
Her eyes are pure fire. “Fuck off. I didn’t like that. I was grateful you saved me from that asshole and that was it.” But those same eyes are wide and dark, pupils wide with need. Her heart is beating so fast I imagine that it’s pounding in her ears.
“Your pulse tells me that you’re lying,” I tell her. “And let me be clear. You don’t sleep with someone like me. Once you say yes you get fucked until you scream. You are taken and pleasured until you can’t take anymore, and then you still get more. Being with me would never be described by such a mundane phrase as ‘sleeping with.’”
She looks at me, and then suddenly steps backwards. “Keep your fucking bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
I can’t help but watch her walk away in that dress, legs seeming a mile long coming out of the short skirt. But it’s so much more than that skirt. I’ve never had any woman walk away after that kind of promise or description. I know what I look like, and I know damn well what I’m capable of in bed. I don’t ever get turned down.
Juno is different, and I like that.
I like it even more that I can get under her skin and make her squirm. I need to see more of that blush and find out what pushes her buttons. I want to know more about what makes her tick and why she would take this stupid dare when she seems so serious.
She glances at me as she enters my room, and I’m struck with a déjà vu. I thought that she had looked familiar when she walked into the poker room downstairs, but that look that she just gave me…I’ve seen it before. I just can’t remember where.
I follow her into my room and grin when I see that she’s kicked off her high heels, grabbed my extra blanket and pillow and is in the process of making herself a nest in the corner—the corner that is as far from my bed as is physically possible in the space.