“You agreed, Ania,” he said softly. “You gave me your word.”
She wasn’t certain she’d given her word. A promise. She shook her head but wasn’t certain what to say to get her out of the trouble she was certain she was in.
He still towered over her, slowly moving the towel through his hair. He looked gigantic. She’d known he was a big man, but lying on the bed, lights playing over her body like a marquee, she felt small and a little helpless.
“Are you angry with me?” She didn’t like that her voice sounded hesitant.
He continued to look at her with that focused, intense stare. Her nipples felt diamond hard, and she was very glad that at least the shirt covered them. He could see the dampness glistening on her bare lips and there was nothing she could do about that. Once she realized the shirt was working its way up her thighs and hips with all her squirming and fighting, she tried to lie very still.
Mitya gave a slow nod. “I believe I am. You don’t get to treat my men the way you did Sevastyan when they are simply following my orders. They have no choice but to follow my orders. You’re making them miserable for no reason other than you felt like throwing a tantrum and you knew they couldn’t retaliate.”
She blinked. Shocked. “A tantrum?” she echoed.
He tossed the towel to one side and caught her foot in his hand, the one she’d been wiggling over and over. He began a slow massage, his gaze still on her face. “What would you call it when Sevastyan is putting you in a safe room, following my instructions, and you kick him repeatedly?”
Put like that, maybe it did sound like a tantrum. She was thoroughly angry that Sevastyan was forcing her to be locked in a room without even knowing if Mitya was alive or dead. But Mitya was right, Sevastyan was following his orders.
“I didn’t like being forced into a safe room while you were in danger,” she murmured, lowering her lashes. She detested that she had to concede the point.
“That isn’t an excuse, Ania. You know it isn’t.” His voice was the same, very low but compelling, holding that note of censure and that little bit of anger she wasn’t used to.
His hand slid up her calf and then higher to stroke her thigh. He kept looking at her, not taking his eyes from her face to look at her body. Somehow that made her all the hotter.
“I don’t like you abusing my men. It isn’t right just because you know they can’t retaliate,” he reiterated.
She thought Sevastyan had made his point with the cuffs, but she kept her mouth shut. In any case, he was right. She’d kicked Sevastyan, and the worst he’d done was force her to stop by using the cuffs. It was humiliating at the time. Now she was embarrassed by her behavior.
“We’re getting married immediately and you’re going to fully commit to me. There will be no divorce. Not ever. We’re shifters and we’re going to live by shifter rules. You don’t have to always like it. In fact, just like today, there will be times when you don’t like it at all. But you don’t walk away. We work things out.”
“And if we can’t agree?” she said quietly, her heart beating too fast.
“Then we do things my way. You will learn, over time, to trust me. I love you. You’re always going to be the center of my world. The business I’m in is dangerous, and I’m not about to let it overflow to you or our children. When I say you’re to be tucked away someplace I know you’ll be safe, you go without question or argument.”
“Mitya.” She shook her head.
He leaned over her, caught the shirt and yanked, popping the two buttons holding the two halves of the material together. He was casual about the sudden violence, so much so that it set her heart hammering in her chest and blood pounding through her clit. He reached out to the end table and removed a pair of scissors. He cut the shirt into strips, so he could pull it off her without removing the cuffs. Now the lights played over her bare skin, creating shadows and hollows almost lovingly.
“Yes, Ania, that’s the way it’s going to be. You love me. I know that you do.” His hand slid between her legs, two fingers plunging deep, making her cry out. He lifted them into that light right in front of her eyes. “You want me just like this. You tied down, waiting for me to do anything to you. It makes you hot as hell, doesn’t it?”
She considered lying, but one couldn’t lie to one’s mate and get away with it. Besides, the evidence was gleaming on his fingers right in front of her eyes. She nodded slowly. He pressed his fingers to her lips, forcing her mouth open so he could push his fingers inside. “Suck them clean the way you sucked my cock this afternoon.”