Crimson Highlander (Onyx Assassins 2)

“Well, the dresses didn’t work, so now I’m in your bathroom!” Her voice pitched high.

I stilled.

She squeezed her eyes shut, and her lips pursed for a second. “Shit,” she whispered.

“What do you mean the dresses didn’t work?” I tossed the smaller towel into the hamper as I stalked across the tile to where she leaned against the bathroom counter.

“Oh, you know what I mean.” She blasted me with a look of pure, undeniable frustration.

“Oh, but lass, I don’t.” Even if I’d told my body to stay on the other side of the room, I’m not sure it would have listened. We were magnets, pulling at each other until it was painful to keep even an inch between us, and I gave in. I got all up in her personal space and bracketed her with my hands on the counter on either side of her. “Why don’t you tell me?”

She inhaled deeply and brought her eyes to mine. “Every woman you talk to at dinner is in a dress.”

“Most females in my culture wear dresses to dinners with royalty.” I shrugged. “You’ve seen everyone in jeans here in the residence.”

“But you don’t talk to…” She shook her head. “I thought maybe you were attracted to more feminine wo—females,” she caught herself, correcting her language.

“You were trying to attract me?” Okay, so that sounded even more asinine aloud than in my head.

“Obviously!” She shoved at my chest, but I didn’t move, not when I was so close to figuring her out.

“Valor, I’m the last man you need to attract.” My body practically vibrated with how much I wanted her.

“Right, because you’d rather fuck anyone else than your mate,” she grumbled, looking away.

“What the hell?” I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger and tilted her face toward mine.

“It’s true, isn’t it? Sure, I know the second you get close to me, this”— she pressed her stomach against my erection, and I bit back a groan —“happens because of the bond, but I thought maybe if I put on a dress and looked a little more like one of your females, you might look at me like one. It’s not like the women—fuck—females don’t talk, Lachlan. I know your reputation.”

“Oh, you do?” My fangs ached. She was so close, and the smell of her was driving me to the breaking point.

“Yeah, I do. You’re not exactly celibate.”

“I have been since you got here.” A side of my mouth lifted into a smirk. “You’re the only woman I’m remotely interested in fucking, and it has nothing to do with a dress. Is it sexy as hell to know that I could yank this dress to your waist and slide inside you? Yes. But don’t think you’re not just as sexy to me in those little outfits you favor, or even in your goddamned sweatpants.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened, and her arms fell to her sides.

“Really. Valor, you don’t look anything like one of our females,” I said quietly, keeping her caged in when she tried to jerk her face away from mine. “Your skin is soft as silk.” I released her chin and trailed my knuckle down her jawline to her neck. “Your tongue is sharper than your teeth.” My hand splayed, and I rested it above her pounding heart. “Your heart is strong, but mortal, and all that urgency that comes from within it—from knowing you won’t live forever, is fucking beautiful.”

She drew in a breath. “But I’m breakable, right? And you don’t like breakable things.”

My jaw flexed. “You aren’t breakable, but you are…fragile compared to my kind. And I know you have no desire to become one of my kind, so it’s my job to make sure you don’t break. Unless you’ve changed your mind?” I cocked an eyebrow at her, keeping my voice low and level.

We were on some kind of precipice here, I just wasn’t sure what kind, and for the first time in my life, I envied Alek’s ability to read minds. I would have killed to know exactly what she was thinking in that moment.

“No,” she whispered. “Well, not about that.”

“And what have you changed your mind about, Valor?” I released the counter and palmed her hip, stroking my thumb over her hipbone. “Do you want the bond?” Do you want me?

“No.” She shook her head.

My stomach curdled, and I stepped back, breaking the contact, my hands falling to my sides. “Then you need to walk out that door, Valor.”

“You don’t want it either!” Her hands formed fists, and her pulse leaped in her neck. “You don’t want to be mated to me. You want some biddable female who will listen when you get all growly and bark orders. You want someone who will keep her ass safely tucked away in the house while she gives you kids and waits for you to come home. I’m the last person you want!”