I can’t stop the visceral thrill that sparks at my nerve endings. Can’t stop my gaze from dropping to that bulge between his legs. That beautiful, large erection that is outlined against the apex of his pants.
My mouth waters. My core shudders. A pool of moisture gathers in my pussy.
A low twinge of heat tugs at my belly. How can I want this man so much? He'd come to kill the very woman I'd been charged with protecting. Yet every pore in my body insists I need this man. His touch, his feel, his scent, I want to draw it all in and revel in it.
My fingers seesaw. The half-filled cup tips. He reaches out and rights it, then takes it from my nerveless hand and sets it on the floor.
“You are not making this easy for me.”
His voice yanks me out of the sexual haze that envelops me. “Oh, yeah?” I narrow my gaze on him. “I’m not making it easy for you? You’re the one who’s keeping secrets from me.”
“How much of that conversation did you hear?”
“Enough.” I ball my fists in front of me. “When were you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?” He tilts his head. His look is casual, and that’s the last resort.
Something snaps inside me.
“That you mated me when I was unconscious?”
14
Dante
My heart stutters. My insides twist. Of all the scenarios I had played with, this was the worst. I am not sure what I had planned, but it wasn’t her stumbling across the truth like this. Or perhaps I’d wanted her to.
Which is why I had been conversing with the commander via hologram and hadn’t bothered to keep my voice down.
Perhaps I’d wanted her to find out and save me the need to break the news to her.
“You don’t understand.”
“Explain it then.”
I stand up, then hold out my hand for her.
She refuses it and clambers to her feet.
Something like disappointment weighs down my shoulders. What had I been expecting? That she’d welcome this news with open arms and accept me?
She doesn’t know anything about me, obviously. All this should come as a shock to her. But still something in me insists that she should understand this is the only way out. Aren’t mates supposed to recognize each other? Hadn’t she sensed the way I had sniffed her and known it was her at the bar? That she’s the only one for me?
“You are upset, it’s understandable.” I raise my hand to place it on her shoulder.
She swerves under my arm and stalks into the room that doubles up as a study. She crosses the floor to the table and chair that’s pushed up against the wall. Of course the space is empty. She swivels around to stare at me.
“You have no idea what I am feeling right now.”
Her shoulders are so tense, she’s wound so tight that I can literally feel the anger crackle off her skin.
I rub my palm over my chest. “Believe me, I have an idea.”
She goes pale at that. “You feel it, too?”
“The mating bond?” I peel back my lips in the semblance of a smile, and I am sure there’s nothing nice about it. Or so I’ve been told. It’s a look that’s brought many an opponent to heel, caused many to flee, but this woman, she simply juts out her chin.
“So apparently it’s not a one-sided thing.”
I can’t stop the bark of laughter that escapes me. “Trust me, it goes both ways. If there had been another route…" I raise my shoulders then let them fall.
“Fae are the most technologically advanced species. Surely you could have teleported me to your doctors or something.”
I fist my fingers at my side, then begin to pace again. “When I saw you fall, I reacted on instinct. All I knew was that you were hurt, and I had to get you out of there.”
“You were stricken by a jolt of conscience.”
“Or something.” I snort. “How do I explain this to you. I saw you at the bar and—”
“And knew you had to fuck me.”
Anger curdles my gut. I ball my fingers into fists at my sides. “Then I followed you in and saw you trying to relieve your arousal.”
“And you did fuck me, with your fingers.”
This time, white sparks explode behind my eyes.
I stalk over and grab her shoulders. “Listen to me, woman. I saw you, I had to have you. Yet I left without taking you then. Only to have you appear on stage and throw yourself between me and my target.”
“I was protecting her.” She winces.
I know I am hurting her with my grip. I loosen my fingers but can’t make myself step away from her. “I didn’t know that, did I, not until I’d already hit you.” I massage the muscle I’d hurt.
Her shoulders quiver.
I know it’s my touch that’s making her react in that way. My groin tightens.
“Would anything have changed if you’d known I was going to be there on stage as her bodyguard?”
I hesitate. I want to tell her it would have, that I’d have broken off my mission midway if I’d known I was going to hurt her, but the truth is, I wouldn’t have. A more considerate man would have perhaps lied to her even. But the fact is, with the mating bond tying us, there’s no way I can keep the truth concealed from her for much longer.
The knowledge sinks in, just as I realize what this means.
I am more vulnerable to her than anyone else. If she wants, she can get to know everything about me, use it against me. She is a threat to me. And yet I can’t kill her.
I also can’t let her out of here, not until I’ve made sure I’ve consummated the bond, and made sure she’s dependent on me, enough for her to never challenge me.
“It wouldn’t have made a difference.” Her voice is flat.
“You’re right. I’d have simply found another route to get you out of the way so I could complete my mission undistracted.”
“And now?” A nerve thuds at her temple. Her chin quivers. She holds up her hands as if to ward me off, then takes a step back, and another, until she comes up against the window. Her hip brushes the wall, and she gasps. “Now it’s too late.”
I take one step forward, then another.
She gulps. “You are scaring me.”
“Good.” I peel back my lips.
“What are you thinking? Whatever it is I want no part of it.” Her fear is a palpable presence growing with every second. Tugging at my skin, sliding into my blood.
Curiously, it makes me want to gather her close and soothe her. The ball of heat in my chest twinges, warning me to be gentle with her. She’s mine, I need to care for her. Protect her. I push aside the thoughts crowding in on me.
It’s best she sees what I am. A male who has the blood of many on his hands. Who hasn’t hesitated to take lives. Who’d do it again if needed. Only first I need to satisfy this strange craving I have for her. This need to learn her every secret, to wallow in her scent, to bury myself balls deep in her and use her femininity to bring that humanness she’d touched in me earlier to life.
“It’s too late.” I prop my hands on her waist.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“You heard us talking, you know I mated with you on the psychic plane, to feed my life force into you. So I could cure you, rebuild your flesh. You are my creation now. I stole you away, I own you, and I am going to have you.”