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“And you’re still an arrogant ass,” I said before I could think better of it. “Who reeks of his own seed.”
“Still so confidently repugnant.”
“Most of all,” she rasped, “don’t let this make you forget you are loved.”
His presence was a flare of heat at my back, and his voice low and scathing. “Remove your hands, or I’ll remove them from your body and make you eat them.”
“If you so much as think about playing with anyone but me, I will tie you to this bed with their entrails and paint you in their blood while I fuck you.”
But it softened the longer he looked down at me, and disappeared entirely when he murmured, “Enough to make me miss the creature I loathe the most.”
“I want you. I want you as much as I loathe you—so much, it feels like I can’t breathe.” His parted lips dragged across my cheek, his whisper scathing near my ear. “Give me back my fucking breath.”
“You must fall in love with me.”
Que pasa?!?
“Good food, good literature, good housing, and good sex…”
“I didn’t refuse to sleep. I simply struggle to feel comfortable doing so in the lair of a beast.”
“You believe a den of serpents is a safe place to lay one’s head each night?” I plopped onto the chair. “Better the enemy you know.”
“You will also have my protection,” he added, a softening of what he perceived to be a blow. “Forevermore.”
“Say I do fall in love with you and free your kingdom,” I said. “Will you truly give me anything I want?”
“A deal forged in blood is a promise unbreakable, Princess.”
“When you laugh, I remember what joy feels like.”
“Atakan.” My voice croaked. “Tell me what really happened.” He halted before the door. Without looking at me, he dragged his hand through his hair, pushing it back over his head as he exhaled roughly. “We mated.”
“You’re right. You’re not my lover. You’re now my wife, yet that doesn’t seem quite enough either.” I nearly swayed when I rose, and he went on. “What do you call the only creature you want to watch and touch endlessly?” I couldn’t meet his gaze. “I wouldn’t know,” I lied and braced for what I knew he’d say next. It still raked claws over my chest. “A mate?”
“You must put your mouth on mine and kiss me until I tell you to stop.” My foolish heart skipped. Still, I taunted, “But what if you never do?” “Trust me.” He dropped his forehead to mine. “I never fucking will.”
“You were made to handle me.” He placed a single kiss at my jaw. “To take me.”
“Made for me indeed.”
“I want you, Mildred. Always and incessantly, I’ve fucking wanted you.”
“I loathed you while I loved you,
“I might not care for much of anything outside of my desires, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely heartless.” Her hand settled on my hip, and my clinical tone roughened. “That doesn’t mean I cannot love you.” I clasped her chin, my head lowering. “That doesn’t mean I don’t need you to be as obsessively in love with me as I am with you.”
