Disappointment and anger battled for supremacy on his face, but all he said was, "I'm feeling generous. I'll punish my bad, naughty girl for not doing as she was instructed rather than kill her.
How's that?"
"How about you answer my questions, before I punish you." He would find she wasn't as easy to intimidate this time. "What did you do to me last time I was here?" No one else had experienced anything like that stupid ache or comalike sleep. Not even a little.
"Better question. What kind of greeting is that? We've been parted for so long, yet chastisement and an inquisition are the best I get?" He tsked quietly. "Someone in this room needs to work on their manners, and I'll give you a hint. It's not me."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I fail to make a proper introduction?" She closed some of the distance between them, that ever-present temper making her braver than was probably wise. She didn't stop until she could smell the peat smoke and the wildflowers that wafted from him. God, she'd missed that scent.
Missed? No, no, no. Wrong word. She'd dreaded that scent. Better. "Here, let me fix that," she said. "Rose's knee, meet Vasili's ball—"
With a laugh, he stepped backward, out of reach. "None of that, now."
God. Even his laughter was perfect, taking his sexy voice and mixing it with velvet and melted chocolate. Her ni**les pearled, the ache intensifying. Concentrate. "If we're done with introductions, then, why don't—"
"Vasili's turn," he interjected, serious again. "Has anyone contacted you? Asked you to hurt me?"
"No." Truth. No one had contacted her specifically. But a lot of Walkers wanted the creatures here destroyed. Some even bragged about the ones they had killed.
"That's good."
"I answered you, so answer me. What the hell did you do to me?"
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. Explain."
"Liar! You know!" Steady. Slowly she reached back and curled her fingers around the handle of her gun. Good, that's good. "You did something. I can't desire a man without—"
"Sickening. Yes. I know," he said dryly. "But, darling. One thing you should know about me. I never lie. There's no need. Lying is for those who fear consequences. I do not. Now, then. What type of man—men?—did you desire, hmm? Whom do I have to kill? The boyfriend you mentioned last time?"
She didn't know Vasili well enough to know whether or not he was teasing about the men he needed to kill, or whether he could even travel to her world. "Answer me. Please, Vasili. What did you do?" Hopefully her pleading would keep him distracted while she did . . . this—metal whizzed through air as she aimed the barrell of the gun at his chest. She tried not to smile at her success.
"Tell me or I'll shoot."
He rolled his eyes. "Put the gun away before you hurt yourself."
Not the reaction she'd expected. Why wasn't he scared? Did he think she lacked the guts to squeeze the trigger? Could he freeze her finger in place before she moved? Or would bullets not hurt him?
Her stomach twisted into hundreds of little knots. She hadn't considered that possibility before, but . . . Was he even human? Or was he more like those monsters than she'd realized?
"Rose. Gun. Now." Gone was the charmer, and in his place was the commander. "Right now, there's only one thing you need to know about me. I will slaughter an army before heeding an enemy's demand. Put the gun down and ask nicely for the answers you want. That's the only way you'll get them."
"So I'm the enemy?" Another distraction meant to keep him talking despite his objections.
One that failed. "Gun," he growled.
Clearly, he'd answer nothing until she complied. Biting the inside of her cheek, she sheathed the weapon and waved her empty fingers at him. "Happy?" If he made an aggressive move in her direction, she could withdraw a blade and gut him. Simple, easy. I've got this.
Negligent shrug.
All that protest, and that was what he did when he won? Bastard. He really hadn't changed. But at least he wasn't gloating. "What. Did you. Do to me?"
"Now. Isn't that better?" He tossed his glass over his shoulder. "I did what was necessary. I bound you to me."
She watched the ice scatter across the furs. Anything was better than peering at Vasili. As he'd spoken, heat had sparked in his eyes. So much heat. Her skin tingled, pulling tight over her bones, and she had to fight the urge to rub her arms, her thighs. Had to fight the urge to beg him to rub her arms and thighs. "What does that mean? Bound me to you?"
"Anytime you enter this world, you will come directly to me."
"Imposs—" No. She had long since struck that word from her vernacular. Nothing was impossible. "How? How did you do that?"
"Remember the words you spoke? The wine you drank?"
"The poisoned wine," she snapped, at last facing him again. He was closer to her, so close.
More tingling . . . no fear . . . "Because of you, my parents thought I was doing drugs."
He reached out and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear. "And that pained you. I'm sorry."
Ignore the contact . . . the fever now spreading . . . the shock of his words. "Thank you," she said, backing as far away from him as she could get. "Now stop threatening and stop stalling. The wine? What was in it?"
Another shrug. "My blood, among other things."
"Blood?" No. No way. She would have known. Wouldn't she?
"Afraid so. Must say, watching you drink it was the grossest thing I ever witnessed." He shuddered.
Gross. Exactly what she'd said to him when he'd lapped up her blood.
Rose's eyes widened as the consequences of his consumption hit her. "You licked my wound."
A wound she'd later convinced herself she'd imagined, since a scab had never formed.
"Yes," he agreed easily. "I did."
"So you can't . . ."
"No. I can't." Anger had infused his voice that time. "And yes, that makes you my child bride. No need to thank me. Twelve months of torturous abstinence is thanks enough."
Hell. No. "Why would you do that? And by the way, we are not married."
"A moment of insanity, that's all. And yes, we are. But really, I suffer only as long as you're alive."
She raised her chin. "You don't scare me, Vasili." Much.
"Don't I?" He closed some of the distance between them. "Let's see if I can change that."