“Then what is it?”
“It’s our house.”
Her body jerked and she pulled reflexively against his arms. He held her tightly, not giving her an inch.
“There is no ‘our’,” she snapped, her hand at his shoulder pressing to no avail. Still, she didn’t stop.
“There will be,” he declared decisively and he saw her eyes flash before they filled with anger.
She pressed harder while muttering irately, “Lucien, let me go.”
No, he was definitely not getting somewhere.
At her attempt to retreat, his patience took another hit.
“What the f**k do you think this is all about?” he ground out.
She locked eyes with him and demanded, “Let me go.”
“Answer me.”
She didn’t. Instead, she asked her own question.
“Is this what taming is?” Her voice was rising. “Creating an ‘our’ which means you’d be creating an ‘us’?”
“Yes, that’s part of it.”
“It sure has a lot of parts,” she retorted sarcastically.
“Yes, it f**king well does and if you’d stop being so goddamned stubborn, you might open yourself up to learning them all and understand how beautiful it is.”
“Right,” she shot back derisively.
His arms gave her a gentle shake. “You don’t have any idea what you’re treating with such scorn.”
“Oh yes I do.”
“Explain it to me then.”
She stilled and to his surprise, agreed. “All right, I will.”
He held her defiant glare before muttering, “This will be interesting.”
She shot him a look that would have been amusing if he wasn’t so annoyed.
Then she spoke, clipping out every word. “Beautiful house. Beautiful clothes. Beautiful path that leads down to a beautiful lake. Beautiful pool. Ritzy neighborhood. Going to the opera with gold butterflies in her hair. A housekeeper who launders her clothes and makes her breakfast. Hot, superhuman vampire with a great body who’s good with his hands, not to mention his mouth, coming home to her every night. A girl could get used to that.”
“That’s the point,” he returned.
“Okay then, what happens when you’re through with me?”
“It’s common practice for other vampires, including myself, to move their concubines into less lavish accommodation after the Arrangement is finished. But, if you’d have given me five minutes to explain in the last month, you would know that, given the taming, this is your life until you die.”
Lucien thought that was rather substantial.
Leah disagreed.
“Thanks, Lucien,” she snapped back sarcastically. “That takes a load off.”
He gave her another shake, this one far less gentle. “Explain yourself.”
She gave him another look, this one far less amusing. She also started trying to pull away again but he held her close.
“I don’t think I care to,” she stated.
“Let me see if I understand you, my pet. What I told you tonight is that you’re an important part of my life, meaningful to me. I intend to live with you, share my life with you, take you as my lover, something you want as badly as me and don’t f**king deny it, and provide you with supremely comfortable life until you die and you’re throwing that in my face?”
“Yep,” she returned instantly now irritatingly glib. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t want any of this.” She threw an arm out, encompassing the room before it went back to push against his chest. “I don’t want any of what you said. And most of all, I don’t want you.”
His patience fled, anger replacing it. A great deal of anger.
He yanked her over his body so they were chest-to-chest.
His voice was low and cold when he replied, “I’ve an urge to call you on that last lie.”
He could see her anger was escalating at the same pace as his.
Therefore she ignored his threat and demanded, “Release me.”
His arms grew tighter. “Not until you’ve learned tonight’s lesson, my pet.”
“I don’t mean now!” she snapped. “I mean completely. Release me from our Arrangement. Find someone else’s head to mess with.”
Her words roaring through him, leaving behind that twisting, vile feeling he despised, he sat up suddenly and to accommodate him she was forced to straddle his lap.
She gasped in shocked surprise then tried to pull away.
“Stop struggling,” he demanded, his arm locking around her waist, his other hand fisting in her hair.
“Release me,” she shot back.
“That’s not going to happen, Leah.”
“You want me to give you everything. My trust, my body, my time and you think I should be grateful because of some pretty clothes and a f**king great house?”
“You missed some things,” he returned.
“Oh yes, my blood,” she clipped.
“Yes, your blood and a great deal more.”
She stopped struggling against his hold and her angry face got close to his.
“Yes, I get that Lucien.” Her voice was an enraged whisper. “You don’t say it but I know what you want. And you can’t have it because I know, eventually, you’re going to throw it away. Therefore, it doesn’t mean one f**king thing to you, no matter how you pretty up the words. So I’m keeping it.”
Involuntarily, his arms tensed, He knew it was too much and he didn’t care. He felt her pulse soar as her breath went out of her.
“How can you say that?” he hissed.
Breathing with difficulty, she went back to her earlier theme. “Release me.”
“I’ve been waiting for you for twenty f**king years,” he reminded her.
“Don’t worry, Lucien.” Her tone was cutting. “I’m sure another sweet-smelling pu**y will happen along.”
Controlling his fury by a very weak thread, he twisted. She landed on her back, him on top, his h*ps between her legs.
“You haven’t listened or paid any attention to a f**king thing I’ve said or done,” he grated.
“I haven’t missed one freaking thing!” she shouted in his face.
“You’ve missed everything. So I’ll say it so you can understand it. I’ve been waiting to have you since I knew you existed. But I’ve been waiting for someone like you for five f**king centuries.”
“I doubt the earth is going to crash into the sun anytime soon. You’ll get another chance.”