For example, when I shove off the table and stand, then go around to her side and kneel next to her chair, I’ve already gone through all the ways I could make her scream my name.
When I turn her chair to face me in one quick jerk, I’ve already imagined shoving her thighs apart and burying my face in her sweet little cunt.
I do none of those things. I let her stare down her nose at me, waiting, watching while her breathing grows shallower, her hands clench on the edge of the chair. Every heartbeat I keep her in suspense, she winds herself up all on her own. It’s a tactic I’ve used hundreds of times during my very thorough interrogations. This is entirely different though. I didn’t expect how much it would affect me. My cock is already hard from my imagination.
I need to proceed before I do something we’ll both regret. Something I haven’t considered.
“And what are the benefits of marrying him?” I ask.
Her eyes slash up to mine from where she’d been scanning down my kneeling body. “Well, protection. Your council has a much more robust security force.”
I balance on the balls of my feet and run my fingers up the back of her bare, muscular calf. “That would be our fault. The council fears the Five. They think more security will keep them safe.”
“And will it?”
I stop at the sexy curve at the back of her knee. “No, we won’t take the council down by force. By the time we finish with them, they will beg us to let them move on with their lives. They’ll be begging us to let them run.”
She shivers under my fingertips, trembling with each pass of my fingers. “So why get involved? If you plan to take your revenge anyway, why do you care what I choose to do?”
“Probably because I know what it’s like to sell yourself in exchange for safety. Even if the deal is good, I don’t want to see anyone have to face that decision.”
I keep my eyes on her leg and continue traveling my fingers up to her thigh, curving my hand around the outside. It would be easier to say I’m touching her for a reason, a reason other than I want to feel how soft her skin is. For now, I can lie to myself, but eventually I won’t be able to if I keep it up.
I meet her eyes now, and gently ease my fingers off her leg. “Ultimately, it’s your decision, but I disagree with it, and I resent that asshole for asking when you have no better options. He’s taking advantage, and I want to shoot him in the face for it.”
Her eyes flash wide, and she scurries back into the chair. “Well, wait to kill him until after we’re married so I can claim the life insurance.”
I know she’s joking, but the thought of her standing at the altar with him, saying yes, makes me want to do worse than shoot him in the face. We still have time until she has to give him the answer, and I need to use that time to convince her it’s a dumb fucking idea. And not just for myself.
I stand and go back to my chair, needing the distance. Even if she makes the choice, I won’t let it happen, even if I have to lock her in the bedroom and tie her to the bed. Even Kai couldn’t fault me for it if it keeps her from making a choice she might regret for the rest of her life.
“What do you want to do?” I ask, even if it tastes bitter on my tongue.
She shrugs, calm as if it’s all a game to her. “I want to meet him again, a little less formally, so we can discuss the advantages and disadvantages together.”
Carefully, I exhale, keeping my face neutral, my body calm. It will only give her further reason to say yes if it pisses me off. I’ve learned that much about her already. “I’ll set up another meeting, but we keep it on our turf. I’m not going to him, even if he thinks he’s the one helping us.”
To this, at least, she nods. “Fine. Can we actually eat dinner this time? If you guys need to have the whole stare down first, fine, but when I go to a nice restaurant, I actually like to enjoy the cooking.”
My vision goes red for a flash of a second. This fucking woman. “That is what concerns you? The goddamned food? Not the fact that you might tie your life to a man who is just as guilty as the rest of those damn councilmembers?”
Her mouth thins, and she sits up straight, dropping her feet to the floor with a thud. “Well, I’m glad I understand how you feel about me too. It’s obvious you hate all of us equally.”