Huh.
No prawn.
No chicken.
Normally, I had to shove aside meat in dishes people gave me without asking if I was a meatasaurus. In this dish, however, only fresh veggies and saturated flavours waited for my fork.
His nostrils flared as he tipped his head in a half-mocking bow. “So, you’re clever at deducing information from your surroundings.”
“Don’t mock me.”
His eyebrow arched. “Mock you?”
“You sound totally shocked that I might have a brain.”
He ran a hand over his mouth, never taking his piercing sea gaze off me. “Oh, I know you have a brain, Eleanor Grace. And a wicked sharp tongue to match.”
I vibrated with words clambering up my throat. I’d put my wicked tongue to use by flaying him alive with yet more harsh truths of his treatment, but…I’d just said I wasn’t stupid.
And picking yet another fight before I’d eaten would be stupid.
Antagonising him before I had a chance to stuff as much of this delicious fare into my mouth as possible would be the epitome of stupid.
It would also be horribly wasteful.
Ignoring him, I reached for another bowl holding chargrilled aubergine drizzled with peanut sauce. Stabbing the perfectly cooked vegetable, I couldn’t hold back my moan as a perfect blend of ginger, peanut, and rich eggplant exploded on my tongue.
Wow.
He chuckled under his breath. “You didn’t like my elixir, but you like my food.”
“Your elixir is an abomination.”
“Yet my food is a blessing.”
“It is when you starved me.”
He nodded and fanned his fingers out in surrender. “Touché.”
Leaning back in my chair, I refused to study him. To try and read what he kept hidden. I just let basic survival be my shield. “Why are you still here? I don’t need babysitting and I thought you didn’t demean yourself by spending any more time than necessary with your ‘goddesses’.”
“You say that word like it’s filthy.”
“It is.”
“They don’t think so.”
“They’re trapped and brainwashed girls. Wait until I remind them of what a gilded cage you’ve ensnared them in.”
He laughed again, cold and calculating but with a thread of heat. “Go ahead. Tell them. They’ll soon put you in your place.” He leaned forward, stabbing his elbows into the table and steepling his hands. “Let me remind you that my girls crave me. They want me, not just for the term of our contract, but forever.” His voice lowered, as if one could be hiding in the bushes watching us. “If they saw this…saw us, you’d probably not be well-liked. They’d be…” He smiled slow and wolf-like. “Jealous.”
“Jealous because I’ve somehow caught the attention of a monster? What poor, delusional souls.”
His smile turned sharper with white canines. “Jealous because you’ve only been here one night and already you’ve enjoyed more of my company than any of their days combined.”
I rolled my eyes. “Lucky me.”
His gaze tightened, the blue of his irises darkening with warning. “I’m keeping myself on a tight leash, Goddess Jinx, but just because I’m allowing you liberties, don’t think for a fucking moment that I can’t take them away.”
Goosebumps darted over my skin.
How did he do that?
How did he change his voice from plush velveteen to deadly dagger?
Shuddering in my chair, I didn’t back down. No matter how reckless I’d been, I still couldn’t control my suicidal rage toward this man. I had a physical reaction to his presence. I itched with overwhelming hate. “Well, please tell your jealous goddesses that I’ll happily trade places. I’d be overjoyed to be inconsequential to you, rather than some puzzle you’re trying to solve.”
“Why do you think you’re a puzzle?” He watched me like a hunter.
I stabbed a fork in his direction. “Because of the way you’re looking at me right now.”
“Like how?” He scowled, wrinkling his roguish face.
“Like you can’t understand why you want me. As if you’re debating if you should drag me into the sea and drown me or…” I bit my lip, shutting myself up.
Stop it.
Just eat.
Ignore him.
I speared a caramelized carrot, dripping in sweet and spicy sauce. Biting it in two, I chewed with utmost concentration, replacing the tingling heat of our conversation with the numerous dishes waiting for my belly.
“Or what?” he murmured, his voice licking like island air—heavy, hot, and entirely too decadent.
I ate another carrot, hating the knots in my stomach caused by his stare, cursing the pebbling of nipples that were chaffed and sore from my over-sexed ministrations yesterday.
“Tell me, Eleanor, should I drown you or…”
I shivered, stabbing a piece of garlic-infused morning glory. Crispy fried tofu rested on top of the green veggies and its pretty yellow flowers.
He sighed, arching his hips as if making room for yet another hard-on. “We both know what you don’t want to say. And…” He wiped his mouth again as one hand disappeared beneath the table. His bicep flexed as he fisted himself. “You’re right.”
“I didn’t say anything.”