“You have an arrangement to take his energy?” CK asks casually, hoisting himself up onto the wall gracefully.
“Not really. He offered, and I accepted.”
“You said that it was an intimate thing,” he says, almost accusing.
“No more than the bite,” I say patiently. No point in snapping at him as it will only get his back up.
“Oh.” He pauses, “Aefre, I am sorry about earlier. I know after Fraser you were feeling out of sorts and I was harsh with you. I was worried about what his showing up here would mean for us.”
I take his hand and he squeezes tightly. “I know. You don’t have to apologize or worry about it. After other Liv and I spoke the first time, I had changed my mind about wanting to find him. I couldn’t bear to see my memory of him tarnished with a cruel and evil version of him. It hurts like Hell to know that she wasn’t lying, but I have no interest in him. He isn’t the man I loved.” I leave out the part about me itching to get to my own past Fraser and bring him here to me.
He smiles at me, but it looks a bit forced, so I add, “And even if he weren’t an evil Lance-a-like, I would still never leave you. I love you.”
He smiles again but this time it is real. “I love you too. Gods, I have missed you. Our little dalliance earlier has left me incredibly frustrated.”
I snort unattractively to his amusement. “You are frustrated? What about me?”
“Yes, I can imagine you must be. I will have to make it up to you on Tuesday.” He stiffens slightly as he remembers what Tuesday also brings but forces himself to relax.
“Well, if I recall,” I say, ignoring his body language to his relief, “I am still to owe you a proper seeing to, having you completely at my mercy.”
He turns to face me and leans closer. “As much as I want to give you everything your heart desires, my sweet, that is not going to happen. I am going to take you my way, again and again until you are begging me for mercy.”
“And will you give it?” I ask against his lips.
“Never,” he says before he plunges his tongue into my mouth in a kiss so heated it warms me from the inside out.
He lets me go and I am struggling to breathe as he says, “I told you I would do that with you.”
“Do what?” I ask, almost salivating at his closeness.
“Help you feed that way,” he says, but I can tell he isn’t very pleased about it.
“I know you find it uncomfortable,” I say with a slight purse to my lips. “You don’t have to do it.”
“Aefre, if that is what you need, I will give it to you. You don’t need to go looking elsewhere.”
And there it is. The whole problem with this is that he only wants to do it because he is jealous. Not because it makes me happy. Pure and honest? No, I have a far way to go before I get that from anybody.
“Hm,” I say noncommittally, and he huffs at me but says no more on the subject.
“Have you spoken to Cole yet?” he changes the subject abruptly again, as he does.
“No. I am avoiding him,” I say insolently.
He snickers. “Don’t, my sweet. You know you have to face the music.”
“Yes, your music that you decided to compose, sans moi.”
“Oh no. You don’t get to shove that on me. You knew how he was feeling, and you ignored it.”
“Whatever,” I grouse. “I am not fighting about this with you.”
“Don’t then. Just go and speak to your charge.”
To my charge, not my husband. Ergh, he is such an infuriating creature sometimes.
“Fine. I will,” I say, as I stand, and he rolls his eyes at me and my attitude.