Chapter 19 #2
It was a good question. Spotting illusions wasn’t really a problem for me before, but they’d never been concealed within the image of my biggest weakness.
I’d also never been as distracted as I was here, with thoughts of Kaiden blurring my usually over-cautious nature.
Not that I was going to tell him all that.
“It was an honest mistake,” I argued, arms crossed against his dominant presence. “You’re just pissed that you had to save me again.” Which, actually, why wouldn’t he be upset about that? I could hardly keep myself alive lately. “Thank you, by the way,” I grumbled.
Some of his shadows eased, but my apology didn’t erase his temper.
“I have no problem saving you, princess. It’s having to do it because you refuse to use your intelligence that I find irritating.”
“Asshole,” I snarled. “Who’s to say I wouldn’t have figured it out on my own?”
“Before or after getting stabbed again?”
Heat flared in my chest. Anger and insults were practically foreplay for us, but I’d be damned if I gave in to it now.
“I got away.” I lifted my chin. Kaiden hadn’t saved me that time, I did it myself.
His fingers flexed like they wanted to wrap around my throat and throttle his frustration away. “After putting us all in an unnecessarily dangerous situation. And you got consolation stitches.”
“Gods,” I growled, my own irritation rising to clash with his. He had a comeback for everything.
We faced off, there in the woods, with nature containing our battle of wills.
My entire body locked into a defiant, rigid stance; hands balled into fists at my sides and heels sinking into the dirt.
Kaiden watched me in that annoying, silent way of his, giving nothing away with the little half smirk twisting the corner of his mouth.
“So bossy,” I muttered.
Somehow, he pressed even closer. “You like my bossy.”
“Overconfident,” I fired off.
“Irresponsible,” he replied in kind.
It was a stalemate. Neither one of us was willing to back down, and I didn’t like the satisfied glint in his eye.
Like somehow, he won anyway. Twenty minutes later, back at the apartment as I sulked and locked myself in the bedroom, I realized he might have.
He had the last word, after all. I threw myself on the bed and smothered a scream with my pillow.
I needed a nap. A few hours of unconscious relief to forget about the tug-of-war Kaiden instilled within me.
Part frustration and part attraction—all parts messed up.
I tossed and turned, twisting the sheets around me like a vise.
Sleep didn’t come. My skin felt tight, and the latent anger inside me needed an outlet.
If Kaiden weren’t such an ass, I’d ask him in here to help me out.
Probably stumble over my words and make a complete fool of myself in the process, but it couldn’t be that hard.
I knew he was on the edge himself—his bossiness came out the more turned on he was.
Gods, being horny had never been a problem before he put his hands on me.
It was an emotion I easily pushed aside, but not now. As the heat built within me, I wiggled. Thighs pressed together, I shifted and tried to ease the coil in my gut. What was this crap, and why wouldn’t it go away?
The bedroom door swung open as if answering my silent pleas, but Kaiden stormed past me in a beeline for his desk across the room.
He pulled out the chair and took a seat.
No glance in my direction, no acknowledgment, not a sign that he even noticed my distress.
And I knew I wasn’t being silent about it.
I’d allowed a little heat to escape my side of the bond, hoping it would taunt him to come in here and solve my problem without me having to ask.
Well, part of that plan worked. Ignoring me and digging through his bowl of crystals was not what I had in mind for the other part.
I knew he had a stick up his ass this week, but didn’t he still want to touch me?
Another blast of heat down the bond, this one harder, and his shoulders stiffened. “I’m busy right now, princess.”
Busy? He practically nailed me to multiple surfaces with his touch and droned on about how much he wanted to fuck me if I’d only let him, but he was too busy?
Djinn were literally chasing us, and he found the time to finger-fuck me.
My ankle might have been broken that one time he slapped my ass and nearly had me screaming, but X-rays could wait. And now? Now he wanted to work?
Outrage burned red hot down our connection. I made sure he felt every ounce of it as I clenched the sheets and ground my teeth at his arrogance. Was I only worth touching when it was on his time?
He sighed, placed a blue crystal back in the bowl, and glared at me over his shoulder. “It’s nothing personal, and it doesn’t mean anything, right?” One brow lifted as he met my gaze and held it until I gave the barest of nods. “So, take care of it yourself.”
Did he just suggest I…?
My arousal cooled enough for embarrassment to take over.
He wanted me to touch myself while he watched?
Or while he was in the room? Either option was not happening.
I didn’t even touch myself when I was alone.
I’d lived with my parents my entire life, in quarters too close for comfort, and the urge to discover what made my body tick was absent my entire life… until he put his hands on me.
His back was to me once more, but I knew he monitored my emotions and reaction. My outrage, thankfully, still ran strong enough to cover my lack of experience, and I played it off.
“Get out,” I ordered.
He didn’t move an inch. “It’s no different than any other time you’ve done it, and I’ve seen it all anyway. Just ignore me.”
Ignore him. Ha. Fat chance of that. I was highly aware of him even when he wasn’t nearby. Even when I slept.
“From what I can tell, it wouldn't take more than a couple strokes for you to get off,” he added, still partly focused on his work.
“I-I don’t…” I stuttered and flushed a deep red.
I meant to tell him that I refused to do anything while he sat there in the room and played with his toys.
I meant to sound mature and full of confidence when I ordered him to remove himself from my presence, but it didn’t come out like that. “I’ve nev…I don’t…”
Kaiden froze, one hand hovering over the bowl. He straightened in his seat, back going stiff before he turned and gave me his full attention. Those blue eyes speared me with the lust I knew was right beneath the surface as his lips split into a devilish smile.
“Princess,” he purred, drawing the word out. “Are you telling me you’ve never touched yourself before?”