Oh, Father would have pulled on my ear the moment I started explaining myself. ‘Explaining is for the guilty’, he would have said. But I’m not like him. I never could be.
Dalton shakes his head. “For someone as smart as you are, you’re really fucking stupid, you know that? I don’t need drugs to want to fuck you more than is reasonable. What possessed you to do such a thing?”
Desire trickles down my back like hot, fragrant oil. People don’t ever flatter me like this. Especially not men, and coming from someone as handsome as him, the words are… addictive, even if offensive. Is that how it feels to take amphetamine?
“You refused to sleep with me, remember?"
“And how long do you think that would have lasted if you stepped into my bathtub naked or talked dirty to me? I’m a simple guy, Corvus. I don’t play games. Unless it’s poker. Which I’m apparently very bad at.”
A laugh tears from my lips, and I offer him more water, because if the fire spread, he would be dead by now. Because of me.
I might not know him well.
I might have picked him purely on the reviews of his performance in bed.
But I like him already, and don’t wish him harm. The fact that my foolish actions put him in danger is a stain on my perfect track record, and I hate it, even though no one else knows.
My family doesn’t do half-measures. I’ve been told to seize the things I want, and use every tool at my disposal, but maybe he is right, maybe the tools I’ve chosen are the wrong fit.
“I never really… lived with someone as an adult. I suppose I wasn’t sure how to handle you after we argued.”
I hate that his inquisitive gaze makes me nervous. I don’t do nervous. And I don’t give others the power of information, but he’s suchan open book I can’t help but be drawn in and spill some secrets of my own.
“Okay. Can we just try to find compromise in the future? And you’re not off the hook for the dexoshit. Wearecuddling tonight. I’m putting my foot down.”
How could I possibly argue with this?
I mean, Icould, but it would be unreasonable, considering he could have died today.
As the silence stretches, Dalton starts coughing again. “What if I need medical attention at night? You wouldn’t even know…” He gives me the most innocent pleading eyes, and for someone claiming not to play games, he’s playing this one quite well.
Because I want to lose.
“Fine. You can sleep in my bed,doggie,” I say, shaking my head despite excitement soaring in my veins as I imagine him under the covers, stretched alongside me, as if we belong together.
Which is embarrassingly whimsical, but he doesn’t need to know.
Chapter 13
Dalton
I’msurprisedbyjusthow gentle Corvus is with me on the way from the hospital. He asked the doctor who treated me detailed questions about my lungs and my burned hand. I don’t think they’re such a big deal. The hand will heal, and I’ll eventually cough up any remaining soot or whatever.
Still, it’s nice to be babied a little once in a while. I’ve been taking care of myself for thirty years with only blips of boyfriends who never stayed around long. But this man is my fiancé, and no matter how strange that is in the light of when and how we first met, I suppose that comes with certain privileges.
Corvus has the cab stop by one of those fancy delis that I’ve always found intimidating, and once he returns to the car with a bag of food, we’re headed straight home. It might be my imagination, but I can’t help feeling as if he’s trying to listen to my breathing without being too obvious about it.
The driver and I have a brief conversation about the excellent work of the NYC fire service, but Corvus keeps almost completely silent, hisblue eyes dark as midnight sky. He’s kinda hot like that when he’s all broody and deadly looking.
When we stop in front of his house, he keeps close, as if I might need help with walking. It’s very silly, even if I do appreciate it.
“I told you, I’m fine. I mend well.”
“What does that even mean? The doctor told me to watch you, and he knows best. You won’t be arguing with me about this,” he says in the stern voice of some Victorian teacher. At least I’m not about to get smacked on the hands with a bamboo cane.
He holds my bicep and pulls, as if he truly believes I don’t have enough strength do this on my own. When we climb up the steps, he keeps his hand on the small of my back, and it’s weird how protected that makes me feel. I’m bigger than him, but he’s deadly in his own right, and I like that about him. That he’s not some dainty flower.
I shrug. “Means I got my share of cuts and punches over the years, and here I am, alive and well. Even survived this one crazy human hunting ground thanks to my wits and charm.” I wiggle my eyebrows at Corvus as we enter.
