"I told you, I need someone to keep me out of prison." Though his face was neutral, something behind his voice told me it wasn’t entirely true.
Along with all of the other clues, he’d been stalking me for five years. It seemed apparent that he’d only killed Simon on the night of my twenty-fifth birthday to give him an excuse to make me mate with him.
Why would he do that, if he didn’t want love or even sex? And if he could use the bargain to force me into it regardless?
I clenched my jaw in my frustration.
I’d just have to keep pushing him. For the moment, I needed to focus on something else before I could try to get more information out of him. I was too annoyed.
So, I asked, "Where did you put my phone and laptop? I have a ton of work to do."
"They're in our bedroom."
I stared at him for a solid thirty seconds. "Ourbedroom?"
"Yes.Ourbedroom." His eyes were narrow, like he was waiting for me to disagree.
I was going to have to do exactly that.
Letting out a slow breath, I geared myself up for a fight. "You say that like we're going to be sharing, Callum."
"Wewillbe sharing."
"Can our bargain force me to fuck you?" I asked.
He glared at me. "I wouldneveruse it that way."
"Can it force me to sleep in your bed?"
"Mates always share a bedroom."
"Because no immortal in their right mind would seal a permanent mate bond with someone they're not in love with! A forced bond is going to work differently than one that two people choose because they're in love." I stood up.
"There are no other beds in the house. Where do you intend to sleep?" His eyes were pure, sharp ice.
"You have afantasticcouch." It was honestly the only piece of furniture other than his bed that was suitable for sleeping in the entire house.
Which was suspicious, now that I thought about it. Who had a mansion without a single extra bed or couch in it?
Was he trying to force me to sleep with him?
"You'll love snuggling,"my wolf promised."He’s really nice."
"He literally murdered someone to force us to mate with him. That is the definition of not nice, Sable."
Callum stood. "I have work to do as well, Kitten. We'll have dinner at six."
With that, he disappeared into his office.
I tried not to stare at his ass in those perfectly-fitted slacks, but failed.
Dammit.
Whatever had just happened, I was pretty sure he won. But right now, I really did need to work.
And check the news to see what could be going on with the Beta challenges.
And talk to Jonah.
