“I need something to drink first.” She pulled away from his touch and marched to the drinks cabinet. Her hand shook as she poured herself a tumbler of whisky.
Julian took the bottle before she could drop it. She threw the drink back and held out her glass. “Are you sure you—”
“Please.”
He poured. She drank. At last, shuddering, she turned to him.
He crowded close to her. “What was that—”
“We should get it over with.”
Deep gold flashed over her eyes. He already knew what she meant. He asked anyway. “Get what over with, exactly?”
“This—lust. Attraction. Our animals want each other. We both know why. I want—” Her voice stumbled the way her feet never did, even as the ship rolled beneath them and she downed the last of her tumbler of whisky. “We should have sex.”
Yes.His dragon was all agreement. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“Not doing it is a distraction. If we sleep together, then it won’t be—hanging over us.” She wet her lips.
The expression in her eyes wasn’t imploring. Francine Delacourt would never allow herself to beg. If it wasn’t for the alcohol swilling around inside her, she never would have allowed herself to say this much.
What the hell had Eloise said to her?
Julian inclined his head, pretending to give the idea some consideration. “It would remove one distraction, I suppose. The … uncertainty.”
As though this wasn’t the only certain thing between them.
She pulled away. For a moment, he thought she’d reconsidered. Then she stalked to the center of the room and yanked her necklace off.
Ice above and below, what was she thinking?
“Why are you doing this?”
“We shouldn’t have left it this long.”
“Why now?” he growled.
Heavy gold links chimed and clinked as she dropped it on the sofa. She didn’t look at him. “Eloise was asking too many questions about you. If we’re sleeping together, that explains why you’re here.” She paused, her eyes too sharp as they stared at nothing. “She doesn’t know you’re—who you are. Let’s keep it that way. You wanted to make sure Eloise thinks I’m on her side. She made it very clear that my attentions had better not be on—had not be—that I keep myself distracted with you.”
“It’s a tactical decision, then?” He’d already made his choice, so why did her words make him feel cold?
“I won’t let her touch you.” She whirled around, and the gold in her eyes was total, now, deep and bright and cold. Yearning shivered through him. She grabbed his arms, her fingers like claws. *We’re in far more danger than I thought. We can’t risk her discovering who you truly are. You know what they’ll do to you. And if this creature—I won’t—I can’t—*
Her telepathic voice broke off before the emotion teetering at the edge of their connection broke through.
“You are not allowed to die,” she growled out loud.
“Not before you fuck me?” He was deliberately crude, hoping to shock her out of whatever madness had her in its grasp, but it didn’t work.
“Not ever.”
She kissed him, a clash of teeth and lips and tongue that almost made him lose control. His body hardened as she pressed against him, the slippery fabric of her dress a rippable nothing between them.
He wanted the icy gold in her eyes. The ferocity of her mouth and her hands, the heat pouring from her body, betraying her ice-queen armor.
He wantedher.
He dragged her to the bedroom, his own fingers digging mercilessly into her waist as she dragged him into another kiss.
