“No, I don’t.” He frowned, his entire face angled in one way or another.
Intriguing. She could spend an entire century just deciphering his expressions. “Sure. You keep me in style and show up for a good lay once in a while. How convenient.”
His nostrils flared. “If we mate, we’re the only people we can have sex with. If either of us tries to get intimate with somebody else, the mating allergy kicks in, and it totally sucks. Think the worse attack of poison ivy imaginable.”
“Then therearerequirements you want.” The idea of sex with him shot a welcomed energy through her body to pulse in her erogenous zones. Yet she was no man’s plaything, whether he saved her life or not. “I think you need to be a little clearer with your demands here.”
“I thought it was obvious.”
Truth be told, he did seem a little surprised by her response. She took a deep breath. “Here’s the deal. I want to live.”
“Good.” His expression smoothed out.
“But I’m not willing to be a mistress.” God, she wanted to live. To see the future. To have children. “I understand we can only have sex with each other, and I do like sex.” At least she’d used to like it. “I’m not a sure thing. Meaning, you have no rights to me.”
He studied her, energy radiating from him and brushing along her flesh. “First of all, no woman is ever a sure thing. Even during my time as a pirate on the high seas, I never forced a woman. Any and every time is your choice, and I would never force you. Ever.”
Her chest settled. “Good. We’re on the same page. And second?”
He leaned in, his nose nearly touching hers. “Second of all, if we mate, I have every right to you. Don’t you ever forget it.”
Chapter 2
Jared made sure he had the brunette’s attention, giving her the full truth. Oh, he’d never force her, but mating came with obligations and responsibilities. Mainly, her life became his to protect.
Why did modern women think they were invincible?
Somehow, he wasn’t getting his point across. It seemed as if she thought they’d mate and he’d go on his merry way and out of her life. While he didn’t want a traditional mating or love, he also didn’t want to be cast out into the cold. Who would take care of her?
Her bourbon-colored eyes darkened. Challenge and defiance filled them. A light pink brushed across her bronze skin. For the first time, he could see the woman she’d been before becoming ill.
Something awoke inside him. Power pulsed through his veins in an unconscious beat, and his lungs heated. His cock perked. No. Definitely…no. This was a fragile human, and he needed to remember that fact.
Forever.
He blinked away the image of who she could become and concentrated on the blue tinge to her lips and the frightening breakable bones beneath her smooth skin. “Do you have anybody to protect you?” he asked, wondering where her family was.
“Yeah. Me.” She crossed her arms.
His breath sped up. “How about you lose the attitude and we talk?” Before he lost every one of his good intentions and kissed the chin she now jutted out. There was also a fullness to her mouth that made his ache to taste.
She swallowed. “I’m fine with talking, but you should check your own attitude.”
His lips twitched. God, she was cute—spitting at him like a kitten hissing at a panther. “I’ll ask again. Do you have family?”
“Just Olivia, whom I’ve known since preschool,” Ronni said, her eyes clouding. “I lost my parents when I was twenty in a small plane wreck. No siblings, no other family.” She hunched into herself and yet kept her head up.
Strong. The woman had a strength he hadn’t noticed. “I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “You?”
“Mother and two brothers,” he said. “You met my entire family earlier today.”
They’d had a little problem to deal with, and Ronni had been present to help. Then he’d offered to mate her after discovering her illness, and here they were.
She cleared her throat. “I’m not the right woman for you.”
No. The right woman had followed duty, out of obedience, and mated somebody else. “You could be,” he said softly.
