“Did I hurt you?” he demanded.
Isabelle frowned at the worry, and concern, in his voice. She lifted her head to look down at him. He was studying her with intense, dark eyes, the worry apparent in the pinched lines around his mouth and eyes. “No, why would you think that?”
He continued to search her face intently, obviously not believing what she had told him. “I know I hurt you last night.”
“Only a little,” she assured him.
“And today, it was too soon, I should have waited a day or two before taking you again.”
She smiled sweetly down at him as she shook herhead. “I would have taken you.”
He laughed loudly as hepulledher down for a long, lingering kiss. “Would you now?” he murmured against her lips.
“Yes, I would,” she said with a fierce nod and a soft smile.
“I wasn’t too rough with you?”
“No,” she assuredhim, her fingers lightly curledinto the hair on his chest. To his utter amazement he felt himself growing hard again as she smiled seductively down at him.
“Next time, we’ll goslowlyand I’ll teach you how to make love.”
Herforeheadfurrowed as she stared at him in confusion. “I thought we already did.”
He laughed softly as he shook his head. “No, there is so much more to learn, and I am going to enjoy teaching youallof it.”
Her eyes darkened as she bit into her bottom lip. “I see,” she whispered.
Isabelle lowered her lashes before he could see the hurt that tore through her. She had managed to forget all of her fears about her inadequacy in her happiness to see him, to have him, but they all came flying rapidly back to her now. His words had made her realize just how little she did know, and howverymuch hedid.
She wanted to crawl out of the bed and run away from him, but she didn’t want him to know how hurt she was. It would help if he would at least say something to reassure her, tell her that she hadn’t been a disappointment, or even worse, completely awful, but she would die before she ever asked him about it.
“Isabelle.” She turned back to him, hopeful that he had somehow sensed her insecurity and was going to reassure her. “I told youyouwouldn’t kick me out of your room.”
Her mouth dropped open as her eyes widened in shock. There was a teasing gleam in his eyes, but his words, coupled with her doubts, brought a surge of anger spurting forth. She rolled instantly awayandclimbedquickly out of the bed. “Hey, come back here!” he protested laughingly.
Isabelle’s anger flashed boiled at the sound of his mocking, taunting laughter. “No!” she snapped as she made her way to the bathroom.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded.
She spun to face him, planting her hands on her hips as she glared angrily at him. “Why can’t you ever just say something nice? Why do you always have to be such an arrogant ass!?” she nearly screeched.
Stefan’s eyes widened in surprise,he would have been amused by her obvious ire, and especially her stance, if it wasn’t for the hurt blazing fiercely from her eyes, a hurt that he didn’t understand. He had only been teasing her, but it was apparent that she had taken it the wrong way. “Isabelle...”
“You know what, just get out! Get out now!”
Anger snapped through him as he thrust the tangled sheet away and sat up. Isabelle’s eyes narrowed as she fiercely met his gaze. “I am not going anywhere,” he growled.
“Yes, you are. I want you to leave.”
Normally he wouldn’t have gotten so incensed, but after thetorment of the past three dayshearing her telling him to get outwas not something that he was willing to tolerate. Hell, he knew she had been just as miserable as he had, but she was more than willing to toss him out of her life again, and thelast thing he wanted was to lose her. It was that knowledge that made his angerescalateto rapid, volatileproportions. He had no idea how he had allowed her to get so much control over him, when it was obvious that he had almost none over her. It absolutely infuriated him.
“I don’t care what the hell you want!” he snapped. “I’m not going anywhere just because you can’t take a joke!”
Her eye blazedwith anger and unshed tears.“You’re an insensitive, cruel,idiot! Get out, and don’t come back!”
The tears nearly blinded her as she whirled quickly and darted into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She was acting like an idiot, she knew that, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. The last thing she wanted was for him to leaveagain.She had just wanted him toreassure her, to ease all of her doubtsand fears. Instead, he had managed to make her feel even weaker than she had already proven herself to be around him, and even more insecure. His words about teaching her how to make love, telling her that there was so much that she didn’t know, on top of his smug superiority about getting into her bed, were more than she could handle.
There was no way she could ever compete with the women of his past, and she didn’t want to. All she had wanted was for him to tell her that she was special, that she was different,that she wasn’t just another conquest. Not to remind her that she was just like every other woman that hadn’t been able to refuse him. She slid onto the counter, drawing her legs up as she buried her head in her handsandtears slid freely down her face.
