Page 8 of Her Vampire, His Ruin

“I think you’ve had one too many alcoholic beverages tonight, given you’re reading into things that aren’t there.”

“I don’t drink.”

“Of course you don’t,” she replies with a huff.

“At least not alcohol.”

“Coffee, your vice, is it?”

“Something like that.” I step closer, and she backs up against the chair we were just sitting on. “Why did my words hurt you? They did earlier when I first began massaging your feet, and they did so again just now,” I persist.

“They did not.”

“Edie, stop lying.”

“You’re being very overfamiliar,” she retorts.

“I want to know what triggered your pain just now. Tell me.”

“It’s actually none of your business,” she snaps, turning her head away from me.

Reaching for her chin, I make a tutting sound. “You don’t strike me as a coward.”

Her eyes thin as I cup her jaw, unable to stop myself from thumbing her plump bottom lip.

“I’m not a coward,” she replies, a little muffled, given that my thumb is obstructing her mouth.

“Oh no? Then tell me why my words hurt you.”

“Because…” her voice trails off as my thumb slides to her jaw and my middle finger swirls over her pulse.

“Because?” I question, gazing deep into her eyes and trying my best to get her to yield to me. She brazenly stares back, completely unaffected.

“I’m not sure how you expect me to respond whilst you’re looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

She tips her head to the side, studying me. “Like you want to kiss me or… kill me.”

“I do.”

She blanches, her skin paling, and I realise my mistake.

“I do want to kiss you. I thought that was obvious by now.”

“I’m still not entirely certain you don’t want to murder me as well, Casanova.”

“I don’t want to murder you, Edie. I want you to tell me why my words hurt you, then I want to kiss you goodnight.”

“Just goodnight?” she questions, her pulse thrumming beneath my finger like a moth trapped in a glass jar.

“For now. Yes.”

“That’s presumptuous.”

“Just the truth.”

“And if I kiss you, you’ll let me go?”