Addict (Hunter #2)(21)

Marcus ignored his prisoner. His arm showed no signs that he couldn’t hold him there all night long. His fangs were out, and he enunciated clearly around them. Nothing in his face told me he wasn’t completely serious about what he said next. “You will obey me in this or we will be done, my mistress.”

I took a tight rein on my anger, but couldn’t help flipping him the bird as I turned away. He wanted to play that way? Oh, I would show him. I could walk out on anyone. I could burn my own f*cking house down without a thought. I was not the girl who took ultimatums well. I would get dressed and walk right away from him.

I stalked into the bedroom and was assaulted by lilies. I stopped, staring at this room we were supposed to share. Marcus had filled it with gorgeous flowers. My favorite flowers.

They were tasteful, as was everything Marcus did. There were Asian lilies on the dresser and on the small table beside the bookshelf where he’d stocked my favorite books. Sitting in the middle of the bed was a wrapped bouquet of gorgeous orange and black lilies. They were the kind my mother used to grow in the tiny bed in front of our crappy duplex. Sometimes those lilies were the only beautiful things in my life. I’d told Marcus about them one night while we lay together in front of the fire.

I touched the lilies and felt all of my anger flee. Even the she-wolf kind of yawned and gave up. How could I stay mad at a man who remembered almost everything I ever told him? I was used to walking away the minute something went wrong, but my life had changed three months before. I couldn’t walk out. I needed Marcus more than I needed my pride.

I walked to the closet and liked the fact that my clothes were on the right side of the huge walk-in while his suits and sweaters hung neatly on the left side. I selected a pair of well-made black slacks and a ruby red sweater.

Marcus was a man of his time. Trying to treat him like the dudes I dated in college wasn’t fair to him. He made no secret of it. He enjoyed the modern world and gave me an enormous amount of latitude. He never minded when I took the lead or cussed or got into a fight. He merely asked that I be faithful to him, and part of that for Marcus was a certain amount of modesty. If I’d thought about it for two seconds, I would have seen it from his point of view. I was half naked in front of another man. It was bound to bother Marcus. I was going to have to apologize.

I don’t like to apologize.

I slipped on black boots with a small heel and went to brush out my hair. Marcus had slowly gotten rid of every ponytail holder I owned, so I was forced to leave it long. I selected one item of jewelry. It was the only piece I possessed. It was a small red and gold heart made from Venetian glass. I fell in love with it while at a jeweler’s in Venice. Marcus bought it for me. Normally I didn’t wear jewelry of any kind, but I was conceding this argument, and he liked to see me wear it.

When I was certain I looked every inch the lady, I walked back out.

Marcus had let Trent down and was pacing the floor. Trent was sitting on the couch massaging his neck.

“Better?” I asked Marcus in an even tone that let him know I wasn’t willing to fight anymore. We’d only had a few fights. They tended to end with Marcus and I throwing down with some raucous sex. We didn’t have time for that tonight, so I didn’t want to fight.

Marcus didn’t look even slightly guilty as he studied me from well-groomed head to properly accessorized toe. In his mind, he’d been completely in the right. “You look lovely.” He approached me and gently touched the heart I was wearing. “But then, you always do.” He kissed me. I got the feeling it made our wolf guest uncomfortable. “Thank you, cara mia. I’ll leave you alone to work now. I must go and have a discussion with our king. Mr. Wilcox says he has come on some business. You will be fine without me, no?”

I wrapped my arms around his lean waist and went on tiptoes to kiss him again. I sighed as he deepened the kiss and wound his hands in my hair. It wasn’t something he would normally do. He wasn’t a big fan of the PDA. In public he would hold my hand and he would give me a light kiss. Tonight, he seemed to have something to prove.

When he let me up, I answered him. “I’ll be fine. I’ll be late, though. I have some stuff to do on a case.”

“See me before you leave, Kelsey,” Marcus said, walking to the door. “I would not have you go out without making sure you are protected.”

I nodded, trying hard not to get too excited by what that meant. He would share his blood with me. It would blow my mind. I wasn’t a companion. I wasn’t his wife. By all vampire traditions, he shouldn’t share his blood with me unless he needed to save my life. He couldn’t seem to help himself though. He came up with some flimsy excuses, and I always took them. The truth was, I wanted that blood. No drug ever made me feel the way Marcus’s blood did.

The door closed behind him. I was left alone with Trent Wilcox, * werewolf and the king’s official lackey. He also had shoulders about a mile wide. Not that I noticed or anything.

“Sorry,” I said, not sounding sorry at all. “He can be a little possessive at times.”

“He’s f*cking insane is what he is, Kelsey.” Trent growled, the sound way more animal than man. It was odd but I found that growl slightly comforting. “Do you have any idea the things he threatened to do to me if I so much as look at you the wrong way again?”

“I can only imagine.” It was nice to see Trent on the ropes for once. “You’ll have to forgive him. He cares for me. He doesn’t understand that other men don’t have any interest in me at all.”