Page 21 of Twisted Desire

“That’s never stopped you from sleeping with me before,” I point out, irritation inching its way into my tone.

He turns his face to look at me. “Maybe it should have.”

My eyes narrow. “Or maybe you should get over it.”

He sits up. “Seriously?” his tone is harder now.

I follow suit. “Yeah. Seriously. You want to have sex? Fine. I’m all for it. But this?” I gesture between us. “I’m not here to get close and share some touching experience with you.”

He slides off the bed, raking his fingers through his hair. “That’s your loss,” he says, walking toward the other bed. He pulls the covers back and gets in, lying on his side, facing away from me.

I stare at his back for several beats, profanities echoing in my head. Part of me wants to punch him for what he said, what he’s doing—but the other part wants what he wants. I just can’t admit that.

He’ll ruin me without even trying.

With a sharp scowl, I flick the lamp between our beds off and drown the room in darkness.

- SEVEN -

I get up before Nikolai and slip away, stopping in the other room to grab my clothes so I can use the hotel fitness room. I’ve got enough pent-up frustration to burn through at least an hour-long workout.

I try not to show my surprise when Allison walks into the room in black yoga pants and a tank top.

“Morning,” she says.

“I never pictured you as an early riser.” I pause. “In fact, Iknowyou’re not. And since when do you work out?”

She shrugs, tying her hair into a bun on the top of her head. “Would I rather be sleeping right now? Hell to the yes. But I can’t. I barely slept all night. All I can think about is what’s going to happen after today’s meeting. I know it’s dangerous, and I’m trying really freaking hard not to be afraid, but I can’t help it.”

I set the kettlebell I was using on the floor and face her. “It’s okay to be afraid, so long as you don’t allow the fear to consume you.”

“Right, and how exactly do I do that when we’ve all got so much to lose?”

I grab my water bottle and gulp some of it down. “You’re doing good,” I tell her. “You’re here fighting for our freedom like the rest of us. We’re all doing the best we can.”

“What if it’s not enough?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Now she sounds like I did last night.

I sigh. “Look, I’m not really good at pep talks, Allison. If you’re in need of motivation or whatever, you should probably talk to Nikolai.”

She wrinkles her nose. “I’d rather not.”

I can’t help but grin. “Yeah, I get that.” I grab a medicine ball from the shelf.

“Can I tell you something?” she asks in a small voice.

I tilt my head, waiting for her to say more.

“I, uh, sort of like Monica.”

“Okay,” I say. “You mean—?”

Her cheeks go red. “Romantically or whatever. Yeah.”

I offer her a smile. It’s not something I do often or would like to make a habit of doing, but this moment warrants it. “Good for you. She’s hot.” Max’s family always had superior genes. They were all insanely good looking. Hell, most fae are—and we damn well know it, too.

She snorts. “Well, duh. We’ve been getting pretty close since Max...” she trails off. “Anyway, I don’t know what to do.”

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