Page 9 of A Worthy Opponent
She snaps her fingers next to her face. “Stop staring at my tits.”
“I like the dress.”
Her green eyes narrow. “I didn’t put it on for you.” She turns to look out the window, and I mourn the fact that the dress hides her ass and thighs. The woman isthick, and I fucking love it. She’s always been beautiful, but when I knew her before, it was a fragile kind of thing that seemed on the verge of shattering. Too skinny. Too afraid. Not taking care of herself, though it was no fault of her own.
I’ve watched her find herself over the years. Find her style. Find her confidence. Find her Don’t Fuck With Me attitude. The fact she won’t give me the time of day only makes me respect her more. The woman she’s become doesn’t fuck around.
I’m putting her in one hell of a position, but I’m not a good enough person to be sorry for it.
She moves around the desk and perches on the edge of it. It puts her a few inches higher than me while I’m sitting, and I let her have the power position. Tink finally curses. “It’s in your best interest for Peter to disappear. Explain to me why I need to marry you in order to make it happen.”
Something went down since I saw her last. I study her expression. Evidence of it is there in the tight line of her mouth and the tense way she holds herself. I missed it before because I was too busy ogling her. She’sscared.
I go still. “He got to you.”
“He made an appearance,” she agreed.
Fuck. I hadn’t expected him to move so fast. She’s been out from under Hades’s thumb fewer than twelve hours. I thought we’d have more time to figure shit out, but I should have known better. “Agree to my bargain, Tink. I’ll take care of it.”
“I still don’t get whatyouget out of it.”
“I getyou.”I get safety for my people … until the next supposed badass with a grudge comes calling.I wait for her to look at meand give her a slow grin. “I think we can both agree that you’re worth it.”
She shakes her head. “You can’t honestly think I’m naive enough to believe that.”
No, I really don’t. She’s always been too smart for everyone else’s good. She won’t believe me if I tell her the truth. Tink has already cast me as the villain, and I’m more than happy to play to type. Easier than trying to explain what being the leader of this territory has cost me, what it willcontinueto cost me. I’m selfish enough to want a reward for all the sacrifices I’ve made, and that reward looks a whole lot like the pretty blond glaring at me right now. I shrug. “Believe what you want. I laid out the terms. Agree or don’t.” I make a conscious effort to stay relaxed and keep my breathing even. As if everything isn’t hanging in the balance while she considers me.
“Let me see if I have this straight. In return for his head on a platter, I have to marry you, fuck you, and submit to you.” She ticks each item off a finger, leaving her middle one up. “Sounds like bullshit from where I’m sitting.”
“You submit in the bedroom. I’m not looking for a fucking slave.” That kind of submission, the sort that bleeds over into every part of life, is exhausting just thinking about. I have enough people to worry about without adding that to my list. Beyond that, IlikeTink’s attitude and her determination to be a little fucking brat.
“I don’t want to have sex with you.”
I burst out laughing. She looks so cranky, I can’t help it. “Lie to yourself if you want to. Don’t lie to me. You most definitely want to have sex with me. It pisses you off, but it’s the truth.”
She looks like she wants to chuck something at my head. “Am I going to have to repeat every single thing I say to get itthrough that suffocating ego of yours? I. Do. Not. Want. To. Have. Sex. With. You.”
“Fine. Sex is off the table.”
If anything, she looks more suspicious. “You agreed to that too easily.”
I want Tink in my bed, yes, but I want her there willingly. Breaking this woman isn’t on my agenda. It never was. I stretch my arms over my head and fight a grin at the way she tries so hard not to check me out. “Here are the updated terms. I will not negotiate further. You marry me. I kill Peter. When you decide you’re tired of playing hard to get, you’ll crawl to me and beg for my cock. I’m all too happy to give it to you any way you like.Everyway you like.”
Her pretty pink lips form a perfect O of shock. “You’ve lost your mind.”
“Wrong. I’m simply not in the habit of lying to myself the way you are.”
She wipes the surprise from her expression and is back to glaring at me again. “What’s the point of forcing me to marry you if it’s a total sham of a marriage?”
I lift my brows. “Not all marriages have sex, Tink. That’s a very narrow worldview you have.”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it. Stop baiting me.”
“Stop making it so easy.”
She makes a sound like a pissed off teakettle. “If you force the matrimony issue, and then turn around and fuck your way through the territory, it’s going to make me look like a fool.”
She’s already decided to marry me. I have to work to keep the smugness out of my tone. Tink’s exactly where I want her, and as soon as she signs the papers and accepts the ring, she’ll be fighting herself as well as me to stay out of my bed. Iidly twist the ring on my left thumb. “I’ll honor my vows unless you tell me not to.”
