Page 58 of The Way You Bite
Chapter Nineteen
They started arguing the second they stepped onto the porch of the borrowed house Lexan had used to set up headquarters.
“I’m contacting my aunt.” Vee tossed her head and gave him a squinty eye glare of defiance.
“No.” Lexan’s temper flared. Jesus, she was driving him nuts with herthis won’t workmantra. Her stubbornness made him want to punch something. “You’ll stay off the radar of all American vampires until you are out of this country. No calls. No emails. No texts. Nothing.”
“You can bark out orders all you want, Your Highness. I’m not one of your subjects.”
“When it comes to your safety, youwilllisten to me.” He shifted all his weight off his injured leg, which burned. Not with the agony of a fresh wound, but with a dull thud. Unusual, since he healed almost immediately after injury. The silver wasn’t gone. Bad news. It might’ve rooted in his muscle when he shifted back in the medical room.
Her tone changed. “I understand safety, but please stop being a dictator. There’s got to be a way to safely contact my aunt. She doesn’t deserve to worry when she hears about what just happened with Ambrose through the grapevine. How about a quick text?”
“Definitely not safe.” All discomfort was forgotten. He purposely advanced to invade her personal space, where he could tower above her, making her see how much he was in charge.
She poked him in the chest. “You don’t scare me.”
“You should be scared.” Her noncompliance pushed him to establish which one of them controlled this situation. Didn’t she understand he had to take care of her? Mates only came along once for each wolf. Once. That made her precious. If he lost her… He couldn’t even conceive of it.
“Really? I should be afraid?” Her gaze dropped to his mouth as she leaned forward, bumping her pelvis against his erection. “How scared?”
His body jolted. He stared, transfixed, as her tongue moistened her lips.
“Right now, I’m in charge of your safety. Of your life. I will kill anyone who threatens you. So you damn well better listen to me. Every vamp in this country has you on their kill list.”
She grabbed the knife off his belt lightning fast and pressed it against his jugular. “I can handle myself.”
Lexan waved off TC. “I’m not questioning your ability to defend yourself. This threat is too big.”
“You’re right.” She blinked up at him without a hint of submission in her green eyes. Oh, he liked that. A lot. He pushed the knife away, bent, and pressed his lips flush to hers. Her mouth opened on a sigh as she swayed toward him and dropped the knife. As his arm wrapped her waist, pulling her tight to him, he slanted his mouth to deepen the kiss, taking exactly what he’d wanted since their argument began. Control.
His tongue brushed against hers and then along her teeth. She gasped when his tongue touched one of her elongated canines. With a soft groan, she slid her hand up his arms and down his chest to clutch his shirt in her fist, holding him in place. She pulled him deeper. His mind spun with a base instinct to have her naked. They needed this. He wanted this. Right here against the side of the house.
Damn it, he was supposed to be the one in charge here. Not her.
She’d stolen his mind. Again.
He dug deep for restraint. This couldn’t happen right now. Not with Julio and his cohort inside. Not with TC watching.
But kissing her was so right. He wished he could forget the world and its problems. Then he could take this where they both needed it to go.
He softened the kiss and released her mouth.
“You’re pretty persuasive.” She bit back a smile.
Damn it. The seductress knew what she’d done to him. Who knew he liked it.
Screw the meeting. Screw the world. “Never argue with me.” He leaned forward to pick up where he’d left off.
She craned her head backward to avoid his mouth. “You can kiss me all you want, but no matter how good it may be, I will find a way to communicate with my aunt.”
He almost fell to his knees, so genuine was his pleasure at her continued challenge. His animal side, who enjoyed a good fight with a strong opponent, loved this game. “I’ll win, if you don’t obey.”
“You’ll try to win, but it’ll be you begging me by the time we’re done.”
“Maybe.”But it’ll be a fun fight.“We can probably find some way to contact her, but only once we’re out of this country.”
A throat cleared nearby.
