A wicked spark lit his eyes. “Many, many times.”
“What’s wrong with you? Did I hit you too hard on the head?”
“My mate lives with me,” he said. “In the Keep.”
“Have you had many mates before?”
He gave me a look reserved for the mentally challenged. “I had lovers.”
“So this is a new rule you made up on the spot?”
“That’s a perk of being the Beast Lord. You get to make up rules.”
Going to the Keep was out of the question. They were already in danger, but it would be nothing compared to what would happen if I moved in. Curran protected his people, and I endangered them. I forced my voice to sound normal. “Any other Curran rules I need to know about? Might as well get them out now, so I can veto all of them.”
“You don’t get to veto my rules,” he said.
I laughed. “This will never work.”
We looked at each other.
“Let’s trade,” he said. “You tell me what you have to have and I’ll tell you what I want.”
He was trying to negotiate. I must’ve won a victory somewhere. Either that or last night was as good for him as it was for me. “Okay.”
He invited me with a wave of his fork. “You start.”
“The Order is off the table,” I said. “I’m not quitting.”
“I didn’t say you had to.” He leveled a heavy stare on me.
“But since you insist, I agree. The Order is off the table. My turn.”
Danger, danger . . . “Okay.”
“Monogamy,” he stated flatly. “While you’re with me, I’m the only one. Anybody else touches you and I’ll kill them.”
“What if I accidentally bump into someone?”
Gold flashed in his eyes. “Don’t.”
Apparently he refused to feel humorous about this situation. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You said yourself, I’m a control freak. I’m a jealous, possessive bastard and I’m not as human as some. You have no idea what last night cost me. Betray me and I’ll kill him. If you don’t want to be with me, tell me. Don’t go behind my back. I’m trying to be as honest as I can. So there are no surprises.”
“You do realize that killing the other male makes no sense. If I cheat on you, I’m at fault, not him. He didn’t promise you anything.”
“It’s not about logic. That’s the way Pack works. I would be within my rights to kill anyone trying to take my mate. I would be expected to do it, I’d want to do it, and I would do it.”
I pointed the fork at him. “Fine. But the parade stops now.”
“What parade?”
“Your girlfriend parade.”
His eyebrows crept up. “Girlfriend parade?”
“Curran, you cheat on me and we’re done. That’s fair.”
“Kate, it goes both ways. If anyone tries to make a pass at me, you’re welcome to their throat.”
“I don’t care about people making passes at you. I only care if you act on it.”
“Agreed. The girlfriend parade stops.” He bared his teeth in a happy feral grin. My own personal psycho. “I kind of figured that out when you melted the lock on my guestroom in a fit of jealousy.”
“You don’t say.” I picked at my omelet.
“My turn. The not-talking thing—we’ll never do that again.”
“Boy, that really bugged you, did it?”
He growled. “Yes, it did.”
“Okay. I promise never to stop talking to you. You may come to regret this.”
He grimaced. “I’m sure. We can discuss it in more detail, at the Keep.”
“And what will the rest of your subjects think about that?”
He shrugged. “The Pack functions best when hierarchy is clear. Right now most people don’t know why I was irritable, and those who do know are unsure where we stand, so everyone is walking on eggshells. It will be better once the Pack sees us together.”
No matter what rocks I threw at him, he refused to deviate from his course. I chose my words very carefully. “I’d rather they didn’t.”
He sat completely still. His voice gained a low dangerous edge. “Are you ashamed of being with me?”
“No.”
His face slid into a flat unreadable expression. “Is it because I’m a shapeshifter?”
“No, it’s because you’re the Beast Lord.”
He leaned back. “Care to elaborate?”
“My value is in my impartiality. I can approach the People, the Pack, the druids, or the Witch Oracle, because it’s clear I don’t take sides. I’m able to function effectively only if I’m neutral. Sleeping with you destroys my impartiality. You won’t tolerate someone who isn’t loyal to you, so the moment I acknowledge being with you, everyone who ever had a problem with the Pack will stop talking to me. That’s only part of the issue.”
“Is there more?”
If I had any hope for the two of us, I’d have to tell him everything.
The thought froze me in my seat.
“Kate?” he asked softly.
I opened my mouth and tried to make words come out. They didn’t.
He reached over and covered my hand with his.
I couldn’t tell him. Not yet.
I had to find some other reasons and so I stuck to things that had gotten me through the misery of the last few weeks. “How many women have you slept with?”
He pulled back and crossed his arms, making his biceps bulge. “Don’t do this.”
“It’s a legitimate question,” I said.
“How many men have you slept with?”
“You’re my third. Answer the question.”
“Well, are we counting long-term partners or one-night stands?”
I sighed. “Would you like to count partners only?”
He grimaced. “Less than twenty.”
“Would you care to elaborate?”
He mulled it over. “Eighteen.”
“And how many of them lived in the Keep with you?”
The answer came a little quicker. “Seven, but none shared my rooms.”
“What do you mean, they didn’t share your rooms? Where did you . . .”
“In their quarters.”
I laughed. “Oh, so you graced them with your nocturnal presence in the bimbo room, Your Majesty? Like Zeus, in a blaze of golden light?”
He showed me the edge of his teeth. “They liked it.”
Arrogant ass. “Sure. So why don’t you let women in your rooms?”
“Because being in my rooms means being in a position of power.”
If he thought I would stay in a bimbo room when this was over, he was out of luck.
I would be dead when this was over.