“I wasn’t asking for your love. I was showing what it would be like if you had mine,” I growled, before pushing away from him. I watched his angry back as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door so hard that the wood cracked in protest.
I stood rigid and finally moved across the room to dress. It took several moments to make my mind function and find the bag of clothes at the foot of the bed. I heard him re-enter the bedroom as I pulled on a black bra, thong, and jeans and slipped quickly into the black long sleeved shirt before turning around to face him. He had a mask on his emotions and stood stiff and rigid. Angry. “I already have you, Syn. I never asked for love.”
“Good, because I couldn’t give it to you while you owned me anyway. It would be missing the whole point of giving freely. You take because you can; because it's how you are. You have had me in every possible way, and, yet, you haven't had me yet. That's what pisses you off about Adrian. He's had me, all of me. He's had all of me willingly—without having to own me to do so.”
“What the fuck makes you think I care who you fucked freely? It only matters to me who you fuck while I own you, Synthia. Right now, you are mine. Don’t confuse fucking with any other emotion. I fuck, I feed. I don't need to make excuses for what I do to anyone. You need to get it through your stubborn little skull that I am Fae, and not one of your pathetic little humans.”
I pushed the angry tears away. “Good.”
“Good,” he growled back.
We walked stiffly together to the elevator, and stopped with him standing directly behind me. I stood firm and inflexible as his hand reached over my shoulder to punch in the code to get to the higher levels of the club. Neither of us said anything, but I could feel his eyes burning into my flesh at the back of my neck.
“Do you still love Adrian?” he asked quietly after a few moments had passed.
“Yes,” I replied crisply. “He was my first love. I may not love him as I did then, but there will always be love between us. Even when I marry, or he does, love doesn’t just go away. But, don’t worry… I'm no longer in love with him, but I will always love him.”
“Not if I got rid of him,” he growled, forcing me to turn around and face him.
“Jealous? Because, right now, you sound like a jealous lover. Why would it matter if I loved him? I'm your whore right now. Your contract said I couldn't have physical contact with another person sexually. I'm following your rules. You can't control what I feel and what I don’t. Your contract said nothing about emotions, Fairy.”
“I don’t get jealous often, and, when I do, I take care of the problem, and right now his mooning over you is a problem.”
“He's looking for closure. We grew up together. We were kids. Stupid kids that thought we could make something work. He isn't in love with me. He’s probably in love with the idea of being in love.”
“And yet you admit that you still love him.” He narrowed his bronze eyes on me.
“Yes, I also love Adam. I love Alden, and I loved Larissa. I still love Larissa; she's dead, but that doesn't make the love I have for her just shut off. If you had ever known love, you'd know this. Nothing can force love to go away. You grow apart, or grow up, but it's still there. You still care what happens to them, and if you make Adrian go away over that, then you're just showing how stupid you are. Even without him near, I'd still love him.”
“I'm not sure what I want to do more right now; strangle you, kiss you, fuck you, or all three.”
“I don’t suggest you try any of them right now. Right now, I’d do the first to you and forget the rest, Fairy.”
His smile was impishly sinful and dark. “I'd be careful. You could end up chained to the bed inside the room you just left. You’re still in Transition. I'd be within my rights to keep you locked up until you learn to sift without landing on your knees at my feet.”
“Go ahead! It doesn't mean I would need to feed while chained. It would only prove you need to own pretty things, Fairy. You think being Fae gives you the right to own me? Well, it doesn't. The only thing holding me here is the contract, and it's almost up. Remember that.”
He grinned, but it was anything but friendly. “It hasn’t slipped my mind, I assure you.”