Miranda was strung even tighter than before.
“Is this about yesterday?”
Instead of answering, those luscious, perfectly kissable lips pursed.
It was. I didn’t know if she was embarrassed, ashamed, or disgusted of what happened, or because it happened with me.
A better man would tell her what she wanted to hear.
It won’t happen again.
We can keep it professional.
But I wasn’t a man at all. I was a half-feral god who scented a woman more powerful, more resilient than any immortal I’d encountered. So I wouldn’t lie to her.
Ididn’twant to respect her boundaries. I wanted to cross these bars and plow straight through her emotional barriers and get to her the way she got to me. I wanted her obsessed, smitten, and hungry as fuck for more of me.
So I did something else. I pushed one of her big bright red buttons.
“Are you telling me you are afraid to play Candy Land, a child’s game with me?” I scoffed, arranging my face in the most condescending smirk, as if I’d known she was a lowly human without a backbone all along.
It couldn’t be further than the truth, but Miranda couldn’t know that I was a god ready to worship at her mortal feet. For one more kiss, one more death.
The trepidation hardened in her eyes. I’d hit my mark, but I needed another strike or two.
“You’re afraid you can’t control yourself around me because you are falling in love with me, sweetheart? Because if you can’t manage this simple task, we might as well forget about blade training.” I let my lip curl in disgust.
Her posture stiffened.
Just one more little push.
I raised my hands as I let my expression smooth with indifference. “But my mistake, I didn’t know you’d be so emotional about boardgames. I’ll put it away.”
Something defiant flashed in her eyes as her nostrils flared.
My heart stuttered at seeing her riled up. It beat out an excited message of anticipation.
Miranda stalked over to the control panel and hit the button opening my cage. “Let’s get this over with so I can kick your ass,afterI finish kicking your ass.” She dropped into the chair across from me.
As the doors to my cage opened, I knew I had her right where I wanted her. I grinned, savoring the thrill of the chase, knowing that every move I made was a calculated risk, and every breath I took brought me closer to my ultimate goal.
Time. I just earned myself more time with Ms. Badass herself.
Miranda sat across from me, eyes flashing with defiance as she glared at me over the game board.
I leaned forward, locking eyes with her. "You know I'm going to beat you this time, right?" I said, trying to goad her into a response.
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "In your dreams, beast boy. You cheated last time, but it didn’t help you then. What makes you think it will help you now?"
I darkly chuckled, picked up and shuffled the cards with colored squares on them. "Oh, you think you're so clever, don't you?" My voice dripped with sarcasm. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve this time. And don't worry, I'll play fair."
“Oh that’s reassuring,” she said dryly, then sniffed. “Even if you cheat, I’ll still kick your ass. Just like last time.”
Her competitive mode had been activated and she wasn’t even thinking about what had happened after the game yesterday. I liked her in here, in these bars with me, comfortable and unafraid.
ButIcouldn’t forget a single sensation about the softness of her full lips or the inferno she made explode to life inside me yesterday.
Miranda pulled a card first, the colored blocks determining how far her little gingerbread man could go. Her face was a tight mask of fierce intensity. We went on for a couple rounds, our cards keeping us neck in neck on the board.
