“The thing about respect, Leon, is that you have to earn it.” She tilts her head to one side. “And you’ve done nothing but lie to me since you put this ring on my finger.”
7
MIA
Iwatch Leon carefully as my words register.
For a moment, there’s a ghost of something reminiscent of regret that flashes behind his eyes. But he quickly schools his expression into something more neutral as he takes another sip of his drink.
“I’ll save us an argument, shall I?” he says once he puts his glass back down.
His lips are damp with whiskey. I don’t stare. I don’t.
“I deny whatever you’re accusing me of. You don’t believe me because I’ve not given you any reason to. Which leads to another fruitless discussion regarding the likelihood of ever being able to trust each other and one of us storming out the room.”
“I don’t storm,” I say petulantly.
Leon regards me for a thoughtful moment. “No, you’re correct. Youscorch.”
The way he says it sounds more like a compliment, which only serves to rile me up more.
“Seeing as you have us both all figured out, I suppose there’s nothing left for us to say.” I step off the stool and stand before him, suddenly quite close to him. “If you will excuse me, I apparently have some earth to scorch.”
For a moment, he doesn’t move an inch. He looks down at me intensely, and I try not to feel crowded by him, try not to remember how it felt to be held in his embrace. I try not to think of his lips on my neck.
We were closer than this then. We could be close again.
His eyes drop lower.
We could…I could…
I push into him roughly, and the surprise of the movement makes him stumble back a step. It gives me the opening I need to leave, and I take it.
I don’t anticipate the speed of his recovery.
Hands grab the wrists that pushed him, pinning them down to the counter behind me.
He’s suddenly much, much closer. His chest presses firmly into mine as he holds me right there, entirely at his disposal. Black pepper and rum spice overwhelm my senses.
“This doesn’t have to be difficult.” His breath is in my ear, my neck. My hands would shake if they weren’t pinned down. “I could make this very, very good for you.”
He can hear my heartbeat, I’m sure of it. I can feel it trying to burst out of my chest. Betrayed by my body, I feel myself tilting away from him, exposing more of my neck.
“I don’t want any of this,” I say to try and rectify my actions, but it comes out in a whisper.
Lips press just below my ear. “None of it?”
It takes every morsel of strength I can muster to remind myself why I’m here. Whywe’rehere. I struggle to remember who this man is to me beyond the way he can touch me, the way he can bring me to life with only his words.
His touch, his kiss, it’s all torture. It’s so warm, and it feels so right. I need so much more.
But I can’t want more. Not from a man who has manipulated me at every turn. Even now, even this. It’s not real.
“I don’t wantyou.”
He pulls away so sharply it’s an effort not to stumble forward. What was once warm and enticing is now ice cold.
Leon turns away, picking up his discarded glass and downing the amber liquid in one swallow. “So be it.”
