Angry at her body’s reaction, she folded her arms across her chest.
“That’s just desire,” she snapped. Then she inhaled deeply, trying to steady her voice. “I know you hate me because… you haven’t kissed me.”
She hated that her voice broke slightly at the last words as though the absence of a kiss actually hurt.
I’m not hurt.
She told herself she brought up the kiss, only to prove that he hated her.
The silence was longer this time.
He looked at her face. “I was waiting for your consent,” he said.
Her heart jerked. “What?”
“I did not kiss you,” he continued, in a voice that was rough yet steady, “because you never asked me to.”
Her mind stalled.
And then, she gave a short, angry, disbelieving laugh. “We’ve been in bed together every night since our wedding. You touched me everywhere with your mouth and hands. You command meduring sex and fuck me until I can’t bloody think. You even choked me just now during sex, and you expect me to believe you are waiting for my permission for a damn kiss?”
He looked at her for a moment. “I didn’t choke you,” he said. “I was feeling your pulse at your throat. Your pulse rate increases when you are about to orgasm.”
Her face burned at his observation.
“That’s not the point!” she snapped. “You haven’t kissed me because you hate me. Admit it!”
There was silence.
His gaze did not waver.
“The contract covers intimacy,” he said. “It says nothing about kissing.”
For a moment, she could only stare at him.
Then she let out another disbelieving laugh. “That’s absurd.”
He did not say anything.
He stepped forward. Close enough now that she could feel the heat radiating from him.
His hand came up, and his fingers gripped her jaw. His touch wasn’t rough or tentative. It was possessive.
Her breath caught, and her pulse was no longer steady. It began racing.
His head bent down, and his mouth hovered over hers. His breath was warm and uneven as it fell across her parted lips.
“Tell me to kiss you,” he rasped, the words sounding raw with need.
It was the first time she had heard him speak in a tone that wasn’t commanding.
Her heart thudded violently in her chest.
For a second, she wanted to push him away. She wanted to accuse him of deliberately trying to manipulate her.
But something held her back. She wasn’t sure if it was a challenge or something else.
“Kiss me,” she whispered as a command.
