Page 83 of Revealing Fate

“You devil,” Felíne accused. “You planned this.”

Kal’s head tilted as he regarded her. “You give me too much credit,” he said, a smile tugging up one corner of his lips. “If I’d have known this would be the outcome, I would have doused you ages ago.”

She lifted a brow. “So you weren’t trying to get me out of my clothes?”

“Come now, Kitty. I’m always trying to get you out of your clothes.”

Felíne laughed at the simple sincerity in his expression.

A tenderness crept into his molten eyes. It was brief, but long enough for her to notice. Kal kissed her again, a slow, soft touching of lips. She craned forward, craving more.

He rose out of reach, settling back on his knees. “See. You’ve got more energy left than you thought.”

Felíne huffed, disappointed by his retreat. “Apparently, just not for throwing axes.”

“I don’t know,” Kal mused. “I think we’ve discovered your motivators.”

Felíne sat up, and Kal helped her to her feet. “Which are?”

“Anger is one.” He held up a finger. “That throw at my face was the best one you’ve had all day.”

She waved his hand away. “And the other?”

Kal playfully flicked his finger toward Felíne’s chest, grazing one peaked nipple under the clinging fabric. Her nerve endings trilled, and she gasped. “Lust,” he teased. “It appears our sweet little kitten has lascivious claws.”

She gaped.

A smug expression suffused his features. “Oh, Kitty. Don’t look so shocked. You become quite agreeable when you want something. And now I know what you want.”

Wait. Was that all this was? A way to unveil her impetus? The way Kal looked at her with desire. The way he touched her. Kissed her. Was it all just to motivate her to be more compliant?

Kal reached for her, and she stepped back. “So, all that was what? To manipulate me?” Felíne couldn’t entirely conceal the hurt in her tone. “To get me to train harder?”

Kal dropped his hand, brow furrowed. “I didn’t say that.”

“Yes, you did,” she insisted. “You think just because I want you, I’ll do whatever you ask?”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” she challenged. “You just said you know what I want. That my desire is a motivator. That it makes me agreeable.”

“It is. It does. But that doesn’t mean I’m using it to manipulate you.”

“Oh?” Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure. “You weren’t manipulating me a moment ago? You weren’t just kissing me to properly motivate me? To prove a point?”

“No,” he ground out.

She made to move past him, and he blocked her path.

“Why are you being like this?”

Felíne ignored him, feeling suddenly vulnerable and hating it. Vulnerability had been a constant in her life. But Kal had given her a glimpse of what it felt like to be powerful, alluring. The idea that it was just an illusion he’d shown her to elicit a particular response made her feel cheap and cheated. Did he have that much power over her? Had she given it to him?

“You wanted this,” Kal pressed. “You don’t just get to walk away.”

“I think you’re seriously overestimating your appeal,” she retorted.

He stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m not overestimating anything. You just turned to putty in my hands. You melted.”