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His answer spurs me to my backup plan. I step forward, drag his hand from the edge of the desk to my hip. “Well, we could make some kind of deal, can’t we?”
A smile tilts the edge of his mouth like I’ve finally gotten his full interest. “A deal, hmm? Are you ready to make a deal with the devil, stellina? I promise you; I always collect.”
His tone promises dark things, all kinds of dark things I think I want.
“Well, you want me to give myself to you, so that’s what I offer. You have free rein over my body. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Oh, you’ll do whatever I want, hmmm? Come here.” He drags me onto his knee and angles me, so my legs hang between his thighs.
“Yes, anything you want.” I bat my lashes and feel like an idiot trying to entice him—the man who always takes what he wants, anyway.
He laughs, and my smile wilts. “You realize that I already have free rein over your body? I can do whatever I want, anytime I want because you’re mine.”
“But you want me to give myself to you.”
His fingers slip around the nape of my neck, and he drags our foreheads together. “Yes, I do what you to give yourself to me, but not just your body. I want your mind. I want your heart. And when you give me those things, I’ll be happy. But they aren’t something you’re ready to give yet, as you’ve already told me. I doubt me granting your request will help me in that area.”
“But…” My plan is crashing and burning and blowing away in the wind.
“Do you have something else to offer me?” Now, his tone is teasing, as if he’s curious what else I’ll say.
I jerk my head from his grip and shake my head. “What else could I possibly give you? You keep me locked up in the house. I don’t have my own money, no access to the outside world. All I have is my body to bargain with.”
Just saying it makes me feel dirty.
“Manipulation with sex is a nuanced business. If you want to entice me that way, you need to work on your delivery.”
“I wasn’t trying to manipulate you.”
He tugs the hem of the dress up over my knee. “This fucking dress is one-hundred percent cotton manipulation. I want to take it off with my teeth. If I were a weaker man, you might have gotten what you want.”
Now I feel guilty. I’d been trying to manipulate him, and I hate myself a little for it. “So, what do I do now then?”
He shrugs. “If you have nothing else to offer, then you lift your chin and walk away from negotiations until you have something the other party can use.”
“Manipulation 101 from an expert?” I regret my words even as I say them.
His eyes go icy as he stares down at me, his fingers flexing in my hair. “I am an expert, don’t forget that, stellina. I always get what I want when I negotiate, and I always come out ahead.”
I try to tug myself off his lap, but he holds me tight, not letting me move an inch. “We aren’t done talking.”
“You’re the one who said walk away until I can offer you something you actually want. If you don’t want me, I’ll go back to the bedroom.”
“I didn’t say I don’t want you. Only that I don’t need to make a deal to have you.”
I jerk my chin up and level him with a glare. “What do you want, then? What’s out there that you, a man with everything, might want?”
In a hard voice, he says, “Your father’s head on a spike in my front lawn.”
It takes a moment for his words to sink in, and then I gasp. “No, why would you say that to me?”
“It’s not a secret. You’re very aware of how much I want your father dead. Pretending I’m a good man won’t change the fact that soon I’ll murder him and get the vengeance I’ve been waiting years to acquire.”
Again, I try to climb off his lap, but he refuses to let me leave. “Let me go. I’m done talking about this.”
He hugs me against him tighter, making me gasp. “No. We are going to talk about this because you’ve been avoiding the discussion, and I won’t let it come between us.”
“It’s coming between us right now. I told you I can never give you what you want while you keep dreaming about murdering my father. Even if he deserves it. When I look at you, all I’ll see is his blood on your hands.”
“How about we review the blood on your father’s hands?” He nuzzles his face into my neck and delivers a kiss there. “How about we review the fact that he murdered my parents and my oldest brother in cold blood while my youngest brother watched? Tell me how it’s any different? I don’t look at you and see his blood running through your veins. Your relationship to him isn’t stopping me from making you mine.”
