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“What do you think you are doing?” Antoine mused not stopping me but the bite in his voice told me he wasn’t happy.
“My job,” I retorted, purposely leaving off the master part.
Antoine grabbed my hands in his, holding them tight enough to pinch. “I don't remember giving you permission to touch me.”
For the first time in the long years, I had served Antoine, I jerked away from him. His startled expression almost stopped me from what I had to say next but I did it anyway.
“So, Piper can touch you whenever she wants but I have to have permission?” I snarled while shoving to my feet. “I have been nothing but loyal and faithful to you from the moment you marked me and I am not worthy enough to touch you when I want? How is that fair?”
Antoine stared up at me, his mouth agape. I think I have made him speechless for the first time in his life. I’d have patted myself on the back for the very achievement had all my worries not crawled up my throat, bearing down on me like an executioner with an ax.
“Where is this coming from, Darren?” Antoine did not stand up from his seat, his hands falling to the arms of the chair. “I thought you were happy with our arrangement.”
“Well, maybe I’m not.” I snatched my glove from his coat pocket and shoved my fingers back inside, missing it the first two times before getting it right the last time. “Maybe I don’t want to be treated like a pet you have to keep happy so you can fuck it whenever you want.”
Antoine's brows furrowed and I knew I had pushed it too far. He stood abruptly from the chair.
I backed away from him slowly, my hands up between us.
“If I have made you unhappy then I would be more than happy to hear your grievances. However...” Antoine stalked toward me until my back touched the door leading to the dining room. “Seeing as we are bound together and I can feel everything you are feeling. I suggest you cut the shit as Piper would say and tell me what’s really the matter.”
Forcing myself from cowering, I stared Antoine straight in the face. “I’ll tell you when you get Piper back.”
Antoine stopped in place for a moment and then shook his head with a laugh of disbelief. “You have become far too bold since Piper has come to be with us.”
“I would not say that is a bad thing.” I retorted with a frown. I would not be laughed at!
Antoine shook his head again slightly and stepped toward me. I froze in place as he took my face between his hands and kissed me firmly on the lips. After a moment, I allowed myself to kiss him back. This is what I needed. This is what I wanted. No thinking. No questions. Just this.
To my dismay, Antoine wasn’t having it. He withdrew from the kiss and smiled. It was a forlorn type of smile that made my heart clench in my chest.
“There are many things we both want. Unfortunately, at this time neither of us can have it. I am sorry my friend if I have caused you any distress. I will do my best to atone in the future. But I cannot do it as of now.” Antoine stepped away from me and walked out of the room without another word.
Dumbfounded, I stayed in place for a long moment. It wasn’t until Wynn appeared in the doorway of the living area that I snapped back into myself.
“Well, it sounds like you had about as much fun as I did talking to Vincent,” Wynn commented as he strolled into the room. His shoulders were more droopy than usual. The feline grace in his step a bit more stiff.
“I take it the talk did not go well?”
Wynn scoffed and threw himself down on the couch, his legs sprawling out across the length of it. “If you think getting a threatening message from his second in command is going well, then yes it went splendidly.” He paused for a moment, his eyes staring off at nothing. “I think we are being watched.”
I finally moved away from the doorway. “You do?”
Wynn turned his gaze toward me. “They’ve noticed Piper isn’t around. Or not showing herself outside of the house or in the windows. They’re suspicious enough as it is. I do not know how we are going to keep her absence a secret much longer.”
I frowned hard stroking my jaw as I tried to think. We needed more time. We needed a way to keep the hunters off our back until we could get Piper away from the council. How though?
Then I had it.
“What?” Wynn shot up from his lounging position. “What’s that look about?”
“I think I may know a way to get the hunters off our backs. At least for a little bit,” I explained to him while I started to take note of what I needed to do to make my plan work. “Let me make a few calls and I’ll fill everyone in at once.”
Wynn laid back on the couch and tossed an arm over his eyes. “You better make it fast. We only have a few days before Vincent himself comes to check on her. And if we don’t have Piper back in our custody then or even a plan, then we're going to be in deep shit.”
I let out a hard laugh. “How could we sink any deeper than we already are?”
