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He took a deep breath, scanning the room. There was such a sheer masculinity about him that he continually managed to take my breath away. “I’ll be waiting outside. Fifteen minutes.”
“I’d prefer not to go.” Not only did I not want to be seen with him, I also didn’t want to spend any time by his side.
“That wasn’t a request. In fact, nothing I command of you has any leeway. You will do as I say without hesitation.” He didn’t need to fill in the rest of his statement.
Behavior and consequences.
He left, leaving the door wide open, and as he did, my confusion only grew.
He was playing a game with me, using a dangerous façade that could possibly turn on him.
Or end with the loss of one or both of our lives.
* * *
Enjoyment.
The fact I’d already enjoyed the portion of a day we’d spent together sickened me. I’d loved seeing the sights, the people, and the colorful shops. I’d smiled more than once, which made me sick inside.
And I’d even felt comfortable around a brutal man who had no conscience. What did that make me, a martyr? A vixen? A hussy? There wasn’t an answer that I wanted to hear or accept. There was no avoiding Constantine, but he wasn’t brutal or overbearing. He was just… a man spending time with a woman.
That unnerved me more than anything.
One of the few things my father had told me was that every man had at least one weakness. He’d done so while taking a long, heated gaze at my mother. She, in turn, had flushed with embarrassment as well as desire. Those had been some of the best times I’d spent with my father, the few days every now and then special to my mother even though my hatred had remained. Then I’d begun to feel more at ease with him. Although he hadn’t really opened up to me, he had provided me with a few words of wisdom.
Never trust a man of power.
Never give your heart too easily.
Never accept gestures from a man you don’t know.
Perhaps I was Constantine’s weakness, or maybe he was the kind of man who could hide them easily. Whatever the case, the few hours I’d spent with him hadn’t been as difficult as I’d anticipated. I’d even found myself enjoying the simple things I’d suggested that I’d thought would annoy him. A souvenir shop. Getting ice cream. Taking a daiquiri to the beach, sitting in the sand. He’d complied with everything, studying me as if I was a specimen in a jar.
Or a bird in a glass house.
I wondered when he’d suck all the air out of it.
Now I stood outside the front window of a little jewelry store, admiring the silver and turquoise items nestled in velvet boxes. He crowded my space, his reflection appearing in the clear glass. I tried to ignore him, but he emitted a level of white-hot heat that pulsed through every cell and muscle. His scent was even more intoxicating, creating a murky haze around my eyes.
“They are beautiful,” I said in passing, trying to break the crackling connection between us.
His usual method of addressing me remained the same, his silence shifting from unnerving to all encompassing. I couldn’t breathe when I was this close. He shifted away, taking me by the hand, which was the first time he’d done so all day.
Then he led me inside.
“I’ll take everything in the window,” he said as soon as the woman behind the counter approached.
“Everything, sir?” she repeated, her accent heavy, nervous as if we were planning on robbing her.
“Yes, and any other pieces like them that aren’t shown.” He wasn’t paying any attention to her, instead watching my reaction.
“But sir, they are very expensive,qualitypieces that came from an artist in the United States.”
Only then did he turn his head, his chest rising and falling. He commanded her without saying another word. She nodded, scurrying toward the front window.
“Why do you do that?” I asked.
“Do what? Purchase trinkets for a beautiful woman?”
