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“Can we talk?” I stammered, unable to tear my eyes off him. I moved forward, pulled by my body’s response at the look in his eye.
I always knew he was built; the cut of his suits couldn’t hide his body. But to see his bare chest and the corded muscles adorning his body was another thing entirely. The butcher was powerful and beautiful all in the same space. But I wasn’t the only one affected, as illustrated by the butcher’s next move.
Drakos stepped onto the threshold and reached out a hand. He ran the pad of his thumb across my cheek. “I canseeyou,” he murmured.
I blushed heavily. I’d forgotten that after my shower the plan was to turn in for the night. My makeup was gone, and I’d not anticipated how vulnerable I’d be without it. I wasn’t wearing a seductive outfit, and my hair was a long, wavy mess. I bit my lip and offered a small shrug. He seemed to like this exposed version of me.
“What did you want?” Drakos dropped his hand, curling it tightly.
“I would like to speak with you about something. May I come in?” I nodded to the room behind him.
But instead of inviting me in, Drakos stepped toward me, closing the door to his room and leaning back against it. The muscles on his chest rippled as he crossed his arms. “What’s on your mind, Talia?”
Focus. I dragged my gaze away from his tanned, olive skin. “You haven’t responded to my father’s requests to use your fleet,” I said without preamble.
“Generally, I don’t take on new clients without meeting them in person, something your father declined to do when he formally reached out to me.” Drakos clenched his jaw. There was a beat where his breathing turned heavy, and I had to fight the urge to shrink away from the harsh look in his eye. “Do you know what your father is shipping?”
I opened my mouth, but then closed it quickly. It could be anything. But what was inside those containers didn’t matter.
“You don’t, do you?” Drakos laughed harshly. “You think that by coming to me, you can seduce me into hearing his case?” Untangling his arms, Drakos reached for the door.
“Wait,” I breathed, stepping close and placing a hand on his arm. His skin was hot enough to burn. Electric energy fizzled through me and stole the air from my lungs.
“Yes?”
The tone of that single word sent a shiver racing down my spine. “Do you have to meet with him in person? My father is a very private person! Can’t we make an amenable arrangement?” My words were sultry, coaxing, as I gestured between us.
“I have rules, Talia. He can arrange a meeting or not at all.”
“Please—”
“I’ll say this once. Just because I married Beaumont’s daughter, it doesn’t make me his bitch,” Drakos ground out.
“But we’re allied!” I insisted.
Drakos’s lips firmed into a line. “We’ve struck a tentative peace; it’s not the same thing as an alliance.”
I pressed my fingers into his flesh, trying to move the masculine mass. “Explain the difference,” I ground out. “Because I sure as hell don’t see it!”
Drakos spun me around so that my back slammed into the door frame. Advancing right into my space, he leaned down so our faces were inches apart. “When the kingdoms in Europe intermarried their prodigy, the countries never stopped looking out for their own best interests. You’re a placeholder, Talia. Your father hasn’t stopped looking out for his best interests. Not once. So why should I?”
“That’s harsh,” I seethed. I plunged my nails into his biceps, partially for balance, but also to inflict pain. “Can we ever be more than enemies?”
My question seemed to take him aback. “That remains to be seen, princess.”
His mouth was so close. All I had to do was close the distance. But in this moment, he wasn’t a husband or a lover. This was the enemy of my family. The butcher. Hard and unyielding.I was a fool to come here.
“It’s too bad your father won’t agree to a meeting.” Drakos leaned down and ran his nose along the line of my throat. Despite myself, a shiver raced down my spine. “It would be so much fun to make you work for me to accept it.”
The bastard!I was breathing hard, trying to think past the anger. I would not give in; he didn’t deserve it. But as his touch skated down my dress, I felt my resolve come undone—and it had nothing to do with my mission here and everything to do with the tendrils of fire he was igniting over my skin.
