Page 8 of Ferocious Nightmare

"He did offer to relieve you," Dante's snarky grin was really effing annoying.

I scowled at him. "When did my sex life become an open book for us to discuss?"

“When you made it part of the agreement between you and Coulter." His cocky grin grew wider. "As your guard, it's my duty to make sure you're keeping up with your end of the agreement."

“Does Coulter know that? I'm sure he would be really happy to know that you thought it was okay to talk to me about sex."

That comment wiped the grin from his face, and there was an immediate satisfaction in that. He frowned, digging into the ground one last time before jerking his head at me. "Just stop flirting with the guards, or they'll be the ones to suffer, not you."

The truth of his words made my own smugness disappear. He was right. I was playing with fire.

I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right though, so I didn't answer him, but bent over, gently loosening the roots of the marigold before putting it into the ground.

"And for fuck’s sake, wear a bra, woman. I can see straight down your dress."

I shrugged, patting the dirt. "That's your problem. Bras are annoying, and I don’t like to wear them. So why should I have to change what I like just because you can't control your dick?”

His only answer was a disgruntled growl, and I grinned as we moved to the next plant.

We made our way quickly through the garden, operating as a team as he dug and I planted, the sun moving across the sky as we worked until it was growing late in the afternoon.

I was so involved in my planting that I didn't pick up on the sound of someone walking towards us until Dante suddenly jerked to attention. Then he came to stand next to me, his eyes fixed towards the house with a deadly serious look on his face.

I straightened, turning to look in the same direction. A chill skated over my whole body at the sight of a furious looking Nero walking towards me, with three guards trailing behind him. Some guy named Benny trailed several feet behind him, staring at me with black eyes filled with hatred. The guy always seemed to be around these days, following behind Nero like a lost puppy.

I clutched the succulent to my chest like a shield, like it could protect me from the fury rolling off him.

It didn't take long for his long legs to eat up the space between us and, as he approached, he shook his finger at me. "What the hell are you doing, young lady?" He pointed to the garden, then the behemoth truck parked in the middle of his yard, “This house isn’t some kind of wild jungle, like where you come from."

My spine straightened in indignation. "What do you mean, where I come from?"

Dante shifted uneasily beside me, his cool mask slipping a little, but I didn't care.

If I was going to be part of this family, I had to show Nero that I wasn't going to be treated like a naughty child. And the sooner he learned it, the better.

"You know," Nero stepped closer, his eyes cold, "Mexico, where the Indians like to run around in sheets around their waist."

I didn't react to his obvious attempt to demean me. Instead, I tilted my head upward. "You'd have thought it wasn't you who went to Mexico City yourself and drug me from my home. I guess you also didn't happen to notice that we are no longer beating our clothes on rocks and chasing down pigs with spears." I grinned. “We even have toilets and everything now.” Disgusted at the sneer on his face, I turned away from him, "Maybe someone needs to get their eyes checked."

I shouldn’t have said that, not when I was the one needing my eyes checked, but the guy was a prick. He'd obviously seen that we weren't running around in loincloths like he suggested. Though, admittedly, we still had to pay for toilet paper sometimes when we went to the bathroom, but still.

His hand snapped out, grabbing me by the arm to keep me from walking away from him, and Dante stiffened in alarm, but otherwise, didn’t react.

Grabbing the succulent in my hands, Nero threw it to the ground. Then he leaned in, his warm breath washing over my face. "You need to remember your place in this household," his jaw ticked, "you're only good for bearing heirs. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut. You're here to be seen and not heard."

I straightened myself up to my full height and stared into his eyes. "I am not some little slut you've brought into your home to keep you happy. I have Petrov blood running through my veins and I won't stand around and let a man like you boss me about. Just because I didn’t grow up in this world doesn’t mean I don’t have the same violence in my blood.”

"Aster," Dante growled, his voice a warning, but I ignored him.

"And I suggest, if you want heirs as you claim, you'd better treat me with the dignity and respect a Petrov princess deserves."

Nero and I stared each other down, each just as stubborn as the other, then, to my further indignation, his eyes deliberately slipped downwards, towards my chest, and I suddenly wished I hadn't been so free about my state of dress.

"Be careful, princess," Nero's voice was filled with scorn, "Or you might be baring the son of a King you didn't expect."

I bit back my rage, and clasped my hand over his, digging my nails into his hand. "You touch me and I will cut off your dick. With my teeth if I have to."

He didn't flinch as I dug my nails even tighter. I was tempted to nail him in the balls with my knee but I didn't have that much of a death wish.

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