Page 17 of The Way You Bite
Loudly, he said, “My lady, it is but the price one pays to be a gentleman.” He smiled and inclined his head in a brief nod. Without warning he dropped her into a low dip. His nose came within kissing distance of the top of her left breast.
“Nice dress.” His breath tickled her chest.
She should feel something in response to his compliments. But they were bullshit. Everything about him was a mask, a show for those around them.
“Smile, darling. People are staring. Time to put on a face,” he ordered softly.
She pasted a smile on her lips and gazed up at him. How was she supposed to convince the hoard around them she was into him? Maybe a little tittering or whatever crap happened when a powerful vamp was into her. She’d never desired him. She’d never liked him, even though he was the world’s best catch from a vamp’s perspective. Handsome, rich, and powerful. He was also one of a slim few vamps Dominic wouldn’t try to bulldoze. He agreed to marry her at his father’s order. This had everything to do with her bloodline and nothing to do with her being an appropriate partner to him.
Three months. She had but to delay their union for a few months. Then freedom.
Ambrose leaned in close and whispered, “I need it ramped up a bit.”
She almost jerked away from his breath on her ear. “How convincing? You plan to push me up against the wall and fuck me? Maybe that’d prove your machismo and how into you I am?”
“Don’t be vulgar, love.” He pulled away and a slow smile spread on his lips. “Is that your fantasy? Public domination? Could be fun. Maybe a bit shocking for those here.” He glanced around. “Narrow-minded twits.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly and pupils went pinpoint. Shit. She should’ve said yes and moved on. Only, with Ambrose, she feared agreement might lead to acting out on said agreement. No way.
“If you don’t convince those staring at us that it’s so hot in the bedroom between us that the sheets catch on fire, I will fuck you against the wall. Right here. Right now.”
Fear slid down her spine. The humiliation she could take. Him touching her or inside her she could not. She tried to think of something she liked about him, something hot. Nothing came to mind.
Her traitorous mind wandered to the naked wolf king. At the memory, heat flooded between her thighs. How completely screwed up. Her entire body lit up and she felt her face scorch. She pushed the vision away and focused on Ambrose.
As they twirled, she allowed her eyes to lower to half mast. “Kiss me.”
Ambrose leaned in and touched his lips to hers. Cool lips. He coaxed her lips apart and slid his tongue inside. Her body recognized him as the wrong male.
Be convincing.She forced her hand to leave Ambrose’s shoulder and cup the back of his head. She leaned in close. Not enough heat to his body. No evidence he was even aroused, not that it surprised her. She wasn’t even the right gender to get Ambrose aroused. This was about their audience.
He pulled away. “Good girl. That was…better than usual.”
Her cheeks flashed hot. “Dominic wants me to stop working.”
“He wants our union completed. I suppose we should set a date.”
Stall, stall, stall. Three months.
“We discussed next spring. I want to continue to work.” She glared into his eyes, daring him to break their truce over keeping his secret about why he spent so much time in California.
“You can work until you are pregnant.”
“Pregnancy might require…” She cleared her throat. “You here for a while after marriage.”
“Dominic has plans he wants to enact prior to marriage, perhaps to force us to make the vows. Perhaps, he simply wants an heir now.”
“He wouldn’t… I will not be forced.”
“The treatment would push you into receptivity.”
“You’re onboard with forced pregnancy?” Treatment involved a series of injections over forty-eight hours. It forced the female into ovulation. Side effects were common and severe. But if a fertile male serviced her for three straight days afterward, the female usually ended up pregnant. Three days of Ambrose on top of her, hating her but forcing himself on her in his impersonal, dispassionate style. Terrible plan. Maybe AI was an option. She’d rather have an impersonal clinical experience than sex with Ambrose.
“I haven’t made up my mind.” The answer was smooth and suggested he didn’t agree. His face conveyed the epitome of sincerity. This was exactly what she wanted to hear, but she caught another flash of deceit in his thoughts. This ancient might spout pretty lines, but at heart he remained old fashioned. Her gut didn’t trust him or any powerful vamp. He agreed with Dominic’s plan. They’d do whatever the hell they wanted to her until they got what they wanted.
“May I ask you something?” She forced a smile. Subject change time.
