Page 110 of Immortal Bastard

The side of his mouth kicked up and a full grin took over his face. She had the slightest instinct she’d just been swindled and signed off on something more than simple intercourse. “I’ll refrain unless you make a request.”

“I’m pretty sure I can contain myself.” Sex was one thing. But biting…no thanks. “And just to be clear, this isn’t some archaic husbandly right to my body. I own this body. Me. And if I change my mind, all bets are off.”

“You won’t change your mind.”

God, when he looked at her like that… It wasn’t fair for a man to be so beautiful. His dark lashes, full lips, and carved cheekbones, women would kill for such features, and he somehow pulled them off with chiseled masculinity.

It was getting warm. She prepared to shift closer to the window but paused when her body cooled. “Did you just lower my core temperature?”

“No, you did.”

“I did?” She hadn’t meant to.

“Just as our hearts know how to beat and our lungs know how to breathe without our brains sending a command, your body will know how to regulate such things. It’s your turn, pintura. What do you want from me?”

He’d gotten her all hot and bothered with the sex talk—clearly a distraction tactic meant to throw her off her game. She needed to get her head out of the gutter and focus.

Her brain quickly prioritized her desires in terms of probability. If she asked to leave the farm, he’d say no. They already circled that ride a hundred times. She needed to start smaller. “I want to leave the house whenever I wish.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, no? You didn’t even think about it. And I just gave you sex!”

“You haven’t given me anything, yet. Regardless, you’re a mated female and a new transition. You need an escort.”

“You mean a chaperone.”

“If you want to call it that.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. You escort me, but I control my own schedule. I’m a people person. I can’t stay cooped up in this house all the time.”

“I can accommodate your request within reason. But you must stay on the farm.”

“A bigger birdcage,” she muttered. “Fine. Whatever. Agreed.”

“And you will not speak to other males outside of my presence.”

“That sounds like another condition.”

“Trust that I’m self-aware enough to know my limits, Delilah. You don’t want to trigger my possessive side.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen—”

“You’ve seen nothing compared to what I might do if I suspected another male of trying to take you from me. Trust me. Some beasts are best left to hibernate as long as possible.”

“How evolved of you.”

“In many things I’m reserved. Where you’re concerned, let’s just say I’ll stop at nothing to protect what’s mine.”

She expected him to fill her mind with another wave of images that showed how far he would go, but he did the opposite, putting up a wall between them, censoring sides of himself he did not wish her to see. And that made her more nervous. “You can’t hurt anyone, Christian.”

“I’ll do whatever I have to do.”

“But…” She believed him, and her pacifist nature ensured he’d get his way. “I don’t like being told who I can and can’t speak to.”

“You asked to venture outside of the house. That comes with rules. You can either accept my conditions or take the prospect off the table.”

She was definitely being hustled. “Fine. But I don’t like you very much right now.”

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