Page 90 of The Secret of Pain

"It's just me," Roman calls out, and I straighten.

"You have got to stop breaking in," I say as I walk into the kitchen and find him leaning against the counter, holding out a mug of coffee for me.

"You need to get better security." He grins, and I take the mug from him.

"Look at you, being all domesticated." I smile and his eyes slit.

"There’s no taming a wild animal, princess." He grins again, smug and provoking. I lean back against the doorframe, making my shirt part slightly, giving his wolf a peek of what could be his before I take a sip. When his hands clench around the lip of the counter, nearly shattering it into dust, it gives me more pleasure than I’d happily admit.

I revel in these moments of control, few and far between, but guaranteed to get me wet in an instant, and he knows it. His nostrils flare, his silver eyes focused only on me as their pupils restrict into two slits, I know he can smell my arousal and it is making him lose the control he’s so desperately trying to cling to.

"Why are you here? In my apartment, uninvited?" I ask, taking another sip of the sweet nectar, acting like he isn't devouring me with his eyes.

"I came to ask you not to go tonight.” My arousal suddenly dies at his request and from the look on his face, he knows it too.

"You don't get to ask that of me. If you're here, then you know. You know that Ben was killed, who he was to me. My family. Lycans and Dracul banded together to attack us at my family home, Roman. It cannot go unanswered."

"I know that, I've spent the last three days looking into what the hell is going on. They are the pack deserters, banding together with the rogue Dracul. Something is being planned, and the secret’s kept so hidden, I haven't unraveled it yet, but my instincts are screaming that something is going to go wrong. You need to stay home. Or come with me. But you cannot join the hunt tonight."

"No, Roman. That isn't who I am. I'm not going to let my family walk into this without me. Especially if it’s an organized thing like you suggest."

"I said no, Remy," he roars. I slam the mug down on the counter, and it falls to the floor, shattering as I turn to him, my rage rising.

“You knew who I was, what I was when you took me as your mate. Bond or not, I’m not going to change. This is who I am, Roman. You either love me as I am or you reject me. We have not renewed the blood bond in this life. You do not have to stay if you cannot accept the life I choose.”

“And what of the others? Have they accepted you as you are? Do they not object to you throwing yourself into this mess?”

“Kain respects my decisions. He never asked me not to go, because he knows who I am and would never ask me to change. And Creek might not be happy with my choice, but he would not tell me what to do as you are trying to."

"And they accept sharing you?"

“You know they do. Kain was always aware, and now so is Creek. You saw it for yourself. I love them both, just as I love you despite our bond not having been sealed. The choice is yours if you can accept me as I am, with them. I will not force it. Just as you cannot force my decision here.”

“And if I want you to myself? My wolf doesn’t share well. He also doesn't like the thought of you in danger.”

“Then you and your wolf need to have a talk and sort your shit out. This is my life, Roman. I will not have it dictated to me. Not anymore. I have made my decision.”

“Those decisions could get you killed!” he roars, but I refuse to back down.

“They could, but if that happens, I’ll know that I died being true to myself, not bending to the wills of others. I want you in my life, Roman. You just have to decide if you want to be a part of it.”

He growls and paces in front of me. “Fucking woman. I should bend you over my goddamn knee.”

I throw my hands in the air, because I swear to the fates this domineering, alpha asshole is pushing me to my limit, though I won’t lie. The thought of him spanking me doesn’t exactly turn me off.

“I’d like to see you try it,” I taunt him, playing with his control and knowing damn well I’m going to lose and end up with an ass as red as my blood.

Roman stops dead in his tracks, his body eerily still except for his chest heaving with the exertion of retaining his dominion over me and over himself.

“What did you just say to me, princess?” he asks rhetorically, I think. He turns his devastatingly handsome face slowly toward me, eyes boring into mine as though my taunting him is inconceivable.

“You heard me, Roman,” I tell him, pushing the pieces of the shattered mug to the side with my foot and stepping over the spilled coffee. “I said,” taking two more steps closer to his humming body, fists clenched at his sides, a snarl inching up the side of his lip, “I’d like to see you tr—"

I don’t get the chance to finish my phrase, of course, and in an instant I’m shoved up against the wall, his body flush with my now naked chest. Looking down at where my shirt has completely flown open, he grins like the killer I know he is, like a predator about to devour his prey. Like an alpha about to exert his control.

And I just might let him.

“Do you know what happens when you play with my wolf, princess?” he asks, and I know for a fact that’s rhetorical but screw it, I want his beast to come out and play.

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