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I cleared my throat and didn’t respond, just started eating. And the more I ate, the more my appetite surged. When I was finished with as much as I could stomach, I pushed my plate away and reached for my wineglass.
With my first swallow of the red liquid, the sweetness covered my tongue and slid seamlessly down my throat. It was heady and full-bodied.
I could feel Adryan watching me. He’d been doing it the entire time I was eating. Ignoring him was harder than it should’ve been, but I refused to let him know he had one hell of an effect on me. Even if he is already fully aware.
I looked at him then, keeping my expression neutral. He kept running his fingers around the rim of his glass, slow… so slow that my mind instantly went into the gutter, thinking about what else he could do with that finger.
“So if I’m playing along and accept that you’re a vampire”—holy shit, how weird did that sound?—“how old are you? Like Dracula old, or are we talking decrepit like Nosferatu?”
He tipped his head back and laughed loud and hard, his thickly corded neck coming into view. His Adam’s apple bobbed for a second before he sobered.
“One hundred twenty years.”
It was my turn to sober so hard and fast I might have died. “Goddamn,” I murmured. “You take ‘robbing the cradle’ to a whole new level. You do know I’m not even twenty-five?”
He hummed as if that turned him on. “You could have been old and wasted away when we first met, and I’d still find you the most gorgeous female to ever walk the planet.”
Okay. That was… beautiful. And weird. Definitely weird, but whatever.
“You don’t eat?” I asked instead of saying anything in response to that. My voice was a squeaky whisper before I cleared it and pulled my shoulders back.
Adryan made sure to keep his glass full, and damn him for even making that look sexy.
He leaned back in his chair but didn’t respond, just watched me as he lifted his glass, peering at me over the rim, and took a pull of the alcohol. When he set the crystal down, his fingers still wrapped loosely around it, the smirk he gave me had equal parts of annoyance and arousal raging against each other.
“Oh, I eat.” He was still smirking as he lowered his gaze down my body. He couldn’t see much because of how the table was situated, but I knew if he could, he’d be looking at one particular spot.
“I’m just not eating right now, kitty. I’m more concerned with you and your needs.”
I cleared my throat and shifted on the chair, looking everywhere but at him.
Stay focused. Stay focused.
“So why don’t you tell me what kind of man you are.” Of course I knew, or at least had a pretty good notion by the way he held himself, the things he said, hell, the clear abundance of money, judging by his place. Then there was the whole “import and export” business that seemed super shady, given his evasiveness about it.
I expected him to smirk arrogantly again, but his expression stayed stoic.
“What kind of man do you think I am?”
I pursed my lips. “You want me to be honest?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely. I don’t ever lie and wouldn’t want my mate to either.”
My throat was so tight and dry. “I think you do bad stuff.” He didn’t respond, didn’t even breathe. “You’re a criminal, among other things, and you’re not going to let me leave.”
“No.” His tone was so… final. “I won’t let you leave. And yes. I am all those things… and more.”
My eyes narrowed at his cockiness. “You’re an arrogant asshole.”
“I am.” He grinned slowly. “But that’s one of the nicer things I’ve been called, princess.”
I didn’t bother correcting him on all these damn endearments he called me, because it wasn’t even at the top of my priority list, as I had other things more important. At least that’s what I told myself instead of the truth.
That I liked hearing him call me princess and baby and kitty.
“How do I know you’re not just as dangerous as those men who broke into my home?”
His expression became deadly as he leaned in close, bringing us damn near nose to nose. “I could have hurt you ten times over by now. You know that.” Yes. Yes, I did. “What I can assure you is I’m not as dangerous as those motherfuckers.” A heavy stretch of silence pushed and pulled between us. Instantly, instinctively I wanted to deny what he’d said and call him a liar. “I’m far more dangerous than them. Didn’t you know, sweet girl? You’re mated to the leader of the American Vampire Clan, the king of assholes and bastards.”
