“Who cares?”
“Why did Tallant send St. Marks to kill you? He was once your lover. The father of your child?”
“Because he trusted Chaz to get the job done,” she whispered, swallowing tightly. “You heard what he said, Tanner. He agreed with Father’s decision. ”
“Why did you stay after that?” Tanner snarled furiously. “Why, Scheme? Why give your loyalty to that bastard after he killed the baby you so obviously wanted?”
What could she say? She couldn’t force the words she’d thrown at her father when he questioned her on it. General Tallant was maliciously efficient.
Why do you still love me, Scheme? he had asked. I took your child, yet I have your loyalty?
You did what you thought was best, Father, she would respond sadly. She would do it so well that the Coyotes trained to smell a lie never detected the deceit.
But she couldn’t say it now. She couldn’t betray that child she had wanted so desperately by excusing even one more time the monster that had taken it away from her.
“Get ready for bed. It’s nearly midnight,” Tanner snarled when she refused to answer him.
“I’m not sleepy. ” Her skin was itching and she was tired of his attitude. She was tired of being a captive. Tired of the emotions that refused to stay locked away. “Really, Tanner, have you considered the black mark this is going to become against the Breeds? Kidnapping General Tallant’s daughter? Father will let me live for years more once this becomes known. It could bring the entire Breed community down. ”
“Who says you’re going to come out of here alive?” He didn’t even pause. He stripped off his shirt as he asked the question, before tossing it to the end of the bed and staring back at her. “I didn’t say anything about it. ”
“Oh well, that puts me in my place,” she snapped back. “So what, you get the obligatory fuck before you break my neck?”
“I wasn’t trained to break necks,” he pointed out as his hands went to the buckle of his belt. “I was trained to rip your heart from your chest with my bare hands. Remember? Thought you had my file, pretty girl. ”
Yes. He was. He was trained to kill painfully, as well as silently.
“You would have killed me by now if that was what you meant to do. ” She spoke with more confidence than she felt.
“I haven’t fucked you yet. Spread your legs, keep your damned mouth shut and let me get off, then I’ll kill you. ”
Her lips twitched. He was angry, and because of it, he was striking out at her. What had he said before? He had spent nights jacking off watching her sleep.
Then she frowned.
“You actually watched me. Have sex?”
“Of course. ” He arched a brow at the question.
“Why?” Outrage colored her voice and she knew it. “There’s no way you could have monitored me. You’re lying. ”
She refused to look down. He had already removed his boots and now he was pushing his jeans over his hips. She would not look.
“When you use that cute little blue vibrator, you always run it gently, so gently, around your clit first. It takes three times to get it in your tight little pussy. But when you do, your lashes flutter before you force yourself to hold them open. Afraid someone’s going to come in on you, darlin’? I packed the vibrator, by the way. ”
He wasn’t lying. He had been watching her.
“Why?” She could feel herself trembling. Shaking. If he had been watching her, in her bedroom, then she could be in more trouble than she had ever imagined.
“Because I loved watching you trying to find what I knew didn’t exist anywhere but with me. ” He tossed his jeans to the bottom of the bed, and before she could stop herself, she looked. And looked.
Oh. My. God.
Surely that couldn’t be real. It wasn’t that he was overly large, though he was large. Heavily veined. Darkly bronzed. And so fucking tempting her mouth was watering.
Her eyes jerked back up.
“You’re crazy,” she whispered, suddenly knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt at this moment that his insanity was entirely possible. Just as she knew he had no intention of hurting her. Yet.