Ansin and I followed the driver out of the terminal.
“What sort of name is Bastuli?” I asked.
“My people didn’t believe in last names. Bastuli is the region where my tribe was from. They were Celtiberians.”
I’d studied history in college, but didn’t know very much about them other than they lived in what was now known as Spain. “So your people were Celts?”
“They were unprepared, which is why they’re all dead.”
We came up to the black car waiting outside. Funny. It wasn’t raining at all. In fact, it was a sunny afternoon. Just a little chilly.
The driver opened the door for us. I noticed how he avoided eye contact with Ansin. Everyone did. It was almost like he willed them not to look. Was he ashamed of his scars?
No. Silly. Ansin wore them like badges of honor.
I glanced to Ansin at my side and whispered, “Why don’t people look at you?”
“Trust me, they look,” he replied in his normal speaking voice. Deep. Calm. Doesn’t give a fuck.
“But then they look away.”
“I find it easier to get on with my business if people are unable to remember details about me.”
“So you’re an immortal criminal?”
“I do what I must to achieve my goals. If it so happens to be illegal, not my problem.”
I bobbed my head.
“Why so many questions, little treasure?”
“Trying to understand you. That’s all.”
“No. It’s more than that. I see it in your eyes.” He leaned closer and slowly slid a hand on my thigh. “Are you getting anxious?” he said in a low voice. “Are you thinking about what it will be like when I bed you?”
My face flushed, and to my surprise, the spot where his hand rested on my thigh felt hot too. The heat traveled up my leg and between my thighs, triggering an instant wave of goosebumps. No, I had not been thinking about what it would be like to sleep with him, but now I was.
I pushed his hand away, and he promptly returned it.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’ve waited a very long time for someone like you, and I have no problem admitting how much I’m looking forward to our fucking. I’m going to make you come so hard, Jeni. You’ll never be left wanting in my bed.”
What? My heart raced out of control. Not because I lusted after him, but because I believed him. I believed he would make me come. I believed he’d had plenty of years to master the act of pleasing a woman. I believed he dominated in bed, too, and that was my weakness. At least now it was.
Before King, I’d slept with a few guys but never enjoyed it. It was always about them and never me. In short, the sex I’d had completely turned me off from it.
Then I’d had that night with King and finally experienced what it was like to orgasm so hard that your jaw hurt from gnashing your teeth, that your body dissolved into hard waves of pleasure. King had fucked me hard and so thoroughly, I’d been sure it was all a dream. A delicious, sinful dream I wanted to have again and again and again. How was it possible that a man could make me feel so good, so dirty, so insane with need for his body? In me. On me. Behind me.
So now, hearing Ansin talk like this, I couldn’t stop my pulse from racing.
It’s just the hormones. That’s all. “I never said we’d be having sex. There are lots of ways to get pregnant these days.”
Ansin pulled away and tilted his head back, laughing so hard his chest shook.
It was the first time I’d seen him not look, well, so fucking evil.
After a few moments, his laughter died, and he wiped a tear from his eye. A fucking tear.
“You are a breath of fresh air, little treasure.” He sighed contentedly.
I frowned with disdain. I didn’t think it was funny. Not one little bit. “I’m not fucking you, Ansin. It wasn’t part of our deal.”
“It was implied, but not to worry; I’ll find a way to make it officially part of our arrangement. I always get what I want.”
I bet he did. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“And everything has a price.”
We were doing the quotes again, were we? “What separates man from animals is his ability to dream.”
He chuckled. “I think you and I are going to be very happy together.”
“Over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged, little treasure, but let us not go there. Threats are not my style. If I want you dead, it’ll just happen.”
I felt the heaviness of his words like a punch to the throat. Once again, I believed him. I had to stop letting my guard down and my curiosity get to me. Trust no one.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The moment we left the airport, dark gray clouds rolled in, and it started to rain. Just like Ansin had said.