Wants and Needs
Amon was sprawled across my sheets, every bit the dark lion he reminded me of, his eyes tracking my movements like a predator. It had been his idea for me to get out of bed and dress, but the look in his eyes made me wonder if he'd only done it so he'd have an excuse to rip me out of my clothes again.
"Don't give me that look, little star," Amon growled, gaze hooding.
I snorted and rolled my eyes, focusing on my own reflection in the mirror as I finished fastening the buttons up the front of my dress. "You started it."
Amon chuckled on the bed, rolling into more sunlight and stretching. Amon had started it, yesterday morning over our supposed breakfast, but I'd certainly encouraged him to continue the rest of the day and all through the night. My mouth watered at the sight of him, the long limbs and dense muscle, dark hair shining red in the light. The only hint of his nature was the shimmer under his skin and the long brown tail that swished through the sheets. He said he could hide it to blend in, like he did with his fur and his wings, but I liked its playful nature and didn't want him to disguise himself with me.
"Why am I dressing, anyway?" I asked.
Amon's head slid over the edge of the bed, black hair hanging down to the floor, upside-down grin flashing at me from the mirror. "So I find the strength to do the same. You're too much of a temptation when I have you warm and bare next to me."
I hummed my agreement and arched a brow at him, his grin carving deeper into his cheeks.
"You're not staying today?"
He sighed and pulled himself upright, and I watched the play of muscle on his chest, remembering a similar vision from the night—firelight on his abs as he thrust up into me and I rode that hook on his cock through one orgasm after another.
"I want to find a home nearby. Now that we are settled, I would rather be close," Amon said, combing long, elegant, dexterous fingers through his mane.
Part of me thrilled at the gesture. Amon living nearby might help eliminate some of the days of loneliness I'd been suffering from. On the other hand…
"You know there will be others," I said, turning and watching him rise from the bed.
He paused briefly, reaching for his trousers on the floor and giving me a beautiful view of his ass, complete with the scratches I'd left on his skin yesterday morning. "Dr. Underwood is a respectable man, and Thibodeaux is an old acquaintance."
My eyes narrowed on Amon's back, fairly certain he was avoiding looking back at me. "And Booker?"
Amon whipped around, face dumbstruck and open with surprise. "The servant?"
"I want him," I said, squaring my shoulders. I considered adding that if Amon wasn't going to spend the day with me, I might just take the opportunity to spend it with Booker. But I didn't want Amon to change his plans just to prevent me, and actually, I was quite sore from our activities.
Amon scowled at this but shrugged. "I suppose he might be something like a toy for you. But you ought to be careful, he's made of marble, he could hurt you."
"He wouldn't. And he's more than stone. He can feel just as much as you or I. And what of Ez—"
"The thief is not a member of this house," Amon snapped, rushing to dress and nearly getting tangled in his own sleeves.
"Magdalena said—"
Amon huffed, and suddenly, he was in motion, storming over to me so quickly and with such a fire in his gaze, I reared back. "The man is a scoundrel, he told me so himself. A thief! How will he provide for you? What will he bring you that he doesn't take from another woman?"
"I don't need presents!"
"You should be treated like a—"
A strangled growl rose up from my throat, and Amon's eyes widened as I spoke. "Amon, I am not a queen, and I don't expect that sort of treatment. I was a maid, for goodness’ sake. Rooksgrave is the nicest place I've ever lived, let alone worked. And I'm not ashamed of that." My face was hot, but it was temper not shame. Amon might've been trying to prove to me that Ezra wasn't worth anything, but Ezra felt like a kindred spirit. Impulsive and yes, impoverished. Wicked.
"You deserve better," Amon grumbled. "You deserve better than this house, even, as grateful as I am to find you here."
I laughed at the idea that I could ever find myself a better station than Rooksgrave. "Says who?"
"Says me!" Amon roared. I startled, and he stepped back, taking a deep breath and pursing his lips, staring out the window for a moment of quiet. "You had, what, an hour with the man? You know next to nothing of him except that he was a thief and he didn't have enough honor to do things properly. I refuse to risk our connection on a man that likely has no intention of keeping any promise to you."
I blinked at that, unable to argue. Dr. Underwood, Auguste, and Amon were all entirely unlike any man I'd ever had sex with. Ezra was…
Perhaps he was a little too like the men of my past, and maybe Amon was right and he'd already gotten what he'd wanted. Oh, he might come back again for another go and it would be great fun, but that didn't mean he was the kind to plan anything more than a few moments of passion.
You don't know that, I reassured myself. You don't know either way.
Amon sighed and moved closer, warm hands framing my shoulders, one skimming up my neck to tip my chin a little higher, my eyes meeting his. "I'm sorry, my star. I don't approve. But it doesn't change my intention on making you mine." I opened my mouth, and Amon's head dipped, distracting me from my thought with a gentle kiss. "Let the—Mr. MacKenna and Magdalena sort out the matter of his membership. If I must reconcile myself to sharing your time with him, then…"
Amon shrugged, but there was a slightly smug expression on his face that let me know just how unlikely he thought that event would be.
"I can spoil you enough for five men, let alone one rascal," Amon added, kissing me again, nipping playfully at my frown and nuzzling my cheek until I finally relaxed and huffed out a laugh.
"I just don't want you to have any misconceptions about what kind of girl I am," I said.
Amon purred, kisses moving to my throat and the hand on my shoulder moving down to grip my ass, drawing me into him. "I think of the two of us, I am not the one confused on the matter." I scowled over Amon's shoulder, but my annoyance didn't stop me from arching in his hold. He sighed over my shoulder and rested his cheek there for a moment. "If Magdalena finds any more gentlemen for you, I will find a way to manage my jealousy."
I would probably need to talk to Magdalena in that case. She said she tried to keep a girl's men in some kind of harmony, and Amon seemed to put a kink in my arrangements. But for all my frustration with him in the moment, I still didn't want to give him up. It wasn't the promise of gifts, or even the stunning ecstasy he wrought on my body, but the reverence in his eyes as he bent his head to kiss me. That was the best of his gifts, and the one I would fight to keep.
* * *