“Why do you have to be so difficult?” he asked, his expression and tone one of stark exasperation as he stalked toward me and pointed over my shoulder. “Just take the damn bed!”
“I don’t want to sleep in your bed!” I shouted, right into his face.
“Why the hell not?” he demanded.
“Because I… It’s the principle of the matter, Tray.”
“The principle of the matter,” he repeated, the heat of his torso practically melting the shirt from my own body. Or maybe it was my ire threatening to light the fabric on fire. “Fuck, woman, you drive me insane.”
My eyebrows shot upward. “I drive you insane? You kidnapped me and brought me to a fae realm.”
“Because you were being difficult. Wow, imagine that.” He had the audacity to roll his eyes.
“Are you kidding? You told me to go fetch you a drink like a dog while you danced with Ryan. Right after kissing me. In front of the whole school. Excuse me for reacting accordingly.”
“You ran.”
“Of course I did!” God, this guy was impossible. “Can you blame me? You chose Ryan over me.”
“I did not.”
“No? You sent me off on an errand, Trayton. So you could dance with her, of all people.” Just thinking about it caused my blood to boil. My fists curled at my sides. “I’m not sleeping in your bed. In fact, I want a new room. Maybe Kols will let me sleep on his couch.”
He growled, stepping into my personal space and wrapping his arm around my lower back to hold me in place. “Over my dead body.”
“I’d happily arrange that,” I said sweetly.
He snorted. “I just bet you would.” He kept one arm around my back while his opposite hand came up to cradle my cheek—a rather tender move considering the anger vibrating off him in waves. “There’s just one thing you’re forgetting, Isabella Cinder.”
“Yeah?” I grabbed his wrist, squeezing in warning. “And what’s that?”
“You want me alive,” he replied. “Because otherwise, I couldn’t do this.”
His mouth claimed mine before I could issue a retort. Not that I had one. Because holy crap, Trayton Nacht was kissing me. Again.
Chapter Thirteen
Tray
Isabella Cinder drove me crazy. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to kill her or fuck her.
No.
That wasn’t true.
Right now? I very much wanted to fuck her. Preferably against the wall, and hard. Because damn, she had a mouth on her. Content and quiet one moment, and biting my head off the next. Did I deserve it? Maybe. But not over the damn bed. I’d offered it to be a gentleman, and she’d turned that gesture around on me for no practical reason.
Insufferable female.
Oh, but she tasted minty and fresh and very much mine.
I tightened my grip around her as she melted into me. At least in this she submitted, her body recognizing mine on a level she would soon understand—intimately.
My tongue seduced hers, my palm sliding from her cheek to the back of her neck to better angle her head to receive my kiss. She moaned, the sound going straight to my already hard dick.
I walked her backward toward my bed, hoping like hell it didn’t ignite our bickering. Or maybe I’d welcome it. There were worse activities than kissing this woman into submission.
She gave a little squeak when the back of her legs hit the mattress, but I swallowed her protest and grabbed her hips to lift her into the air. Another of those surprised little sounds fell from her lips as I picked her up. “Tray—”