“I have some work things I need to take care of so I’ll be pretty busy before the wedding,” I said, changing the subject. “But you have my number and you can call me.”
She looked down at the ground. “This is weird.”
“I prefer it,” I said. “I never intended to marry for love. A marriage for mutual benefit is better for me.”
“Do we have to…sleep in the same bed?” she asked.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Why?”
I sat back. “So we can fuck.”
She blushed, struggling to gather herself. “Is that all you care about?”
“Not all, but I definitely think about it.”
Her dark gaze fixed on mine, her cheeks glowing. She pressed the backs of her fingers to her face and took a slow breath. I could see my words were a little too forward for her and I reeled it back, letting my mask fall back over my eyes. She frowned, studying my face.
“Do you do that on purpose?” she asked softly.
“What?”
“Change guards.”
“Beg pardon?”
She stood and padded barefoot to the other side of the bed to put her heels back on.
“There are a lot of different Peregrines. I can see it when you switch them out, like you’re turning a kaleidoscope. You did it at the table when Federico was being rude to me. One minute you were mild and calm and then suddenly you…you were terrifying. Then you blinked and you were right back to the pleasant version of you.”
Interesting. I’d had people tell me similar things, but no one had ever given me such a forthright description before.
“I like your honesty,” I said. “Now, we may not love each other, but I want our marriage to work. So can we agree on being honest with each other, always, even if it hurts?”
She swallowed and there was a long moment of silence before she nodded. I blinked, turning away, uncomfortable with the intimacy in the room.
“A kaleidoscope of Peregrines,” she said softly.
I watched her move to the door, taken aback by her words. She was a strange woman and I liked that about her. It fed into my need for beauty and the restless urge that kept me in my studio while the midnight hours waned. I rose and followed her, putting my hand on the door to keep it closed. She turned, close enough to me I could feel her heat.
“Would you like the first time we touch each other to be our wedding?” I asked softly.
She swallowed and her brows lifted.
“Because I can kiss you now.”
Her eyes fell to my mouth and her lips parted. I lifted my hand and touched her cheek with my middle finger, trailing it down to her chin. A shudder moved through her body as I traced her lower lip. My God, she felt good. The front of my pants went uncomfortably tight.
“Do you want to kiss me?” she breathed.
Of course I did. She looked so soft and she smelled good. I was dying to get my mouth on her and explore her with my other senses. To kiss her until she opened for me so I could slip my tongue into her and taste her for the first time. My groin pressed painfully against the zipper of my pants and I knew I needed to take a step back before things went too far.
“I can wait,” I said.
She swallowed and her gaze bored into me, unreadable. Then she ducked from beneath my hand and yanked the door open and fled into the hall. I hung back in the doorway to give my dick some time to calm down and watched her go. Her hips swaying and her dark hair falling back over her shoulders.
CHAPTER SEVEN