I’m surprised you’re not as jaded with life as I am.”
“You are not jaded.”
“I’m not?” Reed asked, surprised at her quick response.
Katrina lifted her chin. “Fish nearly done.” She sighed internally when she saw Reed’s confused expression. “No, Temptation. You are worn down from hurt. This differs from jaded.”
Reed held out both hands. “Explain this to me.”
Smirking, she leaned forward in her chair. “My father is bastard. If I met wonderful father figure tomorrow, I would not want him. Not even if he were Nicolai Vashchenko come back to life. Know why?”
Reed leaned forward and grinned. “I’m on the edge of my seat with wanting to know.”
“Okay, I tell you. I’m tired of whole father thing. He killed my mother. He sent my brothers to kill me. He killed Yana’s mother. He probably helped bastard clone find Yana. This is too much trouble. I used to dream of finding good father, but now I don’t want one.”
“Is that healthy? You’re judging all fathers by your bad one.”
“Da, is true. And my head,” Katarina said, tapping hers. “My head says this is not fair. But my heart,” she said, tapping her chest. “My heart says risk too high. Next father may succeed in killing me. Make sense?”
Reed blew out a breath. “Not completely, but I understand why you feel that way.”
“I feel similar way about you.” Katarina lifted the fish and slid one for her off the stick and onto a piece of mostly clean board she’d found. “Here—you get two fish. Big man needs more fuel.”
Reed took the fish but didn’t touch it. Katarina always ate like she hadn’t had food in weeks. He wondered how often she’d gone hungry in her life.
“Fish is excellent. Eat while hot,” she ordered, nodding with her chin.
“I can’t eat until I know something.”
“Fine. You miss good meal. Ask question while I eat,” Katarina said.
“How do you really feel about me?” Reed asked.
Katarina grinned as she shrugged a shoulder. “You could be my favorite dick. I do not know for sure yet, but I have feeling.”
Reed burst out laughing and hung his head. “I will need a lot of clarification about that statement.”
Katarina chuckled. “Heidi knew it was love for her because Ryan was favorite dick. She say that is why she tolerate his male shit. This is universal female problem, Temptation. All males are trouble, one way or another. If they have talented dick, at least they good for something other than being handsome naked man who looks nice when wet.”
Laughing, Reed lifted an eyebrow. “And here I always thought females were the ones who were trouble.”
“We are, but I made you fish dinner. You do nothing for Katarina but save her life. You got best deal today.”
“That’s true,” Reed said with a laugh and began to eat his fish. “Fish is perfect. Most of the time I eat it raw, even as a human. I get impatient waiting for food to cook.”
Katarina laughed. “I like you, Temptation. More after I kissed you.”
Reed smiled. “I like you too, Katarina Volkov. You have the power to do what no other female has ever done to me.”
“What? Make you see heaven ten times in one night? This I can do.”
Reed threw the fish bones into the fire. “Ten times? That’s a lot of pressure.”
“Okay. I do half the work. Sound like better deal now?”
“And this…” Reed began, waving a hand between them. “Your stupid compromises—your charming insults. This is why I know you could break my heart. I don’t know if I’m ready to have my heart broken again. That’s why I haven’t acted on my feelings.”
Katarina blinked. Who broke his stoic heart? It wasn’t her. She laughed at his sincerity because the idea was ridiculous.
“Temptation, I do not wish to break anything on you. It would be like defacing famous statue of… der’mo, I can’t think of anyone famous. You know my meaning. I know you are magnificent male without knowing about dick. My wolf like you too.”
Reed shook his head and laughed. What else could he do? Katarina was the boldest female he’d ever met. She was also hard on his ego, despite her flattery. He’d stayed away from her today to prove to himself that he could. And she’d gone about her business like she hadn’t even noticed. Most females would have come back and argued with him. He could never predict what Katarina would do.
He sighed and tossed her a bag of dried fruit, which she caught without looking away from