through the room as if someone had turned the thermostat to broil.
“Last night was the first time with Noel, Haven, I swear.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You should be able to tell truth from lie, Haven.”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell anymore. It’s like my own anger is blinding me.”
“The only lion besides you that I’m sleeping with is Nicky.”
“Why won’t you let us fight? Are you afraid I’ll kill him?”
“I’m afraid one of you will kill the other and it will be my fault.”
“We’re lions, Anita, not people. You need to let us be lions.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means a pride only has one Rex and one Regina. You can’t keep Nick and me. You can’t fuck the weakest lions in my pride and not fuck me at all.”
I gave up trying to explain that I hadn’t touched Noel and Travis before last night. I’d learned a long time ago that it’s almost impossible to prove you didn’t do something, especially if someone is determined that you did it. Innocent until proven guilty only works in court, and even then every jury has its prejudices. We all judge.
“What would it take to get me back in your bed?”
The change in topic was too fast for me. “I thought we were fighting.”
“Yeah, but you don’t do makeup sex. If you’re mad at someone you stay mad. Everything I thought I knew about women and dating them doesn’t work with you. So tell me what does work. Tell me how to win this one.”
I took in a lot of air and let it out slow. “It’s not about winning, Haven. I’m not a prize to be won. I’m not the princess that needs rescuing from the dragon. I’m the prince and I kill my own monsters. You need to be okay with that.”
“I got that the day you fought beside the other men against me. I got that last night when you cut me with a silver blade. If you and Jean-Claude hadn’t put so much energy out I’d still be hurt.” He studied my face, and something about the seriousness of that look made me want to look away, but I didn’t. I could look at it if he could feel it. “Would you really have killed me last night to keep Noel alive?”
“We’re supposed to protect those weaker than us,” I said.
“Is that a yes, you would have killed me to save Noel?”
“Fine, yes,” I said.
“Is he better in bed than I am?”
“I’ll say this one more time. I don’t know. I didn’t have intercourse with him last night so I still don’t know. I doubt if he’d be as good; he’s too soft. I prefer my men with more life experience.”
“I hear Nathaniel had plenty of experience.”
“Are you going to throw Nathaniel’s past in my face?”
“If you were a guy, I’d tell you the love of your life was a whore.”
“I know what he was and how he earned his money when I met him,” I said.
“See, a guy would be pissed even if he knew. You won’t let me be the guy, but in the end, you’re not the guy, either.”
“Fuck this,” I said, and moved toward the door. I didn’t turn my back on him, but I was done.
Haven suddenly moved toward me. I had enough time, or speed, to be out of most of his reach, but he grabbed my wrist. We ended with me crouched back away from him, and him with one hand on my wrist. His power trembled down my skin in a hot wash that closed off my throat and made my lioness gaze up with dark, amber eyes. She growled, and it trickled up my throat and out between my lips.
He closed his eyes and a shudder passed through him from top to bottom. He opened his eyes and they were already lion amber. “Fuck me,” he said.
I shook my head. “No.”
He tightened his hand enough to let me feel how very strong he was. “No weapons, no guards, no boyfriends, you can’t stop me.”
I waited for my pulse to speed up, to be afraid, because he was probably right. I’d fight, but in the end in a fair fight there was nothing fair about someone outweighing me by over a hundred pounds of muscle and dwarfing me by nearly a foot of height. I’d seen him fight, and one on one he’d win unless I got very, very lucky. But the lion in me growled again. She wasn’t