“That can be arranged.” One side of his mouth curved up. “If I’d known your special preferences regarding to water closets, I’d have installed a Japanese toilet already.”
I bared my teeth in a snarl, giving in to the feral creature inside me.
His gaze dipped to my lips and his hooded eyes flared with heat. He leaned in until only an inch remained between us, filled with rage and the sensual dare of a challenge I felt deep inside me like an echo of my thundering heartbeat.
Just a tiny movement forward, and my mouth would brush his. Our noses were so close, his breath caressed my lips as if teasing with his touch. Molten desire curled in my core, my body straining to close the distance, feel his heat.
“Ask me,” he whispered, his words sweet poison for my mind, his nearness a magnetic lure for my senses.
I blinked, breath heavy, struggling to disentangle my brain from the vortex of lust threatening to draw me under. “All right,” I breathed.
Triumph in those eyes of quicksilver lightning.
“Will you,” I murmured, my voice thick with longing, “get me that toilet?”
His face fell, and it was the juiciest, most pleasurable thing to witness, almost as satisfying as an orgasm from my trusted electric friend.
It only lasted a few seconds, but I could learn to live for those moments when I made him lose his composure.
He let go of the sofa, straightened, and stared down at me. Back was the calm, controlled expression, the slightly cruel glint in his eyes. His game face, as I thought of it.
I schooled my own features to show none of the irrational disappointment at his retreat.
“Far be it from me,” he said, his voice light and mocking, “to deny you the sanitary equipment of your dreams. I’ll have the toilet installed promptly. Anything else, honey?”
I recognized his deliberate use of the endearment for the taunt it was...still it smarted. It only drove home the fact I’d never again have a romantic partner in my life who’d say it with the right intent.
Sure, I had commitment issues and a spade of bad luck in dating—thanks to Tall, Dark, and Chokable here—and I’d never seen myself in a long-term relationship. But that didn’t mean I didn’t crave a little bit of affection every now and then. I was only human, after all.
With my life as it was now, though, there’d be none of that coming my way in the near or distant future. Not if my cantankerous husband had his way. He sure as fuck wouldn’t show me a sliver of authentic affection, and with me locked in these rooms, I’d likely never meet anyone else with whom I’d share romantic feelings.
I was staring down a future of real, frightening loneliness, and it took all I had not to reveal how much that scared me. I’d rather claw myself bloody than let him see me brittle and afraid. He wasn’t the only one with a game face for this farce.
“Actually,” I said, tilting my head to look up at him, “there is something, yes.”
I hated sitting down while he was standing over me. Body language could be used for subtle wars, and right now, ours said I was a bug he would have squashed...if I weren’t so insignificant in the first place.
But he still stood so close that I couldn’t just get up—I’d have to scramble around him or stand on the sofa, and both of these moves would be so obvious in their intention that it would render them a moot point.
I refused to cross my arms or legs either, knowing full well it would signal my discomfort even more.
So I simply fixed him with a stare I hoped appeared forged from steel, forcing my body into a deliberately relaxed position. “I want to visit Earth.”
He chuckled. Chuckled, the ass. “Of course you do.”
I barely controlled the twitch of my facial muscles. “You said I could see my friends and family. Well, I want to visit Taylor and my mom.”
His smile was all kindness, his tone gentle...his answer a slice across my heart. “No.”
“You promised,” I hissed.
“I didn’t, actually.” The smug expression he sported made my hands curl to fists. “I said you could see them, not that you would. Semantics are important, dear. If you’d included visits to Earth in your negotiation before we got married, I’d be beholden to fulfill that condition. As it is—” he adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves “—I have no obligation to