Seeing as the house he gave me belonged in a fairytale, I couldn’t imagine what would be better but I didn’t share that mainly because I was concentrating on my stomach muscles contracting because it felt like he’d punched me in the gut.
Then I shoved at his shoulders, bucked and shrieked, “Get the f**k off me, you ass**le!”
He shifted just enough for me to slide out from under him and gain my feet. I took several hasty steps away then whirled to face him, my mind searching for a stunning set down and finding nothing when I saw him on his side, the hides to his waist, up on a forearm, his magnificent chest on display, his black hair tousled from sleep and his eyes on me.
Damn, he was sexy as all hell and I wished he was ugly as well as a jerk.
“Have I mentioned I hated you this morning?” I asked spitefully.
He grinned.
Grinned!
Jerk!
“Actually, yes,” he answered.
“Good, I don’t want you to forget,” I returned.
“Oh, I won’t forget.”
“Excellent.”
“Though,” he started, shoving the hides aside and moving lithely to his feet, “you don’t want rabbit for your next meal, you pay the price.”
Oh no.
This didn’t sound good.
“What?” I asked.
“You don’t like rabbit,” he reminded me.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like it. It was that, even tasty, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking it was gross because I liked bunnies.
“No,” I said cautiously as he crossed his arms on his chest.
“You don’t want rabbit, love, then you earn something you want.”
This definitely didn’t sound good.
“Perhaps you’ll explain,” I suggested though, truth be told, I didn’t want him to explain.
He did as I suggested. “A kiss for a meal.”
Uh-oh.
“I –”
“You want anything else, like clothes, you’ll need to get creative.”
Uh-oh!
“Noctorno –”
He leaned forward slightly but ominously. “I’m certain you can be creative, can’t you, Cora?”
“I’ve decided I like eating bunny and my nightgown is perfectly fine, thank you,” I snapped, wrapping my arms around my belly protectively.