Now she had a chance to make certain that this rogue Breed didn’t destroy the Breed community as a whole. She refused to drop the ball on this one. She refused to back down.
“And all you thought of was yourself?” he asked, his voice lowering, darkening.
Cassa gave a bitter little laugh. “Who else should I consider?”
“Friends?” He snarled. “I know you have many of them, don’t deny it.”
She didn’t try to.
“Look, this is my job. It’s my life.” Cassa turned to him, her own anger mixing with her fear. “I weighed the consequences and took the risk. It was my choice to make.”
His lips thinned as he narrowed his gaze at the road. His hands didn’t relax on the steering wheel.
“You knew we were mates when you took it,” he accused. “Did you consider me?”
“Oh yeah, let me think about that one,” she bit out sarcastically. “No, I didn’t consider your opinion of it quite simply because I assumed you really didn’t give a damn. It’s not as though you gave the impression that you were ready for a mate, Cabal. A harem maybe.”
She hated that. The playboy of the Breeds. Or at least he’d been considered one half of a play team before his brother Tanner mated.
She watched as his jaw bunched, and she wondered if his molars were strong enough to stand the force of his teeth gritting together.
“I’ve never had a harem,” he stated angrily.
“Whatever.” Cassa blew out an irritated breath and flicked her fingers in his direction. “You were just f**king your way through the world. I understand.”
And she hated it. The thought of those women touching him, having him, touching those sexy-as-hell stripes while she still had yet to do so made her crazy. She curled her fingers at the thought of touching those oddly colored markings and tried to push past the image of her lips running over them.
A man shouldn’t be this sexy or so damned irritating.
“You don’t understand a damn thing,” he informed her. “If you weren’t constantly running scared, maybe I wouldn’t have felt like an animal chasing a rabbit. You ran from me every chance you had.”
“I simply stood aside to keep from being trampled by the hordes of lusting women,” she bit back acerbically.
But she had been frightened, and she knew it. Frightened of the strength of her desire as well as the past that she feared he would never forget or forgive her for.
“You were scared, just as you’re scared now.” There was a hint of censure in his tone. “When have I ever made you believe I would hurt you, Cassa?”
She was silent at that question. He had never done anything to make her believe he would lay a hand on her. Unless she were the enemy, and then there would be no saving her from him.
God, wasn’t that a cheerful thought, considering the fact that she had been the reason for the worst betrayal of his life and still he hadn’t given any indication of the amount of blame he assigned to her.
“You’ve done nothing to make me believe you would hurt me, Cabal,” she answered wearily. “If you sensed fear, maybe it’s for other reasons.”
“Your husband?” He cast her a brooding look. “That wasn’t in the investigation Jonas had done on you.” She guessed she should congratulate herself for having hidden the abuse she’d suffered so well that no one had guessed. If anyone had suspected, then the Breeds would have had that information. They knew every damned thing. Sons of bitches couldn’t keep their noses out of other people’s lives.
“Then what makes you think it was my husband?” she asked archly.
He grunted at that. A completely feline sound of irritation.
“I read the report on you as well as that of your husband, Douglas Watts,” he informed her. “He wasn’t exactly a prize, Cassa. You could have done much better. Just because there was nothing in there about abuse doesn’t mean it didn’t exist.”
That was no joke.
“But there was nothing in that report about it,” she reminded him.
His hair brushed against his shoulders as he gave his head a quick shake before maneuvering the vehicle onto the main road.
“And you’re being too evasive, that’s answer enough for me.” There was a latent growl in his throat, one that sent shivers of both pleasure as well as dread racing down Cassa’s spine.