“She’s just a consort,” he said against my neck, kissing it attentively. “I’m not committed to her, just like I’m not committed to Daniela or Tammy.”
Daniela and Tammy? There wasn’t just Joy? I didn’t know what was worse; the idea of sleeping with someone who I thought was already claimed, or the idea of sleeping with someone who would consider me nothing more than a notch on his already very busy bedpost.#p#分页标题#e#
He must have felt me tense beneath him because his mouth paused. “Sam?”
“Sounds like your dance card is already full.” I wriggled under him and pushed on his chest. Reluctantly he moved away.
He was gazing at me incredulously as we stood facing each other. “I don’t get it.”
Blokes! If he was a woman he’d be considered a bit of a slut, but apparently because he was a bloke it was completely normal and acceptable. “I suppose you probably don’t.”
“Look, if you’re offended that I haven’t asked you to be one of my consorts yet then, believe me, I was going to ask. I’ve wanted you since I first saw you.” He said it as though I should be so unbelievably flattered that I’d be bouncing on the spot with excitement like someone who had just won X-Factor.
“Well then you won’t like this: the answer’s ‘no’.”
“You are definitely one of the most confusing women I’ve ever met in my entire human and vampire years.” His tone didn’t suggest this was a bad thing.
“Seriously, Jared, did you honestly expect to hear ‘yes, yes, a thousand times yes’ to being a live-in prostitute – who does it for free, to make things more insulting.” I waved him away from me. “If you’re horny, you have three women on call for sex for whenever you need them so you know where to go.”
“You want me, I want you. I don’t see what they have to do with what just happened. They’re just consorts. They don’t even share my apartment with me. They share a separate one together.”
That made me laugh.
“What?”
“It’s just the idea of it. You having three women all living together just waiting for you to come along and have sex with them at your leisure, probably all at the same time. I’m actually offended that you think I’d be up for anything like that. Well, I don’t work well as part of a group, sorry.”
“Lots of vampires have consorts.”
“I know,” I said bitterly.
“You were one,” he realised.
“I won’t be again. If I slept with you when you’re the kind of person who has three women at your beck and call for sex then I’d feel no better than them.”
Jared ran a hand through his chestnut hair, releasing a breath with a long puff. “Sam, I -”
“Let’s just not talk about it anymore, alright. It would have been stupid to shag when we’ve got to work together anyway.”
Jared shrugged. “Okay, we won’t talk about it.”
I nodded and paced toward the door. Just as I reached it, I heard Jared’s voice in my head.
But you’ll still want me. And I’ll still want you. That won’t change.
Life’s full of changes, I replied as Fletcher unlocked the office door and I waltzed out.
(Jared)
A loud grunt escaped me when I sank into my office chair. I looked around the office at the mess that the scuffle, to put it lightly, had left in its path. Broken cabinets. Cracks in the plaster of the walls. Documents scattered everywhere.
Then my gaze fell on the spot on the floor where only moments ago I’d had Sam underneath me; my mouth on hers, my hands in her hair, teasing her tongue with my own, and tasting her skin. I’ll never know how I managed to reign myself in and not skate my hands over every single part of her; my control had completely shred when that blast of heat circulated through me on just kissing her. It’d felt even better than I’d imagined it would. She had felt even better than I’d imagined.#p#分页标题#e#
Then she had pushed me away.
Obviously she’d had to put up with a lot of shit from her Sire – that got me pissed. Sure it made sense that she wouldn’t want to be another consort if things had been that crap in the past. But I had the feeling that there was more to it than that. The emotion in her voice...It was like she didn’t like that I had consorts and didn’t want there to be anyone else. Could it actually be that she wanted me to herself? Maybe. I wouldn’t want to share her with anyone else whether it was casual sex or not.
Internally I slapped myself, wanting to stop stressing over a woman and hoping to just blank it all out for now. But I could still smell her on me. Still feel the burning that the heat of the moment had left behind. Still taste her skin on my tongue. And I knew then that I’d never be able to be around her without wanting her. Not great.