Kissed by a Dark Prince(16)

She didn’t like the sound of that. “And if it isn’t?”

“If it is not possible, then my only choice will be to complete the bond. Completing the bond will restore my strength, because it will make you immortal, stronger.” He held her gaze, unflinching as she glared at him, thinking about giving him another piece of her mind. “You must understand... I must defeat my enemy and to do that, I need to regain my strength, whether that is through breaking or completing our bond.”

In other words, she wasn’t getting a choice. He was just going to make that decision for her.

“I don’t want this bond. I’m stating that for the record. I didn’t ask you to bite me and drag me into this mess. I don’t want it completed. I want it gone.”

“I will do all I can. I will have my best researchers on it as soon as we return.”

Olivia shook her head. “I’m not returning. That’s another thing. I want to stay here until we know for certain.”

His black eyebrows pinched together. “I cannot allow that. You will be vulnerable here.”

Olivia held her ground, refusing to give an inch. “Can’t one of your men stay with me, like a bodyguard?”

His expression darkened and his ears went pointier again. His voice was a thick growl as he spoke, his fangs brushing his lower lip. “You wish for another male to keep you company?”

Not what she had said at all but clearly that was what he had heard, and he didn’t like the idea one bit. Was the dark possessive snarl in his deep voice a result of the bond too or was it because he felt attracted to her? She hadn’t failed to notice the desire that shone in his eyes at times either. Was that the bond at work? A fragment of her heart hoped it wasn’t. Olivia squashed it.

“Listen, Buddy, you don’t seem to want to stay with me and you won’t let me stay alone, so what other option do we have?” She prodded his chest, driving her point home so he wouldn’t be able to miss that she wasn’t going to roll over and do whatever he commanded.

“You will come with me.” Clearly, he hadn’t got the message at all.

“I damned well will not,” she snapped and he leaned back, frowning at her. She could tell he wasn’t used to people speaking to him like that but he was going to have to get used to it if he was going to be hanging around her. Maybe if she were caustic enough, he would let her have her way. “I have work to do and I don’t need another boss in my life. One is enough, thank you very much. You caused this mess and that means you have to do some major sucking up... starting with allowing me to continue my work.”

He snarled and Olivia bravely stood her ground. Or sat it. She realised that they were still sitting together with his arms around her. He hadn’t made a move to release her and she didn’t think he would. For all his growling, he clearly felt possessive of her. Because of her blood and the bond?

Olivia didn’t like it. Not one bit. She didn’t like how her feelings towards him were mercurial either, swinging from anger one moment to desire the next. The last time she had felt attracted to a man, she had ended up duped and then disgraced, and she wouldn’t let it happen again.

“I cannot allow you to continue your work, because... because...” The demanding prince lost for words? This was a new one.

“Because what?” she barked, trying to force him to spit it out. She really wanted to know his insane reasoning so she could rip it apart.

“Because that would mean you desire to take one of my men into your laboratory.” His expression hardened, his purple eyes verging on black. “Men there would desire to harm them.”

She couldn’t rip that one apart. If he had spouted the answer she had anticipated, stating she desired one of his men, she probably wouldn’t have had the heart to rip that apart either. At this point, if he looked at another woman, she would probably go all growly too.

What the hell was wrong with her?

It was the bond. She was blaming the bond. She had been wrong the night they had met. It hadn’t been blood loss that had made her feel attracted to him, hazy and hot whenever he touched her or looked at her. It was this stupid bond.

“We would want to study them, not hurt them.” Although she could see why he had reservations about it. He wanted to protect his men. “If a demon or fae isn’t a threat to mankind, then Archangel doesn’t hurt them. Besides, I would like to run some blood work and see if there is something I can do about this bond. If I have a sample of your blood and my blood, and perhaps some blood from an elf who isn’t bonded, then I might be able to see how we’re connected.”