Until the Sun Falls from the Sky(103)
Her hand drifted up his chest, lifted and he held his breath because he thought she was actually going to touch his face in an act of affection.
Instead, disappointingly, she thought better of it and her hand floated down to rest lightly on his shoulder.
Regardless of his disappointment, his fingers captured a lock of her hair and started twisting
“Concubines aren’t like that,” he continued quietly when she made no reply. “Concubines understand and accept who we are, what we need and they give us more. Not just blood. A safe harbor where we can be who we are. You,” his voice dropped to a whisper and his face moved closer to hers, “are part of my life, my real life, not some romance novel or horror film. This is a relationship, sweetling, one in my world as it is today that is essential to me. Without it, I’d go mad.”
The sorrow left her gaze, the compassion remained and he felt her body melt into his.
Thank fucking God.
Finally, he was getting somewhere.
“Lucien –” she murmured.
He didn’t let her continue, feeling the time was ripe to make his point. “I don’t want a whore, Leah. I want you to accept who I am and what we are to each other.”
“I accept you,” she whispered and the way she did it he believed her.
Without hesitation he asked, “Do you accept what we are to each other?”
She bit her lip in indecision.
“Do you?” he pressed.
“What, um,” she paused then went on, “exactly are we to each other?”
“I’d like us to be lovers.”
Oddly, her eyes turned hopeful. “Lovers?”
Not certain of the reasons behind her hope, he replied cautiously, “Lovers.”
“Just lovers?” she repeated.
His sense of caution escalated. “Perhaps you should describe to me what ‘just lovers’ means.”
“Perhaps you should describe to me what you think ‘lovers’ means.”
“I’ve made that clear,” he told her.
“You want me to trust you.”
“That and more.”
Her pliant body stiffened.
“What else?” she asked.
He studied her for a moment wondering if she was genuinely obtuse or stubbornly so. He decided the latter.
He also thought that perhaps he actually wasn’t getting somewhere.
With waning patience, he explained, “Leah, my clothes are in your closet. My body is in your bed. I come home to you every night.”
Her reply was swift. “Lucien, your clothes are in your closet. Your body is in your bed. You come home to your house every night.”
He felt his brows draw together. “This is your house, Leah.”
“You’re wrong,” she returned. “This is the house you provided for me to live in while all this is going on.”
His eyes narrowed under his drawn brows and his patience slipped another notch. “You’re correct, I was wrong. This isn’t your house. And you’re also wrong. This isn’t the house I provided for you ‘while all this is going on’.”
When she spoke, he sensed her patience was slipping too.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s our house.”
Her body jerked and she pulled reflexively against his arms. He held her tightly, not giving her an inch.
“There is no ‘our’,” she snapped, her hand at his shoulder pressing to no avail. Still, she didn’t stop.
“There will be,” he declared decisively and he saw her eyes flash before they filled with anger.
She pressed harder while muttering irately, “Lucien, let me go.”
No, he was definitely not getting somewhere.
At her attempt to retreat, his patience took another hit.
“What the fuck do you think this is all about?” he ground out.
She locked eyes with him and demanded, “Let me go.”
“Answer me.”
She didn’t. Instead, she asked her own question.
“Is this what taming is?” Her voice was rising. “Creating an ‘our’ which means you’d be creating an ‘us’?”
“Yes, that’s part of it.”
“It sure has a lot of parts,” she retorted sarcastically.
“Yes, it fucking well does and if you’d stop being so goddamned stubborn, you might open yourself up to learning them all and understand how beautiful it is.”
“Right,” she shot back derisively.
His arms gave her a gentle shake. “You don’t have any idea what you’re treating with such scorn.”
“Oh yes I do.”
“Explain it to me then.”
She stilled and to his surprise, agreed. “All right, I will.”
He held her defiant glare before muttering, “This will be interesting.”