Page 63 of Lau Ahi
I folded my arms over my chest defiantly. “Not by me.”
“Well, that’s just too damn bad isn’t it!” He looked at me frustrated, as though he felt this was going to be something easy and I was fucking up his plans.
Good.
“I’m not some simpering miss. I imagine—”
“I imagined we would work through things like adults.” The tone of his voice gave me pause because he sounded… frustrated. Wounded. Genuinely confused by my hesitation.
“What on earth gave you that idea when you won’t talk to me about any of this? Or about anything, if I’m being perfectly honest. You simply dictate.”
“Talk to you?”
“Yes! You know the thing you do when you use your mouth and allow your vocal cords to make sounds.” I used my fingers to open and close my hands simulating a conversation hoping it would break some of the tension.
It didn’t.
“Talk to you about what?”
“About what?! What is all this?” I waved my hand around the room before looking back at him.
“My things.”
It was like speaking to a brick wall.
“Right you’re happy to be here invading my personal space—”
“Ours.” The emphasis on ours grated my nerves to no end and I had no issue telling him so.
I wagged my finger not caring if he thought I was a harpy. Maybe if I nagged him enough he would rethink doing all of this. “No. See, that. That right there! That declaration of possession of something I hold dear is not going to fly. This is my sanctuary and having it colonized by you isn’t how this was supposed to play out at all.”
“Colonized!” He seemed outraged at my characterization but that’s the only word that he would understand. Being from the islands I knew that word would be as offensive to him as his actions were to me.
“If you think you’re moving in here-”
“I don’tthink,I know. I don’t have the type of lifestyle that allows the luxury of having the people that I care about be far away from me. Thankfully, most of them are well-protected and well-guarded no matter where they are on this earth. But you’ve made it into that very small number and there’s no better protection for you than me. This is your consequence.”
“Consequence? It most certainly feels like one.”
“It can’t all be bad.”
“It doesn’t feel good.”
“What worries you? Hmm? That the shell that you put up for everyone is going to crack again? That the soft underbelly that I saw when you came apart as you creamed all over my dick isgoing to continue to show itself when I’m around?” His finger rose to touch the side of my face before it ran slowly down the curve of my cheek. The move was intimate and it annoyed me how easily he disarmed me.
“There is nothing soft about me.” My voice was hushed and I attempted to keep the anger that I’d displayed earlier to the forefront. I was annoyed but being this close to him had my mind going to places it shouldn’t be. The effect he had on my body was instant and desire always broke through despite how angry I was.
“I’d have to vehemently disagree with that,Ka’iulani. I know from experience there’s plenty about you that’s soft. Supple. Inviting. Damn near intoxicating and most definitely addictive.” His hand lifted my chin delicately as he brought his face closer to mine.
Why did I tell him to speak? I thought he’d left that persona in the past but it was clear that he loved to tease it out when he was around me. I knew manipulation when I saw it and this most definitely felt like it. Damn him and damn me for not keeping my mouth shut.
“Is that what it is?”
The awkward smile was back on his face as he released my chin my body instantly feeling his loss.
“Do I need to remind you I’m more than happy to fulfill my husbandly duties to see that side of you? To get you to yield?”
“Yield? I don’t know the meaning of the word.”
