Part 18 (2/2)
Tears filled her eyes. ”Stop. Please, stop.”
The tears did it. He never had been able to deal with a woman's tears. He'd have been happier if she'd thrown the bowl of chips at his head, but of course she wouldn't do that. She might be getting more adventurous in bed, but he suspected at heart she was still very much a good girl.
And he'd obviously inflicted pain. He took a deep breath. ”Hey, I'm sorry to make you cry. But, Anica, if you know how to break this curse and you're not telling me, then-”
”I can't tell you!” Her words were edged with anger and frustration equal to his. ”If you think for one minute that I enjoy keeping you captive, that all I'm looking for is a love slave, then please never touch me again, because I can't imagine what sort of horrible person you think I am.”
He wasn't about to tell her that his hunger for her defied all logic. No matter what he thought about her character or her behavior with the hexing thing, he couldn't seem to stop wanting her. It was life's little joke at the moment.
He wanted to despise her for turning him into a cat, but in the first place, she was a tough person to despise. He liked her. And in the second place, how was he supposed to hold on to his rage when his c.o.c.k wanted nothing more than to be eternally buried in her sweet p.u.s.s.y?
Instead of landing himself in that briar patch, he circled back to the first thing she'd said. ”Why can't you tell me?”
She took a ragged breath and swiped at her eyes. ”If I tell you, then the counterspell won't work.”
”What kind of crazy deal is that? How am I supposed to know what to do if n.o.body-” The light dawned. ”I have to figure it out for myself?”
”Yes.”
”s.h.i.+tfire.” He swiped a hand over his face. ”Can you give me a hint?”
She shook her head.
”How about if you write it on a piece of paper, I read it and then we burn it? n.o.body will know, right?”
”It doesn't matter if n.o.body knows. It's the nature of the spell that if you're told how to break it, you never will be able to.”
His blood ran cold. What kind of h.e.l.l would that be? They'd both be doomed. They'd be tied to each other, neither of them able to live a normal life because he'd be a man for only a few hours every night, which would be just long enough to keep her from having a relations.h.i.+p with someone else.
Then another horrific thought came to him. ”Suppose you accidentally tell me?”
”I wouldn't do that.”
”What do you mean, you wouldn't? Let's say I keep showing up every night and we keep having s.e.x.”
”After the way you've spoken to me, that won't be happening again.”
Now, there was a sucker punch to the gut. The thought of being denied was pretty much unbearable. ”Anica, I lost my temper. I shouldn't have accused you of using me for your own selfish purposes. You're not that kind of person. I know that. I'm sorry.”
She didn't respond, just kept gazing at him as if he was something she'd sc.r.a.ped off the bottom of her shoe.
He could barely believe that this was the same woman who had lovingly given him the most spectacular b.l.o.w. .j.o.b of his life an hour and a half ago. Just thinking about that made his p.e.n.i.s stir.
Running his fingers through his hair, he wondered how to regain some of the ground he'd lost. Somehow, even though he was the wronged party, he'd now become the villain of the piece.
To his surprise he didn't like seeing her miserable, either. At one time, very recently, in fact, he'd imagined it would be quite satisfying to see her miserable. He'd pictured finding some way to ruin her business so that she'd lose all the money she'd invested. The punishment had seemed justified, considering what she'd done to him.
Yet now . . . maybe she was as much a victim of the situation as he was. She'd bravely tried to make the best of it by giving him some of the greatest s.e.x of his life. Then he'd accused her of doing it because she was desperate for a decent lay. Not nice.
He sat down on the bed. ”Let's start over.”
”Where did you want to start over? At the point where we were having a lovely mutual o.r.g.a.s.m, or at the point where you accused me of being a manipulative, scheming, not to mention h.o.r.n.y and pathetic b.i.t.c.h?”
He gazed into her eyes. ”I was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d to say those things to you.”
”Yes, you certainly were.”
”You've given generously of your body, and I should fall on my knees in grat.i.tude. I should beg you to forgive me for being such an insensitive creep.”
The corner of her mouth twitched as if she might be holding back a smile. ”That would be entirely appropriate.”
He took heart from that little twitch. ”So I will.” Sliding off the bed, he dropped to his knees beside it and gazed up at her. ”Anica, please forgive me for acting like a total idiot. I've loved every millisecond we've had s.e.x, and after what I said to you, I completely understand if you kick me out of your bed. I hope you don't, but you'd be absolutely justified in cutting me off.”
”Oh?” Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief. ”Do you mean that literally?”
He scrambled to his feet and put both hands over his crotch. ”I'm sorry, but not that sorry! Who are you, Lorena Bobbitt?”
Finally her laughter broke through. ”All right, you're forgiven.”
”Thank G.o.d.” He climbed back in bed with her, took away the bowl of chips and set it on the table next to his beer.
”I was eating those.”
”I know, but I was afraid you'd choke.” He eased her back onto the stack of pillows.
”Why would I do that?”
”Because it's really dangerous to eat chips while I'm s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g your brains out.”
He did exactly that. Anica didn't have a single brain cell working by the time he finished with her. That explained why she forgot to remind him to get out of bed and go read his mail.
He was the one who remembered it. They lay facing each other again, gazing into each other's eyes. He leaned over and kissed her softly. ”You have my permission to open my mail.”
”Sheesh, your mail! Let me go get it!”
”There isn't time.”
She realized that he could see the clock on the bedside table behind her and she couldn't. If there wasn't time for him to read his mail, then it must be almost one thirty. Her heart squeezed.
”If anything's urgent, like a bill, just get out my credit card and pay it that way.”
”All right.” She was determined not to fall apart on him. After all, he'd still be here. He'd just be . . . a cat. She cupped his face in both hands. ”Your beard's growing.”
”Yeah. If I keep extending my time, eventually I'll have to shave.” A shadow crossed his face. ”If I keep extending my time.”
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