Amaury's Hellion
Page 84

Quickly, before she could change her mind, he went inside, closed the door behind him and locked it.
“What do you want?” There was a good dose of defiance in her voice, and she served it up straight without any disguise. He deserved as much.
Amaury shifted his weight uncomfortably onto the other foot. It was critical that he didn’t make a mistake with her. Despite the fact that he couldn’t sense her emotions, he knew she was hurt. He was the reason for her big brown eyes reflecting sorrow and resignation. He realized he’d messed up. With his tendency of acting like a bull in a china shop, the odds of mending what he’d already screwed up weren’t in his favor. No self-respecting bookie would take that bet.
“I want to apologize.” Now there was a phrase he hadn’t used much before. It felt strange coming from his lips, but it was the first thing that came to him.
Nina didn’t answer. Instead, she looked at him with her big brown eyes, the hurt sitting deep within. It hit him in the gut, as if she’d punched him.
“I only wanted to protect you,” Amaury tried again. “I was scared I would hurt you.”
“You didn’t want me.”
How could four little words cause such pain? Didn’t want her? That’s what she thought?
“What did I do?”
“Nothing, you did nothing.”
He didn’t understand. Damn, why couldn’t he sense her? Why couldn’t he figure out what was wrong? “Please, Nina, talk to me, tell me what I did wrong.”
She sniffed. “After I told you what I did, you didn’t …” Her voice broke off.
“I didn’t what?” he probed.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. Please go.”
“The hell I will. I won’t leave. Nina, I’m not moving one inch until you’ve told me what’s going on.”
His statement seemed to get her dander up—good. He preferred it when she was fighting him rather than running away from him.
“What do you want, Amaury? Haven’t you slummed it long enough?”
“Slummed it?” He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her close. “If you’re referring to yourself when you talk about slum, I suggest you stop it right now.”
“Give it up. You don’t have to pretend you care. If you’d cared at all, you wouldn’t have left me alone when I needed you. There, now you know. Now, go.”
Amaury sighed with relief. That little misunderstanding had gotten her all riled up? If only everything was as easy to fix as this one.
“You silly little kitten. Don’t you know that I wouldn’t have wanted anything more than to hold you in my arms?”
“Then why didn’t you?” she barked, clearly not believing him yet.
Despite her resistance he pulled her into his arms. “Because my hands had turned into claws and my fangs itched for a bite. I was angry, chérie, and I wanted to hurt the man who did this to you. But I didn’t want to hurt you. I couldn’t hold you—please believe me. I wasn’t in control of myself.”
“I thought you didn’t want me anymore because you know my past. You know I’m trash.”
Amaury pulled back and looked at her face. “You, Nina, are the only good and innocent person in this room. You’re not trash.”
He kissed her softly on the cheek. “I will kill anybody who hurts you.”
“I don’t want you to kill for me. They’re not worth it.”
He shook his head. “You are the most confusing woman I’ve ever met. I need to know something.” Amaury paused, knowing her answer was more important than anything. “Did you mean it when you offered me your blood tonight? Did you want me to bite you?”
He felt his heart lurch into his throat as he waited for her to respond.
“You didn’t want it.” It wasn’t a straight answer, but he could work with that.
“How would you know?”
“Because you said so.”
“I said I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me.”
“You have that much faith in me?”
She nodded. “You’ve protected me. Why would you hurt me now?”
“A woman’s logic. How can I argue with that?” Amaury paused. “Nina, why do you want me to take your blood?”
She pressed her lips together.
“Why? Please tell me.”
“Promise me first that you’ll take my blood.”
“Believe me, I’m so far gone, I won’t be able to resist. I just want to know why.”