Page 94

Knowing that this would be just one of many battles that Duncan was sure to lose from this day forward, he swallowed his pride, stepped forward, took Isabella by the hands and looked deeply into her eyes before speaking.

“Isabella...” He squeezed her hands; they were sweaty, trembling in his grip. “You are the most frustrating, stubborn, fury-inducing person who I have ever met.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“I should hate you,” he continued, smile growing. “I should wish to never see you again. I should... I should hate the way you anger me, infuriate me, send me crazy with how you bicker and argue seemingly for the sake of upsetting me.”

“And yet...” She licked her lips.

“And yet, you don’t. And the only reason that I can think is because...” Still holding her hands, he raised them to his chest. “It is because I love you, Isabella. I have loved you for longer than I care to admit. Longer than any reasonable person should take to realize it. Longer than...” He shook his head. “Longer than any sane man should take to confess how much they love you.”

“Oh...” Isabella grimaced, and she gently pulled her hands away.

Duncan’s stomach dropped. “Oh...?”

“This is a touch awkward but...” She sucked through her teeth. “And that was all very lovely to hear. Thank you.”

“You are welcome?”

“But I was thinking that perhaps we should just be friends?”

Duncan’s mouth ran dry. His stomach, having dropped already, was burrowing beneath the earth. The hand that wrapped around his heart was squeezing as if trying to kill him. While the room turned because his reality was shattering in ways that he did not think possible but now found himself in the middle of --

And then he saw the look in her eyes.

It was devilish. Wicked. Pure evil, in how much she was enjoying the misery flooding Duncan’s soul. That look in her eyes was joined by a most sinister smirk and that was when Duncan knew.

“You think you are funny?” he said dryly.

“I am hilarious.”

“You know what, I have just changed my mind. I take it all back.”

“It’s too late for that now!” she cried.

“It’s never too late. Now, if you do not mind...” He shooed her away and pretended to turn around.

She grabbed him by the arm, and he looked down at her hand. He curled his lip and growled. “I suggest that you let me go immediately.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You would not be wise to.”

“When have I ever done anything that might be considered wise?” The grip tightened.

“From the moment that I met you?” He turned into her, stepped forward, wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him. “Not once.”

“Like, for example, falling in love with you?” she said as her tone softened and she melted into him, her own hands finding their way around his waist.

“The most foolish thing you have ever done,” Duncan grinned.

“Strange then that I do not regret it.”

Duncan laughed. “Well... let us see if I can change your mind.”

He was finished flirting. He was finished playing games. He had Isabella in his grip. Complete and utter control, so that if he wanted, he could do with her whatever he liked.

It almost felt as if the opposite was true. As if she was the one who had him in her power, that she had her talons sunk deep into his skin, and if she so wished it she could make him do just about anything that she wished for.