Page 46 of Ice Cold Christmas

She had?

“But you wanted to fuck me more than you hated me.”

“You are not reassuring me.” Quite the opposite.

“I want you to kiss me.”

She sucked in a breath. “You said you’d help me solve the mystery of what happened to me.”

“I did say that, and I will. But in order to do that, you have to remember everything. Good and bad. All the stuff in between.”

“And kissing you is supposed to do that? Help me remember, I mean? Spoiler alert, we kissed already. I didn’t remember anything. I’m not Sleeping Beauty, and your kiss is not going to wake me up.” But she did want his mouth on hers. She wanted to see what it would be like if she just let go completely and gave in to the strange attraction she felt for him. An attraction that scared her just as much as it turned her on.

“Ah, brutal honesty.” He put a hand over his heart. “Got a rusty knife that you want to jab into me a few times? Or are you happy enough telling me that you felt nothing when I kissed you?”

“I never said I felt nothing.”

His hand dropped. The mocking smile of his had turned sly. “I know.”

Tricky bastard.

He quirked one eyebrow. “So what did you feel when I had my lips against yours?”

Desire. A dark and twisting need that had slithered through her and tempted her to give in to her hunger. To kiss him ferociously. To not care about anything else.

“I am the best lover that you ever had,” Victor said.

Her eyes widened. “You are one cocky bastard.”

“True.” A shrug. “You’re the one who told me I was the best. The most amazing. The man who utterly rocked your world and ruined you for everyone else.”

Her breath left in a quick rush. “I did not say that.”

A shrug. “How do you know? You don’t remember.”

Anger stirred. “You’re playing with me.”

“Kiss me back and find out. I mean really kiss me. Don’t be afraid. Don’t hold onto your control. Let yourself go and see what you feel.”

Her gaze had fallen to his mouth. “And if I feel nothing? What happens then? You gonna kick me out of your fancy house? Leave me on my own to figure out what in the hell happened to me?” She’d been on her own for the last year. She could be on her own again.

“No.” Flat. “I will stay with you whether your body ignites or if you don’t feel a damn thing. I gave you my word that I would protect you, and I mean that.”

Melody deliberately widened her eyes. “My body ignites, huh? You honestly think you’re that amazing?” Talk about an ego.

“I think we were that amazing together. Half the time I couldn’t wait to even get you home. I’d fuck you in the back of the limo. I’d fuck you in a stairwell. If I’d had my way, I would have fucked you twenty-four, seven.”

She rubbed her sweaty palms on the front of her thighs. “I have no idea how I am supposed to respond to that.”

Another shrug. “Kiss me and let’s see if you respond.”

He kept tempting her. No, he kept pushing her. And this wasn’t going to end well. She wasn’t the type to be swept away by passion. That much, she did know about herself. “I’ve actually gone on a few dates over the last year.” Why did she feel compelled to admit that truth to him?

His jaw hardened. His gaze went even darker. Not a cold dark. Hot. Burning obsidian. “Did you fuck someone else, Melody?”

He sounded possessive. Jealous. Dangerous. “I said I went on dates.”

“That’s not an answer to my question.” His hands fisted at his sides.