but could not stop himself from hoping for a sign that she heard him, that she welcomed his need to please her. But as he gazed up at her face, her expression clearly proclaimed: You are my greatest disappointment.
And it did not have to be so.
“I will find him,” Percen said finally. Purposefully. He pushed to his feet and stroked a hand across her soft white cheek. “I will search the galaxies, if need be, and find exactly where you sent him. And then, sweet Mother, I will bring him back to you.”
Broken and destroyed.
CHAPTER EIGHT
WHILE KATIE MANEUVERED the enchanted transportation along the winding roads, Jorlan weighed his options. The woman was obviously in a temper. Her breath was coming in short, shallow pants and her fingers were clutching the steering wheel as if it would fly out the window if she let go. He needed to gently sway her from her pique so that she could at last admit her desires for him. But how?
He could make her laugh with a story of his childhood. He could whisper sweet, seductive words in her ear. Or he could simply wait until her anger crumbled on its own.
“I don’t think this is going to work between us, Jorlan,” she said.
A dark, primitive blaze uncurled inside him. “It will.”
“Of course it works for you. You gain everything and lose nothing.”
“So I must lose something to win you? Then so be it. Name it and it is gone.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I have less than thirteen days, katya. ’Tis a mere flash.” He had considered begging before, dropping to his knees and begging her for her affections. His desire for permanent freedom far surpassed any pride he harbored. “You have only to tell me what you need of me and I will do it.”
“I don’t know what I want from you, okay? I only know I can’t give my heart or body easily. Besides that, it’s hard to think of you as the love of my life when I know you consider me nothing more than a necessary burden.”
“Then I—”
“We’re from different worlds,” she rushed on, slicing his apology to a halt. “I have enough trouble with Earth men.”
“Just because you have trouble with men of your own world,” he growled, “does not mean you will have trouble with a man of Imperia.”
“No, it just means I have trouble with any man who wants to screw everything female.” Katie parked the vehicle, emerged, then strode inside the old house, all without uttering another word. She was beyond angry now, that much was obvious. Her shoulders had been stiff and her chin high and she had never once glanced back to see if he followed. He didn’t. He remained within the enchanted transportation.
The day was not fraught with the promise he’d first supposed.
Screw everything female? He had already proved those words for the falsehood they were by declining the girl, but he only now realized the full extent of what had transpired inside the café. He, a man who had been without bodily contact for more than nine hundred spans, had been unable to summon a single shred of awareness for any woman save Katie since obtaining his freedom.
The simple fact was that he was fast becoming obsessed with Katie.
“Katie,” he said, wanting to hear her name aloud. “Pretty, courageous Katie James. How can I want you so desperately, yet want no other?” Though he hated himself for it, he did want her desperately. Wanted, if only for a little while, to be the center of her life. Wanted to tear down her resistance and bend her so completely to his will that he could take her whenever, wherever he wanted. More than that, he wanted her cries of love to ring in his ears long after he left her.
For the first time, however, he considered what would happen to her if he were to win her. Would she suffer greatly if she fell in love with him and he simply abandoned her? Curse it, she claimed she did not need a man’s protection, physically or emotionally. Why should he consider her well-being his responsibility?
Obsessed. Aye, he truly was obsessed, for not even Maylyn had affected him like this. He’d thought of her, but not constantly and she had never confused him. He’d wanted her, but it had been a gentle kind of want, a need to cherish and show tenderness. Now, with Katie, he felt anything but gentle, and all traces of tenderness had already dissipated. He felt an ache, an all-consuming desire that constantly battered against his reservations. He felt a need to dominate, a need to ride her harder than he’d ever ridden a woman.
What did it mean that he simply had to have her, whether she returned his affection or not? That he simply had to taste more of her? Her lips were too sweet, her scent too delectable, and her body too ripe. What did it mean that a part of him was willing to wait forever, if need be, to have her?
He didn’t want to contemplate the answer.
The air inside the transportation was hot, cloistering, and sweat dripped down his chest. Still he made no move to leave. He needed more time to gather his wits. Closing his eyes, he thought back over Katie’s reasons for ending their kiss. They did not like each other, she had said. He liked her all too well. She thought he still considered her a necessary burden. She was necessary, but no longer a burden. They did not know each other, she had said. He did not like discussing his life, but he would do it, tell her anything she wanted to hear.
Aye, he would do whatever was required to gain her favor. In the process, he would do whatever was required to rid himself of his fascination with her.
Resolved, he emerged from the vehicle and followed the path Katie had taken.
KATIE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED doing a dropkick and punch right into Jorlan’s solar plexus, followed by a knee to the groin, and as a finale, taking his rolling pin and bashing him over the head. The man was entirely too confident, too cocky (in every way) and most assuredly a jackass. And to top it off, he was too damn sexy for his own good.
Even the redhead had noticed.
Just thinking about the redhead sent her already heated blood into a serious boil. Where is that rolling pin? she thought savagely. Where is it? At the moment, she’d even settle for the spatula. Jorlan might need her love, might want to use her body, but he still wanted to sleep with every woman he encountered. Yes, he was a jackass and a womanizer and there was no way in hell Katie was falling for him.
She paced the living-room floor, her movements clipped, jerky. The soles of her shoes squeaked with each step. Her palms were clenched so tightly her nails dug half-moon crescents into her skin, and her knuckles had long since lost all traces of color. Five minutes later, her muscles were still clenched. Somehow, and God only knew how, she managed to paste a carefree smile on her face when the screen door groaned in protest and Jorlan entered the house. His massive frame filled the entrance.
“You are tense,” was the first thing he said.
Tense! Tense! She rounded on him, one finger pointed at his chest. “Are you blind? I’ve never been more relaxed in my life.”
One inky brow rose in mocking salute. “Then why is your eye twitching?”
She spun away from him, blocking his view of her face. “There’s something in it. An eyelash,
