Page 47 of Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter 2)
He smiled in spite of himself. "I don't want to leave you, Sunshine. Can't you just accept me as I am?"
Sunshine looked away. "I like what little I know about you, Talon, but the problem is just how little I do know about you. You live in the swamp, seem to have a lot of money and no last name, and you like big, creepy gators and have a guy named Nick who runs errands. That's it. That's the extent of my Talon knowledge and it's a really short list."
She met his gaze. "I refuse to have a relationship with a man who won't even trust me with his basic bio. Now if all you want is to get laid, there's the door. If you really want to stay, then tell me something about yourself. Something meaningful."
"Like what?"
"Tell me the name of your best friend."
"Wulf Tryggvason."
Shocked, she dropped her jaw. "Oh my God, you just answered a question. I think the world may end over it."
"You're not funny. So do I get to stay?"
She pursed her lips as she thought about it for a minute. "Fine, but only because I know you can't get back home before the sun rises."
Determined to keep distance between them until he answered her questions, Sunshine turned around and went to her bedroom. She grabbed a pillow and blanket from her bed, then returned to the living room and handed them to him.
He looked completely dumbfounded as he held her pink quilt and pillow. "What's this?"
"Until you come clean with me, you can take the sofa."
"You're kidding."
"Oh no. Not even a little. I'm not going to let you back into my bed until you let me inside your head."
Talon was completely stupefied as she walked over to the far wall and lowered her blinds.
"I told you about Wulf," he said.
She turned toward him, her look unamused. "You gave me a single name. Oooo. That tells me so much about you, doesn't it? Well, my best friends are Trina Devereaux and Selena Laurens. Now what does that tell you about me? Nada. Zilch. Nothing. It just means I have someone I can call when I get ticked off, and believe me, if it wasn't so late, I'd be dialing one of them like a madwoman."
Talon growled, but it didn't faze her in the least. The woman had entirely too much chutzpah.
"So tell me about Wulf," she said slowly, taking a step toward him. "What does he do for a living? Does he live here in New Orleans? Is he married? How long have you known him?"
"He lives in Minnesota and he's not married."
She looked pleased and yet at the same time managed to pull off a piqued look too. "How did you meet him?"
At Mardi Gras one hundred and two years ago when Wulf had been moved into the city for temporary duty- which was something he could never tell Sunshine.
Talon let out an aggravated breath. "I've known him a long time."
"Ooo," she breamed again. "Answers like that will get you voted into office, but they won't get you back into my bed. And they definitely won't let you near my body."
"You're being unreasonable."
"Hah!"
This was so unfair. He was trying to protect her and here she was asking him for something he couldn't give. Denying him her body because he didn't want to see her hurt.
How could she do this to him?
Angered by her continued insistence, he snapped, "I'm your husband."
She snorted and raked him with a bemused stare. "Not in this lifetime, buddy." She held up her left hand for his inspection. "I don't see no wedding ring on my finger, and the last time I checked, you didn't come charging into town on the back of your black warhorse, sweeping me off my feet and asking me to be yours."
Talon went cold at her words. "You remember that?"
Some of her anger seemed to fade as she nodded. "And I want to know how you remember it."
He tossed the blanket and pillow on the couch and lay down stiffly. "I told you, I can't tell you that."
"Then good night, sweetheart. Have pleasant dreams."
She came forward to kiss him on his forehead and walked to her room.
Royally ticked off, Talon watched as she made a grand show of pulling the drapes closed. That woman had a way of making him burn and this time it wasn't in a good way.
He was furious.
Especially when she switched on the light on the night-stand and he could see her body plainly through the thin fabric.
His heart pounded. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her as she peeled her clothes from her lush body and then climbed naked into her bed.
He could just imagine her lying there, the pink cotton sheets nestled between her warm, wet thighs. Her breasts pressed together as she lay on her side with her arm grazing and partially concealing the dark tip of her left breast. Her back naked and bare to his eager gaze and her hair fanned out around her head, just waiting for him to lie down behind her and pull her close to his body.
Then he would slide his hand up her thigh where he would cup her soft flesh and lift her leg, opening up her body so that he could slide himself deep inside her from behind.
Oh yeah, he could already feel her soft rear against his groin as he slid himself in and out of her hot body. Feel her head tucked under his chin as he buried his hand between her legs and stroked her with his fingers while he made the sweetest, tenderest love to her.
Her woodsy patchouli scent would surround him as she writhed to his touch and moaned in ecstasy.
Every hormone in his body snapped awake and his groin tightened, demanding her.
Nynia would never have done this to him. She'd never denied him access to her. Not once. All he had to do was crook a finger or cock an eyebrow and his wife had gladly stepped into his arms.
Right now, he missed her more than he ever had before.
"Sunshine?"
