Black And Blue (Quentin Black Mystery #5) by JC Andrijeski Read Free Book Online Page A

 
    He’d seemed fine with us. Cocky, even. Now he seemed genuinely frustrated by me. Where was this coming from?
    Did you hear what I said at all? he sent, sharper. Or are you selectively interpreting it with your analyst’s brain again?
    “Of course I heard you,” I said, stiffening.
    Was he actually pissed at me?
    “No,” he said, shaking his head. “No... I’m sorry.”
    Exuding more frustration, he looked away, taking a sip from his wine glass without letting go of me.
    I’m not saying there’s some problem with us, Miri. There’s zero problem with us, as far as I’m concerned. He glanced up at me again, gauging my reaction as he swallowed the wine in his mouth. I just want you to know you can ask me anything, ilya. Anything at all. I know I’ve been really bad about that. Especially with how easily distracted I’ve been. With you, I mean.
    He made one of those graceful gestures with the hand holding the wine glass.
    ...I’m not even sure what you want to know anymore. I can figure some of it out by reading you, but you’re still really damned good at blocking me. Pausing, he gave me another of those more penetrating looks. So if you want to know something about me, ask me. I want to ask you things too. I want to ask you a lot, truthfully... I also want to talk about intimate things. But if we go there I really am going to want to fuck. I can’t control that. You get that, right? So we probably shouldn’t do it here.
    Feeling my jaw harden slightly, I nodded. That denser pain in my chest started dissolving though, and I realized at least some of that had been fear.
    Fear of what? Did I panic because he got serious on me all of a sudden? Was I worried this was going to be one of those “relationship talks” where he told me something I didn’t want to know? Like he was bored, or I was too controlling? Or the woman in the white micro-dress made him realize he wanted other women?
    Some part of me had actually been waiting for him to comment on her.
    What the hell was the matter with me?
    “Nothing!” he growled, yanking me tighter into his lap. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you, Miriam! I’m telling you, the same shit goes through my head. All the fucking time. Neither of us can help it right now. It’s just something we have to work around right now. Both of us.”
    “Work around?” I started to pull out of his lap, but he only gripped me tighter. After a pause I realized he was right, that I was avoiding. I rested my weight on his thighs, exhaling in frustration. “I know you say I’m putting some kind of human judgment on all this, but it’s really not healthy, Black. And according to you, you’re not even telling me what’s happening on your end... which isn’t exactly healthy, either.”
    “I’ll tell you,” he said, sharp. “I just said I’d tell you anything you want to know, Miriam. What do you want to know? You mean the sex? The wanting to fuck all the time? Or the rest of it?”
    I pressed my lips together.
    Truthfully, I was having trouble thinking past the intensity I felt coming off him again. I tried to hear what he was saying, that it was like some kind of hormone surge, not something we could totally control.
    I believed him. But it scared the hell out of me, truthfully.
    Black sighed. “Look, I know the possessiveness thing bothers you. And the controlling stuff. But it’s not working, is it? For either of us? So what difference does it make?”
    I let out a humorless laugh. “Seriously? You think I shouldn’t worry about our controlling behavior because our attempts to control one another aren’t working?”
    He frowned, studying my eyes. “Yes. It helps, right?”
    Thinking, I sighed, rubbing my face with a hand. “Maybe a little. But I hate it. I really do.”
    Gripping me tighter, he massaged my leg, sending me another pulse of warmth.
    “It’s temporary, ilya. And please believe me when I say this... it’s affecting me a lot more than I’ve