Katie's Hellion

His silver gaze went to her neck and flared. She didn't know what that meant. His eyes slid away to the distance.

"Is it your duty to protect humanity?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"More or less, as long as they're not in my way."

"And I know firsthand how you take your duties."

He gave her a sidelong glance.

"You take them pretty seriously," she added. "You could've killed me a million times over, but I'm your mate. You haven't, yet, because protecting me --albeit poorly --is still your duty. No, you didn't try to kill humanity off. One stupid little human is so much easier to kill than a few billion, and you chose duty instead."

"You drink too much and talk too much. You should've died in Hell."

"Tell me about it. Might have made life easier."

At her bitter note, he looked at her again. She felt angry tears welling and forced them back, soon distracted by the warmth in her blood. Other thoughts collided with her emotions, ones that reminded her that she was forever trapped with some otherworldly creature that viewed her as a food supply and nothing more.

"Eternity's a long time," she whispered.

"Longer than you know."

"You're welcome for saving your ass, by the way."

"You interfered," he replied.

"It's not how I remember things! I saved you from Hell, and I saved you from those things at the…at the Arch."

Memories of the massacre made bile rise and her chest clench. "I'll be a raving lunatic at the end of another week!"

He didn't disagree. She wanted to scream at him, hit him, send him far away. Instead, she slumped against the wall, defeated by alcohol and impotent rage. It didn't matter what she said or did; he wasn't going anywhere. He'd made his claim clear.

You. Are. Mine.

"You chose me," she said. "I want to know why."

He was silent.

"You owe me this, if nothing else!"

Her words were accompanied by a punch to his arm, one that merely earned her an impatient look.

"Tell me why, Rhyn," she ordered, pushing him to face her. She glared up at him, swaying toward him.

His gaze slid over her face and down her body to her breasts. She gritted her teeth and waited. It was hard to reconcile the man before her with the creature that tore apart bodies like meat in a blender.