“Lately?” I echoed, the word dry on my tongue. “Can you blame me?”
“Yes,” Bianca gave a forced laugh, all sugar and strain. “I can. But still… you could make an effort.”
“For what?”
“For us,” she said, the smile audible in her voice. “We’re going to be married someday, remember? Might as well get more comfortable with each other now. Think of it as practice.”
I stayed quiet. The silence stretched.
“I’m wearing a lace set you’d like,” she added, voice low, teasing. “It’s lonely in this room without you. And no one will be here until morning...”
“Bianca.”
“Mm?”
“That’s not going to work.”
There was a pause, just long enough to catch the strain in her breath.
“Why don’t you like it when I talk to you like this?” she asked, her voice silk over steel. “I’m gorgeous. I’m the Alpha fema
