She didn’t flinch when he grabbed her wrist, his touch surprisingly gentle. She pursed her lips, wondering what more he wanted from her. She hadn’t been in an actual relationship since before she’d come to Black Watch… she wasn’t sure she knew how to be in one while the yoke of her contract, and the club, hung around her neck. She knew Alrick didn’t like to know about her other clients, but it wasn’t as though she could stop seeing them to give him the chance he wanted.
She could see how holding leverage over him wasn’t fair; but this was the first time he wasn’t the one with all the power between them. “You’re right… it’s not real unless we’re equal first.” She agreed, pressing her lips together as she thought of a way to level the playing field, without giving up everything she’d gained. “So what if we make a different deal… one where I have just as much power as you do. You’ll still pay me, but not for sex. For secrets… just like I have access to your secrets, I’ll get you other people’s. And you can do the blackmailing, or whatever else it is you do, so I’ll be safe.”
It had been half a century since Alrick had so much as considered allowing himself to have feelings for a woman that went beyond lust and obsession. This turn of events surprised him as much, if not more, than it surprised Iona. Given the chance, he would have shielded them both from the consequences of his attachment, but it was too late to do that now. Slowly, he brushed his hand over her shoulders, tracing the outline of her collarbone and her neck all the way to her jaw until his hand was softly pressed to her cheek. “We can never been equally as powerful. Not here. Not like this.”
But Alrick didn’t deny her proposition outright like he knew he should. He hated the fact that she would have such immense power over him - but the thrust of his frustration didn’t rest with the fact that she was blackmailing him for her own gain. No, his frustration lay almost entirely with the fact that she knew how he felt about her, and even if it was being used against her now, it could be used against him, by her, at any moment. Her offer was appealing, but he still didn’t feel like he had much reason to trust her, especially with his heart.
Placing his other hand on her free cheek, Alrick leaned in and pressed a kiss to Iona’s forehead. “Fine. We’ll make you blackmailing me and anyone else you choose a true business deal.” He could have, probably should have, killed her right then. It would have been easy to do with her in his grasp. But even with fear making him want to act wildly, Alrick couldn’t bring himself to do it. “I care for you, Iona, but I don’t trust you. Not after this. Not after tonight. Trust is earned. If you truly want us to be equals, if you want a chance at a real partnership, whether our hearts are involved or not, then trust has to be the goal.”
He released her, turning his back so that he didn’t have to look at her face. He wasn’t sure his heart could bear it. “You’re free to pick another room to stay in for the remainder of your visit here if you wish to sleep away from me. The next time you arrive, I’ll have a room prepared specifically to your tastes.” Alrick’s eyes flashed to his things, all of the paper and trinkets he had knocked to the floor in his rage. He wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to assume she would want to fuck him and trade secrets while they explored....whatever this was, and he honestly, he needed to time to decide how exactly he wanted to proceed. “If you don’t mind, I’d like a few moments alone.”
