“I won't marry you.""Of course you will," he said. "Why wouldn't you? You followed me around like a puppy dog all those years ago, which was pure misery, because I wanted nothing more than to toss you down in the straw and despoil you, and you were too damned young. Back then I had scruples. Fortunantly, nowadays I have none.""Then why do you want to marry me?" She said, shoving her hair away from her face."I have no idea." He said idly. "I expect I love you. Nothing else could account for such bizarre behavior on my part. I expect the captain of the packet ship can perform a ceremony. Are you ready?"She didn't move. She couldn't marry him, and she needed shoes, and she wasn't sure which was the most important to argue about.”

“You'll marry me, my dragon, and you'll bear my children, and you'll drive me mad and live in that ramshackle old house with me and I'll even put up with the occasional visit from your sister ifI must. But you'll marry me. Not because you have to. But because I won't let you go.""Why?" she demanded.And he answered the only way he could, in French. "Je't'aime," he said. "I love you.""Je't'aime aussi," she said. "And I will make your life a living hell," she added in the same language.He smiled down at her. "I'm counting on it.”

“I thought you'd be halfway to Tokyo by now,” she said, stalling.“Not without you.”Oh, man, she was so screwed. He was bad enough when he was giving her shit. Right now he was looking at her as ifshe was the most precious thing on earth, and she knew what she looked and smelled like. The world had turned upsidedown.“I don't suppose you love me,” she said. “Even a little bit?”“Don't be an idiot, Ji-chan. Why else would I be here? Now, do you want to stay here or do you want to prove you're reallycrazy and come with me?”“Will you grow your hair again?”“If you want me to.”“Then tell me.”“You're not going to make this easy, are you? Su-chan warned me about you.”“She warned me, too. Tell me.”He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Aishiteru,” he muttered.“In English.”“I love you.”

“He turned back, and there was an odd light in his eyes. “Did I ever tell you that I can't live without you?” he said.“No,” she said. “You can tell me about it when we survive.” She could barely breathe, death was eating its way toward her, and she wanted to laugh out loud with the joy of it.”

“Stop it," she said."Stop what?"Her eyes flew open, filled with rage and betrayal. "Stop pretending. You madeyour point this morning—you don't have anything more to prove. You don't want me, you can make me do anything you wish, and I'll be pathetically grateful for your attention, while you won't feel a thing…""You idiot," he said, his voice savage. "How blind are you?""Leave me alone."He pulled her legs apart, pushing between them, fully clothed, the rigid length of his cock pressed up against her. Her eyes widened in shock."You can feel that, can't you? It's been like that all day. It's been like that almost since I first touched you. You make me crazy with wanting you, but right now doing what I want could get us both killed.""No," she said. "You're lying. This morning you didn't—"He rocked against her, and she shivered in unwilling response. "This morning Iwas so turned on that I came without touching myself. And five minutes later I was hard again. I need you. I need to be inside you, now, and it's too dangerous." He thrust against her, feeling the tremor of response wash over her, and he knew he couldn't stop, not until he made her come again, over and over...”

“It's a good thing you're an aging orphan," he murmured, gently pushing the hair away from her face. "I don't have to wait around to get anyone's permission.""Permission for what, you rat bastard?" she said. "Such language, dragon. I'm afraid you're going to have to marry me.”

“I don't love you,” he said. And he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, a kiss of passion and desperation, a kiss of deepcurrents and longing. “I don't love you,” he said again.“Of course you don't,” she murmured happily. And she followed him out the door, into the lion's den.”