He thought she was going to start spitting with rage as her eyes flashed a fiery shade of red.
"Get out!" she yelled. "And stay away from me!"
"That, Isabelle, is not going to happen, so accept it right now.”
"How dare you!" she snapped.
He took a step closer to her, but she backed up quickly, shaking her head as she held up her hands to ward him off. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me how long it has been since you last fed."
Isabelle couldn't take much more of this. Her emotions swung riotously back and forth. "I told you, I wouldn't harm her," she whispered.
"And I told you, I don't care about her! Now answer me!"
Isabelle was rapidly batting back tears. She hadn't cried since Ethan and Ian had cut off her hair, and she refused to cry now, especially in front of him. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of answering, but she needed to get away. She needed space and distance, and if her answer would make him leave, then she would give it to him.
"Four or five days."
His breath hissed out of him as he clenched his jaw. "Which is it, four or five?" he demanded.
Isabelle wrapped her arms around herself to ease the chill racking her. "Five," she muttered glumly.
He grasped hold of her arms. Her gaze flew to his as he glared down at her. "You will not do that again," he commanded.
The commanding, hostile tone of his voice immediately made her anger rush to the forefront. "I told you, I wouldn't hurt her!" she yelled.
He brought her to within an inch of his face. "And I told you, I don't care about her. If you lost control and injured Jess, you never would have forgiven yourself, would you?"
Isabelle swallowed the lump in her throat. "No," she whispered.
He put her back down, unable to touch her anymore without wanting to take it all, to taste it all. "Now," he grated through his teeth. "We are going to get a few things straight between us. Jess means nothing to me. If you want her gone, I'll toss her out right now—"
"No!" she cried as guilt and self-loathing flowed through her.
Stefan forced himself not to argue with her. He was going to set the rules right now, and she was going to start obeying them. "Fine, she can stay if you want, but I think it will be a little awkward because I plan on having you."
Fury swelled through her veins as she took a quick step back to make sure she was out of his reach. Not like it would do her much good, he moved faster than anything she had ever seen. He could grab her again if he wanted to.
"You arrogant bastard! If you even remotely think just because you say you're going to have me, you will, you are dead wrong!" she spat.
"No, Isabelle, I am very right. You can fight it all you want, but it is the truth. You want me, I want you, and I will have you."
She sputtered in disbelief, unable to believe the full extent of his arrogance. "Get out!" she nearly screamed. "Get out now!"
He grabbed her arms, dragging her against him as she wriggled within his grasp. He held her as he waited for her to settle down. Her eyes flashed red as she ceased the useless struggles and stood trembling within his grasp. She looked so tempting it took all the restraint he had not to kiss her again. If he did, he wouldn't be satisfied with one kiss, and he wanted Jess effectively out of his life before he took Isabelle. She would feel guilty afterward if Jess wasn't gone, and he didn't want that.
He realized with a start, for the first time in his existence, he was putting someone else's feelings ahead of his own. He didn't know how she managed to get to him so much, nor did he particularly care. Right now, he just wanted to get his point across.
"You're going to stop fighting me, Isabelle, and yourself. It will be good between us, you'll see."
She should be infuriated at his highhanded attitude, but suddenly all her anger vanished, and she couldn't seem to regain it. It would be good between them, but she was afraid of just how good it would be. Of what it would mean. She didn't want to think about it now, couldn't think about it now. All she wanted was to be free of him for a few minutes.
"Go out through the storm doors," she told him.
"Are you going to stop fighting me?"
All her frustration hit a boiling point. "Yes!" she cried in exasperation. "Now, please go! If you don't stop her, Ethan will have a nervous breakdown; he hates robots."
Satisfaction gleamed in his black eyes as he smiled smugly. He dropped a quick kiss on her nose and set her on her feet. Isabelle instantly jumped back to put more distance between them. She promised to stop fighting with him; she hadn't promised to stay anywhere near him though. She kept her smug satisfaction hidden from him as she met his gaze with a heated glare.
"Did you ever torture him with one of those?" he teased.
"Go!" she yelled.
He strolled by and tugged on a piece of her hair. She glared at him as she jumped further back. He turned away from her, smiling as he ascended the stairs and opened the door.
"Oh, Isabelle!" he called back.
"What?" she snapped.
"Change your shirt before you come up."
He laughed as her curses followed him out the door.
Somehow, even though she had to change her shirt (his mouth left a wet mark right over her nipple), she still beat him up the stairs and into the kitchen. She shoved her way through Ethan and Aiden to the counter
