Maria glared in disbelief at her captor. Then she laughed bitterly. "My love will skin you alive and leave you to bake in the sun. And my sire will do worse," she told him, wincing at the pain in her chest from laughing. Damn the bastard it felt like he had broken her ribs.
But even with the pain his next statement made her laugh harder. "Wed and keep me?" she asked incredulously. "As if you had the balls boy," she said, the fire in her eyes coming back bright and hot. "Only a boy treats a woman this way. This is not the way of a true male. My sire is a true male. And my love Lucian, my moon and stars, he is a true male. I feel nothing but pity for you."

Each word was painful for her, but Maria was anything if not stubborn. She braced herself for the pain that would come from insulting the child-male before her. In her eyes he was naught but a spoiled brat, hurting her because his female had run off. And little wonder she had.

"I suggest you wait for this female you want so badly," she said. "You couldn't handle 'keeping' me. I am not one to be 'kept'."