“And mine,” she added. “You said you knew I was coming here, but I didn’t know about you. So I had no choice there. I fell in love with you the minute I saw you, but you were prepared and you had your own agenda. You knew I would love you.”

It was hurled at him, a bitter accusation that had him staring at her. “You’re mistaken.”

“Oh, really? How many times did you slip into my mind to see? Or come into my house as a wolf and listen to me babble? Without giving me the choice you’re so damn fond of. You knew I met the requirements, so you studied and measured and considered.”

“I didn’t know!” He shouted it at her, furious to have his actions tilted toward deceit. “I didn’t know until you told me about your great-grandmother.”

“I see. So up to that point you were either playing with me or deciding if you could use me as your out should you decide to refuse your position.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Then suddenly you’ve got a witch on your hands. You wanted her—I don’t doubt you wanted me, and I was pathetically easy. I took whatever you chose to give me, and was grateful.”

It humiliated her to think of it now, to remember how she had rushed into his arms, trusting her heart. Trusting him.

“I cared for you, Rowan. I care for you.”

Her cheeks were ghost pale in the flickering light, her eyes dark and deep. “Do you know how insulting that is? Do you know how humiliating it is to understand that you knew I was in love with you while you figured the angles and made your choices? What choice did I have? What choice did you give me?”

“All I could.”

She shook her head fiercely. “No, all you would,” she tossed back. “You knew exactly how vulnerable I was when I came here, how lost.”

“I did, yes. That’s why I—”

“So you offer me a chance to work with you,” she interrupted. “Knowing I was already dazzled by you, knowing how desperately I needed something. Then, in your own good time, you told me who you were, who I was. At your pace, Liam, always at your pace. And each time I moved exactly as you expected I would. It’s all been just another game.”

“That’s not true.” Incensed, he took her arms. “I thought of you, too damn much of you. And did what I thought was right, what was best.”

The jolt shot through his fingertips, up his arms, with such heat and power, it knocked him back two full steps. This time he could only gape at her, shocked to the core that she’d caught him so completely unaware.

“Damn it, Rowan.” His hands still stung from the slap of her will.