"I must say..." he purred, leaning over her shoulder as she sat at the desk inside his room. "Your handwriting has improved a lot in these last few hours."

Kaliana scowled. "I wonder why."

Somewhere deep down, she wondered how it'd got to the point where he was kissing her every time she made a mistake in his so-called lessons.

Surely it was supposed to be the other way around?

Not that she showed it.

Like hell she was admitting she actually liked his kisses.

No way in hell.

She'd rather die.

She could still taste him in her mouth. His tongue had spent far too long in there. Her own tongue was no match for his, apparently, and whenever she tried to fight he just kissed her even longer.

"You know... I think I should just take over your tutoring," he said, resting his head on his hands as he sat down the wrong way on the nearest chair. "You're improvements are far more noticeable when I'm the one instructing you."

"Go die in a fire!"

"I like it hot." Teeth nipped at her ear.

Kaliana snarled, jabbing her inky brush at his face, a small thrum of satisfaction coursing through her when some of the black droplets stained his clothes and face.

Of course, there was more on her, but the small victory satisfied her somewhat.

Up until he decided it was enough of a reason to have a bath together.

"Just stop your squawking and let me wash your back already," Leviathan said, holding up a bottle of soap as a devilish smile slid into place on his face. "I promise I'll be gentle."

"Not happening."

"Oh, so you don't want me to be gentle?" he purred, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger, pulling on the silky black strands. "I guess you like it rough then."

Hours around him and his annoying mouth on end had only loosened her temper, so it was only really in hindsight that she realised tackling her irritating husband in nothing but a towel hadn't been the best of ideas.

His back slammed into the ground, taking the brunt of the impact, though it didn't seem to faze him.

Nope.

He just rolled her over and stared down at her with a wide smirk pulling at his lips.

"You're too much fun to tease, little brat."

"Jackass!"

Leviathan sighed. "Do you have to insult me?"

She stared up at him blankly, fighting to hide the heat seeping into her cheeks. "Yes."

He rolled his eyes, climbing off her, picking her up, towel and all, throwing her into the large pool of water before she could yelp.

Kaliana sputtered, thankful the pool was rather deep as she resurfaced. "Bastard!" she spluttered, baring her teeth at him.

"Back to that one again?" He sighed, a smile on his lips as she sunk into the waters.

He was not getting another glimpse of her body. Never again.

Of course, Leviathan didn't seem to understand that fact, insisting on cuddling up to his 'precious, adoring wife'.

He was back to calling her a brat in seconds of saying that, though.

Kaliana sighed, determined to ignore the hand curling around her hip as they sat next to each other in the still waters. She was not attracted to him. Nope. No way. She cycled those thoughts through her mind like a mantra. The only reason she was blushing was due to the heat – nothing more, nothing less.

"You're so cute when you're all red," her annoyance of a husband purred, and Kaliana swore he could read her like a book.

And that was completely and utterly unfair.

"Fuck off, bitch," she snapped, pushing at his chest, determined to get away from him – not to feel him up, like that cocky little smirk of his seemed to assume.

"First bastard... now a bitch..." His lips were far too close to her ear for comfort. "That's not very nice... nor is it very accurate," he said, smiling devilishly. "If you'd like... I'd happily show you who the bitch is in our relationship."

"By looking in a mirror?"

Leviathan blinked, moving before she could protest, wrapping his arms around her, yanking her into his chest. "You are so cute when you try to be snarky and mean..." he trailed off, shivers wracking down her spine as his voice shifted into something far more guttural. "It's awfully tempting to bite, you know."