He abruptly but without shock lifted her to a sitting position. His arm held her body up; her head was thrown back and her face was looking calmly at him. She realized that he had been drinking—drinking hard. Her eyes met his terrible eyes without flinching. He kissed her full upon the lips. With her open palm she struck him across the cheek, bringing the red fierily to its smooth fair surface. The devil leaped into his eyes, the devil of cruelty and lust. He smiled softly and wickedly. "I see you've forgotten the lesson I gave you three months ago. You've got to be taught to be afraid all over again."
"I am not afraid," said she. "I was not afraid. You can't make me afraid."
"We'll see," murmured he. And his fingers began to caress her round smooth throat.
"If you ever strike me again," she said quietly, "I'll kill you."
His eyes flinched for an instant—long enough to let her know his innermost secret. "I want you—I want you—damn you," he said, between his clinched teeth. "You're the first one I couldn't get. There's something in you I can't get!"
"That's me," she replied.
"You hate me, don't you?"
"No."
"Then you love me?"
"No. I care nothing about you."