That did succeed at getting a cut-off cry of pain - one that dropped into hissing and fuming.

It was also enough to piss him off, and leave him struggling between self-control and the desire to try to stay as intact as possible for when he had an opportunity to act, and bitchy defiance and the urge to make her life as difficult as possible.

Between everything piling up, pain, and this new insult, self control was a resource he was running low on, and there was as much of an attempt at a struggle as he could manage for a few seconds.

AFter which he was going to resort to being a sullen unmoving lump.