AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Cute and perky blondes, is that your type?” Shut your mouth, Verity! Why would you even ask that?
“Actually,” his eyes track down my body. “I prefer curvy brunettes.”
I can’t even pretend to be cool with that. Instead, I choke on nothing. My cheeks heat, letting me know that I’m blushing. “We should probably get started.”
“Of course. This way.”
I follow him through the large house, up a half staircase, and then he’s pushing open a door. Okay, you know that moment in Beauty and the Beast when the Beast brings her to the library? Yeah, this moment is eerily similar, except there’s no rolling ladder leaning against the shelves. Instead, there is a spiral staircase with what looks to be a catwalk that takes you to the various upper shelves.
Comfortable-looking chairs fill spaces around the room, and heavy-looking wooden tables in a few places. Perfect for laying out several volumes and studying them.
“Wow, this is impressive, Gideon.”
He nods. “I wish I could take credit, but I mostly inherited this library. I will admit that this is my favorite room in the entire house.”
I release a nervous laugh. “I bet. I could live in this room.”
“You can move in any time you want,” he says, a massive grin on his face.
I exhale slowly, looking up at all the other shelves surrounding us. “You could have the lost library of Alexandria in here.”
He tosses a thumb over his shoulder. “Back in that corner, mostly on the ground floor. Don’t want them exposed to the sunlight.”
I shriek. “Are you kidding me right now?”
He takes a step closer to me. “Not even a little bit. We don’t have the entire collection, as best as I’ve been able to determine. But we have probably seventy percent.”
“My mind is seriously blown right now.”
“You can look at anything you want.” Another step closer to me. “Anytime you want. What’s mine is yours.”
My excitement about seeing the Elysian Chronicles again is warring with the physical attraction surging through my veins. I don’t know how to navigate this sort of thing. I’m a scholar, not a—whatever you call it. I mean, I’m a sexual being. I acknowledge that. But it’s never held that much interest for me. It occurs to me that maybe it’s because I haven’t found the right man … er … monster.
This near to him, I can see the green flecks in his gold eyes. His snakes make noises while they move around. They’re not exactly hissing, but I can’t tell if they are enjoying being this close to me.
He tugs me forward. “I have the book set up over here.”
I force myself to focus on the task at hand. I’ve been looking forward to this since we met at Rosalia’s.
I abruptly take a seat and pull my gloves on before gently picking up the large book.
Gideon leans closer, bracing a hand on the back of my chair. “You don’t have to wear gloves.” His voice is so close to my ear that I shiver at his words.
“I don’t want to leave any oils on the pages.”
He nods. “Okay. Do you need anything? A drink or snack of some sort?”
I shake my head. “I can’t eat or drink around the books.”
I turn my face, and he’s right there. One of his snakes flicks forward, and I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for it to bite me. Instead, all I feel is a feather-soft flick of a tongue against my forehead.
“Behave,” Gideon barks, clearly giving instructions to his snakes. “Don’t be afraid of me, Verity. I would never harm you.”
“What about them? Are you in complete control of them?”
“Yes. They misbehave on occasion, but it’s easy for me to redirect them. They’re curious about you because they can feel my desire for you.”
I nearly choke on my gasp. “What?”
