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And she’d claw herself bloody inside this illusion of safety.
Nothing risked, nothing gained. She was tired of playing it safe. This was just what she needed, what she wanted.
Then why the hodgepodge couldn’t she bring herself to kno—
The door swung open and her breath caught, her heart firmly lodged in her throat at the sight of Tallak lounging against the doorjamb with his damp hair dripping water onto his white T-shirt…making it translucent in places.
One of those places happened to be his nipple.
She stared, dumbstruck, her mouth going dry. The scent of masculine shower gel tickled her nose, mixed with the fragrance that was purely Tallak—imprinted on her as it was since that heated moment in Faerie, she’d always be able to pick up on that special note.
And right now, it triggered all sorts of sensory memories from that fateful night, and all she wanted to do was bury her nose in his chest, his neck, inhale his essence, and get drunk on him.
Nerves held her back, and she dragged her gaze up from his chest, meeting his burning amber eyes.
“That look on your face is a good start, darling.” His murmur slid over her heated skin, an auditory caress. “Gotta come inside for me to do something with it, though.”
Swallowing past a parched throat, she stepped over the threshold, brushing against his side. His awakening demon powers stroked over her senses, a luscious, dark temptation. The door closed with a quiet snick behind her, the silence thick with intent.
Too agitated to take in much of the room, she lowered her gaze, started on the buttons of her coat, and froze when his heat rolled up against her back. His breath whispered over her nape as his arms came around her, his hands taking over the button she was working on.
Paralyzed, her blood a hot rush of want in her veins, she waited…felt the first button give way under his fingers. A shaky breath, the pressure of his arms against hers, as he freed the next button. Robbed of speech, she let him go on, closing her eyes.
Her pulse beat low at the apex of her thighs.
All buttons undone, the coat fell open, and Tallak’s hands brushed it off her shoulders. She released her pent-up breath, stepped out of the coat, out of the cocoon of charged, primal need he’d managed to wrap around her with a move as simple as relieving her of her coat.
He was all languorous, smooth predatory ease as he turned and hung her coat on the hook behind the door. No sign of nerves. Figured that she’d be alone in her anxiousness. How long had it been since she’d last slept with a man? Three years? Four? Biting her lip, she thought back. It must have been that guy who worked at OHSU, Daniel, whom she’d dated for a few weeks.
Shaking her head, she snapped out of her pondering of the past, heat infusing her cheeks. Here she was, so jittery and insecure that her mind was jumping off on tangents rather than focusing on what was right in front of her.
Because it might just be a little too frightening, this anticipation, this promise hanging in the air, heavy and with an edge of danger she didn’t want to examine further.
So instead she let her eyes sweep over Tallak’s living room, her attention snagging on the motivational poster on the wall above the couch. A serene beach scene with a line of text artfully splashed across it. Carpe Fuck ’Em.
“This is so you,” she murmured.
He handed her a beer, one side of his mouth quirking up in a smirk that showed a hint of teeth, and suddenly all she could think about was the feel of those teeth as he’d nipped at the sensitive skin on her neck. “You should check out the pillow on the couch, then.”
Forcing her gaze away from his mouth, she read the medieval-looking script on the pillow. “?‘Behold, ’tis the field in which I grow my fucks. Lay thine eyes upon it and thou shalt see that it is barren.’?” She shook her head. “Where do you even find these?”
“The internet is a vast and wondrous place.”
Right. She glanced at him sideways, his presence a vibrant pulse of dark energy right next to her. “You sure took to it quickly in just a couple months.”
“I’m adaptive and learn fast.” Something glinted in his eyes, and the way his voice lowered at his statement…
She clenched her thighs together against the throb of lust and took a sip of the beer. The tart taste cleared her head a little, helped her focus. “We should talk about protection.” Her hand shook slightly as she pulled a package out of the back pocket of her jeans. “I brought these.”
Tallak’s eyes flicked to the string of three condoms she held up. “Babe,” he said, the flame of his gaze meeting hers again, “that’s cute.”
She was opening her mouth to fling some choice words at him when he reached behind him to the kitchen bar and produced a shoe-sized box—filled to the brim with condom packages.
He leaned in close, the intensity of his focus stealing her breath. “You need to seriously adjust your expectations for tonight.”
She might have made a small, embarrassing sound low in her throat. His looming presence pushed at her senses, scattered her thoughts, and she had trouble keeping her wits about her. She cleared her throat. “Let’s talk about rules.”
His eyes a storm of fire, he muttered, “How did I know you’d say that?”
