swung forward as he leaned toward her. His seductive scent of warm male and leather was like fighting a riptide, one determined to suck her in.
He cupped her chin and tilted her face to his. “Breathe,” he said softly.
How could she, when a vacuum had sucked out all the air in the room?
The door opened.
“Hey, Echo,” someone called. Her barely functioning brain recognized the voice but hers had deserted her. “I’ll come back later.” Laughter followed Chris when he left again.
Try as she might, she couldn’t break the hypnotic allure of Aethan’s gaze.
Aethan.
God, even his name sounded hot. There was just something so compellingly seductive about him...argh! This wasn’t helping her situation. She was grateful he had no idea how her body responded to him, short of sliding his hand between her legs—
Dammit! She bit the inside of her lips and squeezed down on her inner muscles.
His dark eyes narrowed. “You wear contacts?”
As if someone had dumped icy water over her, her libido fizzled out and she brought herself back on track again.
“Damn, you caught me.” She wrenched her face away from him. “I thought I could get away with it.”
He just had to bring that up. As if nature hadn’t been cruel enough in blessing her with cursed pheromones, she got mismatched eyes along with it. Brown was simple, safe. She wasn’t some Aussie Shepherd, for Christ’s sake!
“It must be really heavy.”
The low cadence of his voice tugged her back. Her gaze flickered to his. “What?”
“That chip you carry around like armor, keeping everyone at a distance,” he murmured, brushing a thumb across her chin.
She desperately wanted to push him away, needed the breathing space, but didn’t dare. Even if she could command her limbs to move, she didn’t want to touch him, not with the way she felt. Besides, a man like him wouldn’t budge unless he wanted to. She’d learned that two days ago.
Echo dropped her gaze to his swaying ribbon of hair and gave into temptation. Like silk, the strands slid between her fingers. “Is this real, the color?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
His mesmerizing voice filled her with sensual suggestions. Why did he have to say that? Echo swore she could feel his hands on her skin, the slide of his body between her legs, his mouth devouring hers—
Laughter in the corridor jerked her out of her moment of madness and she dropped her hand. Leveling him with the same cool look she used on her disruptive students, she said, “That’s my cue.”
He straightened. Amusement flashed in his dark eyes again.
Damn, she should have known her attempt to intimidate would amuse him. Jerking to her feet, she rushed past him. Christ! The man had the ability to make her forget where she was. She glanced down at the mug she still held. Bloody hell !
She came back, set it on the table, and headed for the door.
“Echo, wait.”
That magnetic pull of his voice had her stopping. Damn, damn, damn! She wanted to be gone from this erotic web he’d spun around her.
She turned and faced eyes gone impossibly cold. How the heck did he turn himself off so easily when desire still blazed a trail through her body? Wait . He knew her name? Of course he did, he must have asked Becky. One look from him and the blabbermouth receptionist probably spewed out everything he wanted to know.
She scowled. “What?”
“I want you to stay off the streets at night.”
“Why would I do that?”
***
Why ?
She would ask him that, the stubborn female. “Because demoniis are on the hunt for those with any kind of psychic abilities. I don’t want you in their sights.”
She’d taken down the demonii at the cathedral easily enough. He didn’t need to be clairvoyant to know exactly how she spent her nights. Her next words confirmed it.
“Look, I’ve been killing those fiends for a few years, I’m used to this. And why do you care what happens to me, anyway?”
Aethan closed the
He cupped her chin and tilted her face to his. “Breathe,” he said softly.
How could she, when a vacuum had sucked out all the air in the room?
The door opened.
“Hey, Echo,” someone called. Her barely functioning brain recognized the voice but hers had deserted her. “I’ll come back later.” Laughter followed Chris when he left again.
Try as she might, she couldn’t break the hypnotic allure of Aethan’s gaze.
Aethan.
God, even his name sounded hot. There was just something so compellingly seductive about him...argh! This wasn’t helping her situation. She was grateful he had no idea how her body responded to him, short of sliding his hand between her legs—
Dammit! She bit the inside of her lips and squeezed down on her inner muscles.
His dark eyes narrowed. “You wear contacts?”
As if someone had dumped icy water over her, her libido fizzled out and she brought herself back on track again.
“Damn, you caught me.” She wrenched her face away from him. “I thought I could get away with it.”
He just had to bring that up. As if nature hadn’t been cruel enough in blessing her with cursed pheromones, she got mismatched eyes along with it. Brown was simple, safe. She wasn’t some Aussie Shepherd, for Christ’s sake!
“It must be really heavy.”
The low cadence of his voice tugged her back. Her gaze flickered to his. “What?”
“That chip you carry around like armor, keeping everyone at a distance,” he murmured, brushing a thumb across her chin.
She desperately wanted to push him away, needed the breathing space, but didn’t dare. Even if she could command her limbs to move, she didn’t want to touch him, not with the way she felt. Besides, a man like him wouldn’t budge unless he wanted to. She’d learned that two days ago.
Echo dropped her gaze to his swaying ribbon of hair and gave into temptation. Like silk, the strands slid between her fingers. “Is this real, the color?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
His mesmerizing voice filled her with sensual suggestions. Why did he have to say that? Echo swore she could feel his hands on her skin, the slide of his body between her legs, his mouth devouring hers—
Laughter in the corridor jerked her out of her moment of madness and she dropped her hand. Leveling him with the same cool look she used on her disruptive students, she said, “That’s my cue.”
He straightened. Amusement flashed in his dark eyes again.
Damn, she should have known her attempt to intimidate would amuse him. Jerking to her feet, she rushed past him. Christ! The man had the ability to make her forget where she was. She glanced down at the mug she still held. Bloody hell !
She came back, set it on the table, and headed for the door.
“Echo, wait.”
That magnetic pull of his voice had her stopping. Damn, damn, damn! She wanted to be gone from this erotic web he’d spun around her.
She turned and faced eyes gone impossibly cold. How the heck did he turn himself off so easily when desire still blazed a trail through her body? Wait . He knew her name? Of course he did, he must have asked Becky. One look from him and the blabbermouth receptionist probably spewed out everything he wanted to know.
She scowled. “What?”
“I want you to stay off the streets at night.”
“Why would I do that?”
***
Why ?
She would ask him that, the stubborn female. “Because demoniis are on the hunt for those with any kind of psychic abilities. I don’t want you in their sights.”
She’d taken down the demonii at the cathedral easily enough. He didn’t need to be clairvoyant to know exactly how she spent her nights. Her next words confirmed it.
“Look, I’ve been killing those fiends for a few years, I’m used to this. And why do you care what happens to me, anyway?”
Aethan closed the
Similar Books
