creepy at all,” Amanda murmured. No way was she letting this guy know he was getting to her.
His fingers lingered on her skin as he pulled away. “You’ll have to allow me to paint you.”
Amanda put on her most mindless expression. “It puts the lotion in the basket.”
Raven threw his head back and laughed. The sound was deep, rich, with just the right edge of darkness to it to send Amanda’s heart fluttering like a stupid teenage girl’s. “We’re going to get along very well.” He lifted her chin and caressed her lips with his fingertips. His eyes focused on her lips, his blue eyes darkening. “ Very well.”
Amanda stood, removing herself from this dangerous man’s space. Geez, it was like he had a fuck-me-now aura she could barely resist. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d wanted men before, had slept with a few, but never like this. Never so badly her hands were shaking just because he spoke. She held up her hands when he moved to follow her. “Sit. Stay. Good goth-boy.”
The memory of that lethal grin seemed to follow her all the way to bed, where it then dominated all of her dreams.
Raven had walked into Aileen Dunne’s kitchen and nearly come unglued.
The Sidhe was rolling Amanda’s mind, and he didn’t like that one little bit.
If Raven was right, the roiling feelings of possession and protectiveness could only mean one thing. Amanda Pierson was his other half, the woman meant to be his. His truebond.
It seemed the Goodfellow luck was in full swing, because he’d found the woman of his dreams right in the middle of an assassination attempt on his life.
It didn’t get any better than this.
Not.
Raven watched Amanda leave the kitchen, her stride composed, her expression serene. When she was gone he settled at the kitchen table to warn away the matriarch of the Dunne clan. “Don’t do that again.”
“I have no choice, and you know it.” Aileen Dunne set a cup of tea at his elbow. “It’s better for her. Safer.” She ruffled his hair, and some of his ire diminished. Aileen made it difficult to be angry with her. She mothered everyone who came within her sphere of influence. “Believe me, I wish I could tell her who, and what, we are. She’s Ruby’s best friend, the sister of her heart. I’d protect her just as I do Ruby. And the best way to protect her is to keep her ignorant.”
Raven sipped the tea, smiling at the taste of cinnamon and apple. It was so… homey . In her own subtle way, Aileen did her best to make it clear that she accepted Raven into her home just as much as she did Robin. “There’s something about Amanda that draws me to her.”
“Oh?” Aileen’s tone was far less subtle than her tea. She sat across the table from him and reclaimed her own tea cup. “How so?”
Raven shrugged, uncertain how to explain himself and oddly embarrassed by the whole thing. “I saw her for the first time on Red’s monitors. She was on the flight here, reading a book, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Then, when I saw her heading out tonight, I just wanted to stop her and…” No way could he tell Aileen about the caveman feelings he’d had.
She tilted her head, ignoring the way his words had trailed off. “Do you think she could be your bondmate?”
Bondmate. Raven rolled the word around in his head, tested the weight of it against the strange attraction he had for a woman so completely different from the one he’d thought he loved.
Amanda had already proven she wasn’t like Michaela. Where Michaela was all bubbling warmth and good cheer, Amanda was a risk-taker. She’d had no hesitation in taking on someone who’d wronged her friend, and she’d refused to back down when Aileen had gone hardcore Mom on her. And the way she’d bantered back with him, refusing the desire they both felt? Oh, yes. That had been a serious turn-on.
Her voice both soothed and inflamed him. Her scent filled him with a hunger he’d long thought dead to him. The
His fingers lingered on her skin as he pulled away. “You’ll have to allow me to paint you.”
Amanda put on her most mindless expression. “It puts the lotion in the basket.”
Raven threw his head back and laughed. The sound was deep, rich, with just the right edge of darkness to it to send Amanda’s heart fluttering like a stupid teenage girl’s. “We’re going to get along very well.” He lifted her chin and caressed her lips with his fingertips. His eyes focused on her lips, his blue eyes darkening. “ Very well.”
Amanda stood, removing herself from this dangerous man’s space. Geez, it was like he had a fuck-me-now aura she could barely resist. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d wanted men before, had slept with a few, but never like this. Never so badly her hands were shaking just because he spoke. She held up her hands when he moved to follow her. “Sit. Stay. Good goth-boy.”
The memory of that lethal grin seemed to follow her all the way to bed, where it then dominated all of her dreams.
Raven had walked into Aileen Dunne’s kitchen and nearly come unglued.
The Sidhe was rolling Amanda’s mind, and he didn’t like that one little bit.
If Raven was right, the roiling feelings of possession and protectiveness could only mean one thing. Amanda Pierson was his other half, the woman meant to be his. His truebond.
It seemed the Goodfellow luck was in full swing, because he’d found the woman of his dreams right in the middle of an assassination attempt on his life.
It didn’t get any better than this.
Not.
Raven watched Amanda leave the kitchen, her stride composed, her expression serene. When she was gone he settled at the kitchen table to warn away the matriarch of the Dunne clan. “Don’t do that again.”
“I have no choice, and you know it.” Aileen Dunne set a cup of tea at his elbow. “It’s better for her. Safer.” She ruffled his hair, and some of his ire diminished. Aileen made it difficult to be angry with her. She mothered everyone who came within her sphere of influence. “Believe me, I wish I could tell her who, and what, we are. She’s Ruby’s best friend, the sister of her heart. I’d protect her just as I do Ruby. And the best way to protect her is to keep her ignorant.”
Raven sipped the tea, smiling at the taste of cinnamon and apple. It was so… homey . In her own subtle way, Aileen did her best to make it clear that she accepted Raven into her home just as much as she did Robin. “There’s something about Amanda that draws me to her.”
“Oh?” Aileen’s tone was far less subtle than her tea. She sat across the table from him and reclaimed her own tea cup. “How so?”
Raven shrugged, uncertain how to explain himself and oddly embarrassed by the whole thing. “I saw her for the first time on Red’s monitors. She was on the flight here, reading a book, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Then, when I saw her heading out tonight, I just wanted to stop her and…” No way could he tell Aileen about the caveman feelings he’d had.
She tilted her head, ignoring the way his words had trailed off. “Do you think she could be your bondmate?”
Bondmate. Raven rolled the word around in his head, tested the weight of it against the strange attraction he had for a woman so completely different from the one he’d thought he loved.
Amanda had already proven she wasn’t like Michaela. Where Michaela was all bubbling warmth and good cheer, Amanda was a risk-taker. She’d had no hesitation in taking on someone who’d wronged her friend, and she’d refused to back down when Aileen had gone hardcore Mom on her. And the way she’d bantered back with him, refusing the desire they both felt? Oh, yes. That had been a serious turn-on.
Her voice both soothed and inflamed him. Her scent filled him with a hunger he’d long thought dead to him. The
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