The Black Feather by Olivia Claire High

I’m being watched. Do you think I should tell Heather about this latest development?”
    “No. She knows enough already. You said she has a tendency to panic.”
    “She does. Now that I think about it, there’s no sense adding to a pot that’s usually pretty much ready to boil over as it is.”
    “There you go.”
    Suzanne opened the refrigerator and shut it after staring inside for a few seconds. She faced Thad.
    “I don’t know why I’m looking in here. I let everything pretty much run out before my trip. We never made it to the store. I need to buy food. I also have several errands to run. How do you feel about going shopping?”
    “About as excited as a visit to a proctologist.”
    His expression and dry tone gave Suzanne the first genuine laugh she’d had in far too long.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Five
     
    They were arguing by the end of the week like a couple of people stuck in a bad marriage. To make matters worse, the sexual tension between them had risen to the point that the air practically crackled with the sparks they were sending off each other. The more they tried to ignore the magnetism, the more the attraction seemed to build. That pressure came very close to exploding early one morning when they literally ran into each other in the narrow hallway outside the bathroom.
    Thad, fresh from the shower and clad in a towel slung low on his lean hips, eyed Suzanne in her short robe, as he grabbed her by the upper arms to steady her. She instinctively pressed her hands against his bare chest. Their eyes locked.
    They stared at each other like a couple of hungry animals ready to pounce. No one would be able to mistake his body’s obvious reaction to her nearness and the thin material of her robe did nothing to hide the fact that her breasts had responded to his touch. A vein beat a mad tempo at Thad’s temple while Suzanne’s pulse throbbed in the small hollow at the base of her throat. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms while her fingers flexed against his chest.
    “I’m sorry. I thought I waited long enough for you to be back in your bedroom.”
    “You don’t have to apologize. This is your house.”
    “I’m going to take my shower now.”
    His eyes gleamed, as though he was imagining her naked.
    “I left you plenty of hot water.”
    “Thank you. I guess you’ll be going back to your bedroom now.”
    Thad watched in fascination as Suzanne touched her lips with the tip of her tongue.
    He groaned, and pulled her against him, covering her mouth with his. Suzanne’s arms went around his neck as he deepened the kiss. He lifted his head several seconds later.
    “I’m going back to my bedroom, but I won’t be going alone,” he growled in a hoarse voice before swinging her up into his arms to carry her down the hallway.
    He laid her on the tangled bedding and came down beside her. His towel inched down his hips. Her robe slipped off one shoulder. Thad nipped the exposed area before letting his lips travel to kiss the tender flesh above one breast. He moved to her mouth and several seconds went by as their kisses became increasingly heated. Suzanne dug her fingers into his shoulders and moaned his name when he suddenly pulled away and jackknifed into a sitting position. She frowned and rose up on her elbows to stare at him.
    “Why did you stop?”
    “We can’t do this, Suzanne.”
    She frowned at him.
    “We both want to, and you know it.”
    “Because we want each other doesn’t make it right. I’m here to protect you, not seduce you.”
    “It’s not seducing if I’m cooperating. I want you to make love to me, Thad.”
    “The last few weeks have been very unsettling for you. You’re not thinking straight.”
    “Yes I am, and I know that I want you.”
    He lifted a brow.
    “I thought you said you hated me.”
    “Looks like you kind of grew on me.”
    He smiled before his expression turned serious again.
    “Are you sure I’m not just someone you’re using as a rebound to