beyond making sure they wore a clean shirt and shaved.
Their
faces
, he’d clarified to her with a mock scowl as her lips quivered with suppressed mirth, her gaze moving pointedly to his furred chest. She bet Dale would have liked him.
His thigh muscle flexed beneath her hand as he shifted his weight to his right hip. His buttock muscles would tighten from that change in position. She wouldn’t mind having her hand there, feeling that transition.
He reached down, brushing a finger underneath the wisps of hair across her forehead. “It’s interesting where you ended up, isn’t it? On your knees?”
She tensed, but his tone made it a neutral observation. He wasn’t mocking her. “Does that have anything to do with what you want to ask me?”
“Yes. Maybe.”
He brought her chin up, holding it. As he did, her pulse rabbited, and he registered it, because he increased his grip. Her chin lifted further at the pressure, her neck elongating. She had to raise her haunches an inch or so off her heels. He kept her like that, fingers stroking her jaw. Her stomach quivered harder. With the subtle demand, the power had shifted. Now he was touching her for himself, to see what her skin felt like. To evaluate
her
.
She wanted to excel in that evaluation. Wanted to please him, with a fierce intensity that spooked her.
“I need to go.” She disengaged her chin from his grasp. When she rose, she was still so close she had to brace herself on his hip. His hands went to her waist, steadying her. She stepped away, flustered even more. “I have some appointments this afternoon.”
“All right.”
She backed up to her stool, to the coffee. Picked up her cup. She’d put it in the sink, wash it out before she left. Then she remembered her intent to take him to breakfast. “I’d like to thank you for your help.”
“Nothing to thank me for.” He said it with frank honesty, not as a courteous brush-off. “Any man would have done the same.”
“I don’t know about that. Plenty would have dialed 911 and left it at that.”
“I said a man. Just because you’re born male doesn’t mean you know how to be a man. Any more than being female makes you a woman. You seem like a remarkable woman, Athena.”
She curled both hands around the coffee cup. “I’d still like to thank you. And . . . perhaps talk about what I want at that point. Would you come to my home for lunch on Friday? You already know the address from my GPS, but I can write it down if you don’t remember it.”
“No worries that I’m untrustworthy?”
She arched a brow. “If you had nefarious intentions toward me, you’ve had several prime opportunities to execute them.”
“God, I love the way you talk. The whole librarian thing.”
It was difficult not to give in to a smile with his eyes glinting like that. “If you’re simply toying with me, and you do plan to murder me,” she advised, “I have a domestic staff there until five. You’ll have to cut up my body and bury it in the gardens after they leave.”
“So a midafternoon lunch might be more convenient for my diabolical plans.”
“Yes, precisely. How about three?”
Two hours to talk to him over a civilized lunch, and then the staff would be gone, leaving the two of them alone. Like now. Yet it was different, wasn’t it? This moment had come about by necessity, and she expected he was still concerned about her mental state after the attack. When he came for lunch, that issue would no longer be restraining him. Especially if she behaved the way she’d behaved a few moments ago.
Whether or not he felt it necessary, she knew she had a responsibility to protect him as well. “You can ask Jimmy more about me; he’s known me for some time, and of course he knows my husband, who is a member as well. Was a member.”
She closed her eyes at the correction, pushed on. “I’d rather you not tell Jimmy you’re coming to my home, but other than that, you can ask him whatever you like.
Their
faces
, he’d clarified to her with a mock scowl as her lips quivered with suppressed mirth, her gaze moving pointedly to his furred chest. She bet Dale would have liked him.
His thigh muscle flexed beneath her hand as he shifted his weight to his right hip. His buttock muscles would tighten from that change in position. She wouldn’t mind having her hand there, feeling that transition.
He reached down, brushing a finger underneath the wisps of hair across her forehead. “It’s interesting where you ended up, isn’t it? On your knees?”
She tensed, but his tone made it a neutral observation. He wasn’t mocking her. “Does that have anything to do with what you want to ask me?”
“Yes. Maybe.”
He brought her chin up, holding it. As he did, her pulse rabbited, and he registered it, because he increased his grip. Her chin lifted further at the pressure, her neck elongating. She had to raise her haunches an inch or so off her heels. He kept her like that, fingers stroking her jaw. Her stomach quivered harder. With the subtle demand, the power had shifted. Now he was touching her for himself, to see what her skin felt like. To evaluate
her
.
She wanted to excel in that evaluation. Wanted to please him, with a fierce intensity that spooked her.
“I need to go.” She disengaged her chin from his grasp. When she rose, she was still so close she had to brace herself on his hip. His hands went to her waist, steadying her. She stepped away, flustered even more. “I have some appointments this afternoon.”
“All right.”
She backed up to her stool, to the coffee. Picked up her cup. She’d put it in the sink, wash it out before she left. Then she remembered her intent to take him to breakfast. “I’d like to thank you for your help.”
“Nothing to thank me for.” He said it with frank honesty, not as a courteous brush-off. “Any man would have done the same.”
“I don’t know about that. Plenty would have dialed 911 and left it at that.”
“I said a man. Just because you’re born male doesn’t mean you know how to be a man. Any more than being female makes you a woman. You seem like a remarkable woman, Athena.”
She curled both hands around the coffee cup. “I’d still like to thank you. And . . . perhaps talk about what I want at that point. Would you come to my home for lunch on Friday? You already know the address from my GPS, but I can write it down if you don’t remember it.”
“No worries that I’m untrustworthy?”
She arched a brow. “If you had nefarious intentions toward me, you’ve had several prime opportunities to execute them.”
“God, I love the way you talk. The whole librarian thing.”
It was difficult not to give in to a smile with his eyes glinting like that. “If you’re simply toying with me, and you do plan to murder me,” she advised, “I have a domestic staff there until five. You’ll have to cut up my body and bury it in the gardens after they leave.”
“So a midafternoon lunch might be more convenient for my diabolical plans.”
“Yes, precisely. How about three?”
Two hours to talk to him over a civilized lunch, and then the staff would be gone, leaving the two of them alone. Like now. Yet it was different, wasn’t it? This moment had come about by necessity, and she expected he was still concerned about her mental state after the attack. When he came for lunch, that issue would no longer be restraining him. Especially if she behaved the way she’d behaved a few moments ago.
Whether or not he felt it necessary, she knew she had a responsibility to protect him as well. “You can ask Jimmy more about me; he’s known me for some time, and of course he knows my husband, who is a member as well. Was a member.”
She closed her eyes at the correction, pushed on. “I’d rather you not tell Jimmy you’re coming to my home, but other than that, you can ask him whatever you like.
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