“So I was.”
She swallowed hard, and the scent of her desire washed over me, flooding my senses and heating my blood all over again.
Sometimes I liked knowing when a woman wanted me. The nifty little incubus trick came in handy when I was running low on energy and needed to find a willing partner all too happy to feed my particular brand of hunger.
But other times—like, right-now times—it just fucked me up inside, because no matter how badly Gray might’ve wanted me—no matter how badly I might’ve wanted to return the favor—there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
“Anyway, I…” Gray faltered, finally tearing her gaze away from my chest. Focusing on the pencils scattered across my floor, she said, “Sorry. I was about to raid the fridge when I heard the crash. I thought something was wrong.”
“Couldn’t sleep, huh?”
“Not really.” She bit her lip, still staring at the floor. In a whisper I could barely make out, she said, “Bad dreams.”
“Makes two of us.” I stooped down to pick up the table I’d upended. I took my sweet-ass time about it, too, because otherwise I might just go over there and scoop her into my arms, drag her back to my bed, and give usbothsomething to chase away the nightmares…
“Well, if you’d rather be alone...” Gray cleared her throat, but she didn’t finish the thought, and I wasn’t in the mood to make it easy on her.
“Too late now, Cupcake.” I snapped.
I righted the table, shoving it back into place with another crash. She didn’t flinch—just kept staring at me like I was supposed to grab a knife and open up a vein.
“Actually,dick, it isn’t.” Gray took a step forward, hip cocked, lips pursed and ready to battle. It was a look I’d gotten to know quite well these past couple days—one I liked to think she’d perfected just for me. “Did you forget where the front door is? Because I’d be more than happy to escort your ass right on through it.”
I flashed her what I’d been told was my panty-melting grin. “Is that so?”
“Bet your tattooed ass it is.” Panties seemingly unaffected, she said, “Maybe then we’d both find a little peace.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and lowered my head, trying like hell to stifle the laughter bubbling up.
No such luck.
All that pent-up emotion roiling inside me, good and bad and everything in between, and the dam finally burst. The woman had thrown me off kilter once again, and now I was damn near busting a gut.
A good belly laugh was nothing if not contagious, and soon a crack appeared in her hard shell, too.
“First of all, I don’t have a tattoo on my ass. And second of all, I can’t leave you, Cupcake,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes and finally regaining my composure—not an easy feat when you’ve got a beautiful woman standing less than two feet from your bed and you’re already half-naked, but somehow I managed. “You’d miss me too damn much.”
“Oh, totally.” She pressed a hand to her heart, fluttering her lashes. “My life just wouldn’t be the same without your constant dickishness dicking me around on a daily basis. I guess I should be thanking you.”
“Don’t mention it.” I gave her a little bow. “What are dicks for, right?”
Now she really lost it. “Asher O’Keefe, if you haven’t figuredthatout by now, you’d better get back to incubus school. You missed averyimportant lesson.”
Our laughter faded into a dead silence, as if we’d both just noticed how supercharged the moment had become. The air seemed to crackle with it—that strange, electric chemistry that bubbled up between us whenever we spent more than a minute in the same room together.
I’d always found her beautiful. Annoying as hell, yet strangely compelling. But ever since the other night in the attic—since the kiss that’d saved my soul—things between us had gone from an occasional flirty simmer to a full-on boil.
And I still couldn’t stop myself from cranking up the heat.
“No, Gray Desario,” I said, voice low. “Iinventedthe lesson.” I stepped closer—close enough that my breath made the halo of frizz at the top of her pretty blonde head stir. She backed up against the doorframe and held up that book like a shield, but she was all out of escape options, and I wasn’t about to relent.
Hooking a finger under her chin, I tilted her face up and leaned in, my lips brushing her ear. “Let me know if you ever need private tutoring.”
A soft mewl stuck in her throat, and I pulled back and stared at her lips, seconds ticking between us like a bomb waiting to explode. I brushed the pad of my thumb across her mouth, her lips parting ever-so-slightly.
The intensity of her desire hit me head-on again, making me dizzy.
In the absence of sexual energy to feed on, her physical responses were generating just enough juice to sustain me. To help me heal from the beating I’d taken in the Bay.
