“You are making it—” I puffed out a sharp breath as she slid her hand past my arm, cupping the small of my back. “Difficult to concentrate.”
“Am I?” Her other hand curled over the top of my shoulder. “But you said the explanation was quite simple, did you not?”
I pressed my eyes shut.
Her warm touch, those subtle glances, the fact that we were so close… and yet still separated by those last few centimeters.
“Lady Sephimara Arazniros…”
She pulled me close enough that our hips brushed against each other. I tipped my head back, opening my eyes again to look into hers.
“Yes?” She poked the tip of her tongue between those marvelous lips in a playful gesture.
“You differ from my expectations of a proper elven lady in the following way.” I brushed my belly against hers. Then nestled my chest into the softness of her breasts. Uttered an embarrassing little whine as I felt her warmth.
I stood on tiptoes, pressed my cheek against hers, my lips by her ear.
As she encircled my shoulders and waist with her arms, I felt her own breath on my ear. “I am waiting.”
I whispered. “You are superior in every possible way.”
“Please call me Sephi.”
Chapter Eleven
I awoke to silver and gray light rays casting chaotic shadows around stacked crates and partially assembled furniture.
Despite the inconvenience of an attempted mugging, the prior evening had been a delight. Our wordplay was a pleasure as always, yet becoming close physically, comfortable with each other’s touch? My eyelids drooped at the memory of an embrace that Sephimara…Sephihad held easily ten minutes long. Yet more importantly, a bond of trust was building, not just individually, but together. Yes, something was going on. But she would trust me enough to reveal it when she was ready and I would trust her that until then it was best not knowing.
She was a vast ocean, stretching to the horizon, with little waves gently lapping around my ankles at the moment. When the time was right, she’d invite me to dive in. Or more likely hit me with the force of a tsunami and drag me in. Which was just fine by me.
A luxuriously silky steel-blue sheet slid from myshoulders to my lap as I sat up. I’d slept atop a surprisingly comfortable bed that folded out from a sofa. Her apartment was pleasantly warm—I spied cast-iron radiators under the tall multi-paned windows. Red brick walls may have been bare of artwork, glow lamps may have been stacked on crates, but something about the place felt cozy.
“Good morning Mister Thistlewood.” Sephi’s voice was soft yet musical. She padded in from the bedroom, baring a delightfully alluring swath of leg between thick wool stockings, and a cream-colored silk nightgown extending to mid thigh.
I cocked my head. “Didn’t I ask you to call me Theo?”
“You did not, Mister Thistlewood.”
I glared at her. “You don’t make things easy on me, do you.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “The best things in life never are.”
“So you’re saying you’re the best thing in life?”
She sat at the edge of the bed and put a hand on my shoulder. “You are the one who said it, Mister Thistlewood. Superior in every way to your preconceptions of an elven lady was your wording, I believe.”
I put a hand atop hers, as if afraid she’d pull away. “I didn’t suspect at the time that it would be used against me.”
She simply smiled in return. That subtle bemusedsmile that fit her voluptuous lips like a masterpiece artwork to the finest frame.
I slid out of bed and knelt in front of her, extending a hand to her, palm up.
She took it gently in her fingers, sharply contrasting the firm grasp of yesterday.
“My dearest Lady Sephimara Arazniros, also known in some circles as the Blade Baroness, and known to one Theodore Thistlewood simply as Sephi…”
Her smile grew ever so delightfully crooked.
