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“I believe it’s in my best interest not to answer that.”
I snickered.
“My dad’s not much of a gun guy, so I think you ’re safe. Besides, with today’s fathers, it’s more of a background check and pray-for-the-best sort of thing.”
“Duly noted,” he said, smiling and leaning against the wall across from me. “However, I am glad to have established a friendly relationship with your father, since I have plans for his daughter. Those plans include kissing you again, ” he said, crossing his arms. The statement seemed as much a challenge as information. “I enjoy kissing you.”
“Immediately or eventually?” I asked. “And thank you.”
“I haven’t decided.”
I was proud that I managed not to giggle. “Well, I appreciate the warning—mmmph.” The rest of that no doubt brilliant response was muffled as Gabriel decided to pursue the more immediate option.
Again, I say, woo and hoo.
Gabriel pressed me against the wall, grinning as he nipped my bottom lip with his fangs. He traced the lines of my throat with his canines, pressing ever so slightly against my collarbone with his tongue. His fingers slid slowly up my ribcage, stroking the sides of my bra. He drew circles over my shirt, touching every part of my breast except the nipple, teasing me. Since we were being cheeky, I slid my hand down to his zipper and squeezed lightly. I grinned when he jumped.
“Aren’t you full of surprises?” He chuckled, toying with a strand of my hair.
“Inexperienced but willing to learn,” I said, and was disappointed when his face didn’t change expression. “No response?”
“Besides yay?” he asked. I smacked his shoulder.
I was laughing when he kissed me again, lips molding to the curve of my smile. Gabriel’s hand at the small of my back led me down the hall toward the stairs. Were we going upstairs? I wondered. As he cupped my jaw in his hands, I found my feet willingly backing up the first step toward my bedroom.
He pulled away and ran a hand down my cheek. “It’s been a long night. Time for you to be in bed.”
I waited for the little voice in my head to start making excuses, such as I couldn ’t have sex with Gabriel, I barely knew him.
My room was a wreck. I was caught up in a murder investigation. I hadn’t shaved my legs. And I found I didn’t care about any of it.
I tilted my head and asked, “Will I be going there alone?”
“Tonight,” he said. “You’re not ready. I’ve seen inside your head, Jane. In the jumble of lovely and complicated and, dare I hope, creative thoughts, you’re afraid we’ll have bad sex and then you’ll never see me again. And if you think that way, even with my considerable skill”—he paused for me to finish laughing—“it will be bad.”
“Look, Dave Chandler left me on the ninth floor of our university ’s research library without my panties after we lost our virginity together. He never called me again and actually turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction whenever he saw me on campus. Unless you think you’re going to do that, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem.”
Gabriel’s face went blank. I waved my hand in front of his vacant, staring eyes. “Gabriel?”
He shook himself back into the present. “Sorry, something strange happened inside my head when you said the word
‘panties’—the overwhelming urge to kill Dave Chandler combined with a simultaneous loss of blood to the brain.”
I laughed. And yes, I lost my virginity in a library. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Dave and I were both student library workers, and we did have a generous forty-five-minute dinner break. It turned out that while the Russian folklore section offered plenty of privacy (seriously, no one ever went up there), the shelves left really weird bruises on your back. Lesson learned.
Gabriel slid into his jacket and pulled me close. “When you’re ready, I will be the first to run for the bedroom, stripping out of my clothes and singing ‘hallelujah’ at the top of my lungs.”
“That’s an interesting blend of imagery.”
Gabriel played with the hem of my blouse, tickling the skin just above the rise of my slacks. “Besides, when I take you to bed, we’re going to stay there for a long, long time. I don’t want the sun to interrupt us, which it would in just a few hours.”
Did he say hours?
Gabriel kissed my slack mouth and asked, “No response?”
“Yay?”
11
