Page 78 of A Trial By Blood

“I was a little dizzy from the vision, but I’m fine now. See?” She pulled away from me, but I kept my arm around her waist.

“I don’t like this.”

“Well, the sooner we check the database, the sooner we can leave. Let’s go find a computer.”

I wanted to object. But I assumed she’d take that about as well as me telling her not to cut herself. “If you feel unwell, I want you to tell me, Rose.”

She cupped my jaw. “I will, I promise.”

Warmth flowed through me, and the urge to lean into her touch was almost overwhelming. Instead, I led her from the room. It didn’t take long to find a desk manned by one of the museum staff. A female sat behind the reception desk just outside the office of the museum’s general manager.

“Now what?” Rose asked.

There were seats nearby. “We sit and wait for her to use the lavatory or go to lunch.”

“Well, that’s annoying.” Rose glanced around.

There were a couple of comfortable-looking armchairs, though one was occupied by a sleeping cat. The female behind the desk was a witch, so I assumed the cat was her familiar. “I’ll move the cat.”

She grabbed my arm, stopping me. “Don’t do that. We only need one chair.”

Then she led me to the available seat, pressed her hand to my chest, and tried to get me to sit in it. “No, Rose, you sit. I’ll stand.”

“No, Ronan. We will both sit,” she said.

There was a glimmer in her eyes. “Rose—”

“You can be my seat,” she said and pressed her hand to my chest once more.

I could be her seat? I liked the idea of that—a lot. I sat. Rose moved in between my spread thighs and sat on one of them, then wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“There, now we’re both sitting,” she said.

The warmth of her body soaked into me immediately. Her bottom was soft, her weight slight, her scent intense. “I like this,” I said to her.

“I thought you might.” Her lips twitched.

Her legs dangled between mine, which couldn’t be comfortable. We had no idea how long we’d have to wait. So I hooked her under the knees and draped them across my other leg. The change in position had her rear nestling against my groin. I realized my mistake when I hardened beneath her instantly. I quickly tried to move her.

She cupped my jaw with her free hand and shook her head. “I know you want me, Ronan, and I like that I can feel how much. You don’t have to hide it. Can you scent the same from me?”

“Yes.” My voice had grown gritty.

“We’re seriously attracted to each other. We both know it, why pretend otherwise?”

I took her wrist, keeping her hand on me. “I would never pretend I didn’t want you, Rose. But my control is already stretched thin, and having you on me like this…I find it difficult to keep my hands to myself.”

She slid her thumb over my lower lip. “Do you want to touch me?”

“Badly.”

“Then touch,” she said. “Touch me anywhere you want to.”

“Rose—”

“This body, my body, it’s all new to me as well. It feels things I never could before. I want to experience everything it’s capable of feeling, of doing…with you. Don’t you want that too?”

My hand had moved to her waist without me even realizing, and I squeezed gently. “Yes, I want that. With me. Only with me.”