T-shirt. His arms bracketed her, closing her in, though she didn’t feel claustrophobic.
“Confession?” she said.
“That depends. Will it turn me on?”
“Jesus. What is with you? Stop it.”
“No.” He leaned over her. “Tell me all your kinky sex secrets, and I will make them come true.”
She eyed his chest and allowed herself the fantasy that it would be safe for her to touch him more than accidentally. What if she could? “I’ve always had a thing for a man who looks like he loves the gym more than he does people.”
“Sorry. I love women way more than the gym. Also, I never go to those places. Not necessary for me.”
She huffed a laugh. “I do like to look at you.” She lifted her gaze to his face. “I know that’s shallow of me.”
“Be as shallow as you want.” He moved in closer. “Touch me. I won’t bite.”
She wanted to. God, she wanted to. Experience said she and Khunbish shouldn’t be this close. She ought to get away from him and keep herself in the familiar isolation that kept everyone safe. But she wasn’t reacting to him the way she did around normal people or around Michael, and there were all these feelings she was having that she wasn’t good at dealing with. At all. “I think that would be dangerous.”
“I live for danger.”
“I mean it.” She fisted her hands. “It’s not safe. Something physical between us.”
“Fensic, what am I going to do with you?” His voice was pure honey, and she felt the effect all the way to all the parts of her that wanted to be penetrated.
“I don’t know.” She was back to eying his chest and the curve of his thighs and having more and more trouble remembering why this was a bad idea. He seemed so certain it wasn’t. “What are you going to with me?”
“Suppose, just for a moment, that we could do it safely. Don’t give me that look. Suppose, Fensic. Does it matter to you what I am?”
“No. No, it really doesn’t.” She lifted a hand to punctuate her statement, only she misjudged the distance between them. The backs of her fingers brushed his chest. Her breath caught and for a precious instant she was absolutely floored by the potential for sex. With Telos Khunbish. Jesus. What if they could?
He glanced between them, casual, like there was no big deal with how close they were or that they were alone or that he wasn’t human. The back of her hand thrummed with the physical echo of the unintended contact. She shoved away that profoundly agonizing reaction. “That feels good. When you touch me, and you react like that.”
She made herself look at his face. His eyes were not normal. Orange and bronze flecks swirled in the deep black of his eyes. “Maybe it’s different for you, but for me, hypothetical sex isn’t satisfying. It’s frustrating as hell.”
He leaned closer. With more of his weight on his arms, the muscles of his upper arms bulged and flexed. “What do you say we get naked and see how much real world fun we can have?”
It was the way he said the words that rocked her, the way he was so sure this could happen. Instinctively, she kept herself blocked off. All those disturbing reactions of hers got put into ice; observed but no longer felt. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Only the ones I bring home.”
“Amusing.”
“Not really.” He stopped smiling. Just like that he was a thousand times more intense, and her blocks didn’t seem so invulnerable. “That’s not necessary, you doing that.” He touched her head. The contact turned into a caress she didn’t have the will to avoid. The reaction burned through her, melting the ice that kept her separate. Her arousal felt foreign at the same time every erogenous nerve she possessed went on overload. He drew a finger down her temple to her jaw. “You don’t have to live like this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I hear Nikodemus has magekind who work with people like you. Street witches and mages who have problems with their
“Confession?” she said.
“That depends. Will it turn me on?”
“Jesus. What is with you? Stop it.”
“No.” He leaned over her. “Tell me all your kinky sex secrets, and I will make them come true.”
She eyed his chest and allowed herself the fantasy that it would be safe for her to touch him more than accidentally. What if she could? “I’ve always had a thing for a man who looks like he loves the gym more than he does people.”
“Sorry. I love women way more than the gym. Also, I never go to those places. Not necessary for me.”
She huffed a laugh. “I do like to look at you.” She lifted her gaze to his face. “I know that’s shallow of me.”
“Be as shallow as you want.” He moved in closer. “Touch me. I won’t bite.”
She wanted to. God, she wanted to. Experience said she and Khunbish shouldn’t be this close. She ought to get away from him and keep herself in the familiar isolation that kept everyone safe. But she wasn’t reacting to him the way she did around normal people or around Michael, and there were all these feelings she was having that she wasn’t good at dealing with. At all. “I think that would be dangerous.”
“I live for danger.”
“I mean it.” She fisted her hands. “It’s not safe. Something physical between us.”
“Fensic, what am I going to do with you?” His voice was pure honey, and she felt the effect all the way to all the parts of her that wanted to be penetrated.
“I don’t know.” She was back to eying his chest and the curve of his thighs and having more and more trouble remembering why this was a bad idea. He seemed so certain it wasn’t. “What are you going to with me?”
“Suppose, just for a moment, that we could do it safely. Don’t give me that look. Suppose, Fensic. Does it matter to you what I am?”
“No. No, it really doesn’t.” She lifted a hand to punctuate her statement, only she misjudged the distance between them. The backs of her fingers brushed his chest. Her breath caught and for a precious instant she was absolutely floored by the potential for sex. With Telos Khunbish. Jesus. What if they could?
He glanced between them, casual, like there was no big deal with how close they were or that they were alone or that he wasn’t human. The back of her hand thrummed with the physical echo of the unintended contact. She shoved away that profoundly agonizing reaction. “That feels good. When you touch me, and you react like that.”
She made herself look at his face. His eyes were not normal. Orange and bronze flecks swirled in the deep black of his eyes. “Maybe it’s different for you, but for me, hypothetical sex isn’t satisfying. It’s frustrating as hell.”
He leaned closer. With more of his weight on his arms, the muscles of his upper arms bulged and flexed. “What do you say we get naked and see how much real world fun we can have?”
It was the way he said the words that rocked her, the way he was so sure this could happen. Instinctively, she kept herself blocked off. All those disturbing reactions of hers got put into ice; observed but no longer felt. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Only the ones I bring home.”
“Amusing.”
“Not really.” He stopped smiling. Just like that he was a thousand times more intense, and her blocks didn’t seem so invulnerable. “That’s not necessary, you doing that.” He touched her head. The contact turned into a caress she didn’t have the will to avoid. The reaction burned through her, melting the ice that kept her separate. Her arousal felt foreign at the same time every erogenous nerve she possessed went on overload. He drew a finger down her temple to her jaw. “You don’t have to live like this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I hear Nikodemus has magekind who work with people like you. Street witches and mages who have problems with their
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