besides, my chronic shyness had the side effect of forced
meekness.
“I just want to be left alone,”
I said, but any loudness I could have had was lost in the music and
my own embarrassment. Someone was laughing, and I felt a hand slide
over my shoulder and down my arm. Disgust rippled through me as I
glared at Leery, preparing to cock my fist for a swing—
He went flying across the room, landing
in a crumpled heap at the door.
I was frozen, completely shocked as
golden eyes stared at me, then turned their full force on the other
drunk fools.
“Get out.” That's all he
said. But suddenly I could breathe again, the presences surrounding
me gone as the drunk boys quietly gathered up their fallen comrade
and nearly fell over each other in their hurry to get outside.
My savior watched me, tension evident
in every line of his body. His pupils were dilated to points, the
gold and amber rings standing out like molten gold. He loomed above
me head and shoulders, built broad like an ox.
“Are you all right?” he
asked softly. I realized I was still clutching my tumbler. I loosened
my grip, my hands shaking a little.
“I'm fine,” I muttered,
unwilling to meet his eyes despite his magnetic attraction. It was
even more embarrassing to be mocked and unwilling to stand up for
yourself in front of a sudden crush. I wondered how foolish I looked
to him.
I knocked back the glass to settle my
nerves. “Jacob Moreno,” he said, holding out his hand
when I had set the tumbler down. I hesitated a bare second, then took
it.
Lightning tingled its way up my arm as
I looked at him, his fingers firm around mine. Jacob didn't squeeze,
but I got the strange impression that he wouldn't willingly be the
one to break contact. He wasn't smiling anymore, and the smoldering
fire in his eyes made my heart beat faster.
“Rosalie Gray,” I said, my
tongue feeling clumsy. I pulled back my hand, flustered by my
reaction. His skin was warm and reluctant to part, his fingertips
trailing across my palm as he drew his hand back.
“Rosalie,” he repeated. His
voice was deep and smoky, the timbre of it echoing in my chest. “The
new vet?”
“Tech,” I corrected. “Just
here as Dr. Andrew's assistant.” He knew who I was? Word must
travel much faster than I had anticipated in a place like this. It
didn't help that I was blushing again. His sheer proximity seemed to
send me right back to middle school, too afraid to talk to a boy
without embarrassing myself. It was ten times worse with an
incredibly sexy man standing close enough that his body heat warmed
me.
“Well, Rosalie, if you need an
escort home, I'd be more than willing to help you out.” I
swallowed hard. What was he trying to pull? There was no way a guy
like him could go from gallant to playboy that fast.
“I think I can handle myself,
thanks,” I said. I pulled my jacket on, covering up the
goosebumps he had raised on my skin. I might be a virgin, but that
didn't mean I couldn't imagine what a guy like him could do to me...
I realized I was uncomfortably warm,
heat settling in my stomach and sliding downwards...and I was wet
enough to soak my panties. My apartment wasn't too far, and my
vibrator was in my nightstand. I imagined Jacob peeling off his
shirt, my hands sliding over his hard, rippled stomach before he
turned me around with rough hands, bending me over the bar to slide
my jeans down—
I was staring again. His eyes were
piercing me, smirking as though he knew exactly what I was thinking
about. I stammered an apology and bolted outside, my cheeks glowing
pink. I took a deep breath as I set off with a purpose with my heels
clacking loudly in the silence.
I would see him again. In a town this
small with only one watering hole you couldn't go more than a few
days without seeing everyone.
My fantasy had intensified as I rounded
the steps to my apartment, imagining Jacob's hips pressed against my
ass, his hands cupping my breasts as he teased me
K. A. Linde
Delisa Lynn
Frances Stroh
Douglas Hulick
Linda Lael Miller
Jean-Claude Ellena
Gary Phillips
Kathleen Ball
Amanda Forester
Otto Penzler