Page 88 of Under an Endless Moon

“As far as I’m concerned, you can do no wrong, Raven Tayte. So, you just keep giving me all the friendly advice, and I’ll keep right on taking it.”

She dipped her face like she didn’t want me to see whatever ideas played through her eyes. A blush striking her cheeks. Fuck. Didn’t think I’d seen Raven act shy in a long, long time, and I knew immediately where her thoughts had gone.

She was right back in that room with me watching down on her as she fucked herself with that toy.

I cleared my throat, doing my best to suppress it.

I took a sip of my wine since apparently she’d made me fancy like that, and I eyed her over the glass as I searched for a change of topic that would keep us in a safe zone. “Any progress on the apartment hunting?”

Frustration filled her sigh. “Not really. There was one place on the far end of Culberry Street, but the bathroom was so small I could barely stand in the shower, let alone find a way to shave my legs. It was not going to work.”

And there I went, out of bounds, my mind racing right back to the obscene.

Apparently, no subject was safe when it came to her.

My jaw clenched as I fisted the stem of the glass a little too hard.

Discomfort pinched her face.

Shit. She thought I wanted her to leave. Thought I was itching in my chair due to entirely different factors than what really had me shifting in discomfort.

“I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I really am trying to find a place,” she said.

I reached over the table and set my hand on her forearm. Fire licked at the connection. “Told you, you’re welcome here for as long as you want.”

She narrowed that raven gaze, the darkened depths sparking like diamonds beneath the glittering rays of the sun. “I think you’re just being nice, Otto Hudson. What man wouldn’t want to sleep in his own bed at night?”

A groan got free.

Fuck me, she was trying to destroy me, words right there on the tip of my tongue, treacherous ones stating that I definitely wanted to sleep in my bed, but I wanted to keep her in it while I did.

“Meant it when I said you could stay for as long as you needed. My house is always yours, Raven.”

Relief billowed through her expression, and then she shrugged a teasing shoulder. “I guess you don’t have anyone else to dance with when you come home at night.”

“And since you’re the only one I want to be dancing with…”

Probably shouldn’t have said it, but there it was.

Raven stilled, held in the energy that lapped. “I learned from the best.”

“Nah, I was just teaching the best.”

We got stuck there for too long, and I finally cleared my throat and started stuffing my mouth with food to keep myself from uttering any more reckless things.

We both fell into the silence, chewing and looking out over the view, making a few comments here and there, getting through the rest of dinner virtually unscathed.

A fuckin’ miracle with the way she had me spun up so tight I was lucky I didn’t split.

Standing, I gathered our plates. “I’m gonna do the dishes really quick. You go relax.”

“But you made dinner,” she argued.

Dipping down, I leaned in close to her ear. The scent of moonflowers curled through my senses.

Intoxicating.

Mesmerizing.

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