Page 40 of Act of Brotherhood
“You don’t have much of a Southern accent. It’s faint and barely there,” he observed. “Are you from Georgia?”
“I am. Correction, mostly.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I wasn’t born here. I came to live here when I was nearly four. That’s when my uncle, on my mother’s side, was given custody of me. Before you ask, I don’t know what happened to my parents above the fact they passed away. He did mention that I’m named after someone close to him. I trust my uncle enough that if he feels I need to know the details, he’ll tell me. As for my accent, I never really developed one. It’s funny…with how thick my uncle’s Greek accent is, I’m probably very lucky I didn’t develop a Southern accent mixed with a Greek one. That would have been something to hear.”
Garth inclined his head and looked back at the pictures on the mantel. “I take it the other woman in these is your roommate.”
“Yep. That’s Clara.”
“It’s clear to see the two of you are close,” he returned.
“We’ve known each other for what feels like all our lives. She’s like a sister to me. I’m an only child.”
“Lucky,” he said partially under his breath before he took another sip of wine.
“Let me guess, you and your sibling don’t get along?” she asked.
He stiffened. “That is putting it mildly. There are days it feels like my brother and I might kill each other.”
She laughed. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
He didn’t answer.
“Are the two of you close in age?”
He nodded. “Very.”
“What about you? Where are you from?” she asked.
He hesitated a bit and then glanced at her. “Let’s go with Sweden.”
“Now who’s the odd one?”
Garth’s gaze collided with hers, and any reservation she might have had about giving herself to the man vanished. Nothing but need remained.
He reached out slowly, his fingers coming just shy of touching the silkscreen print of the Viking on her shirt. “You know this isn’t historically accurate.”
She bit her lower lip as his finger grazed her breast. “Then I should remove it at once.”
He flashed a dashing white smile and set his wineglass on the mantel. “Great idea.”
Chapter Ten
Garth stareddown at Nicolette and felt like he was in his late teens or early twenties rather than the age he was. She made him feel young and alive. In addition, she kept his dick in a constant state of erection. If he was around her longer than four hours, he’d need to call James for some medical advice. That was the last call he wanted to make.
Strike that.
Calling Auberi for medical assistance was the very last call he wanted to make.
As Nicolette stepped closer, Garth found himself getting lost in her blue gaze. For a split second he thought of Auberi again and stiffened. If that vampire managed to ruin the moment for Garth and he wasn’t even near him, Garth would fly back and nail the asshole’s coffin shut.
Nicolette’s cool palm came to a rest on Garth’s bare chest. “I was going to get a shirt for you. I forgot.”
“No,” he corrected, drawing her closer. “You were going to take offyourshirt since it’s not historically accurate. Remember?”
Just then, Nicolette reached down and stunned him by pulling her T-shirt over her head, exposing her upper body. He’d wanted it to happen but didn’t think it would.
All thought, all reason left Garth as his cock reacted violently to the sight of the blue lace bra she wore that cupped pale globes of perfection.
He grabbed for the mantel with one hand, worried if he didn’t take a second to collect himself that he’d fuck the living hell out of her. That couldn’t be. As a supernatural male, he could hurt her without meaning to. Humans were fragile. He needed to compose himself and gain something close to control before he dared to touch her.
