Page 10 of How to Seduce a Slender

Chapter Four:

Smith

Itwashardertowork from home than to go back into the city. A lot of the materials he needed for the papers he was constructing were easier to acquire in person. Normally he’d zip into the city and work there for anything extensive. He was used to being a free cat, able to roam the wilds as he was needed. Yet the idea of leaving her in the house alone to twiddle her thumbs while an unknowable enemy loomed over her was daunting. He couldn’t leave her here by herself like that. It would be cruel.

If only he knew what she liked to do.

Unlike Sebastian, who studied his Dahlia from afar for years, Smith knew almost next to nothing outside of what she told him at the diner. His sweet waitress told him about her day, about other customers, about gossip in the kitchen, gossip in the city, she never stopped talking…but he found she’d never truly told him much about her.

“Ms. Deathless?” He peeked up from his desk as he heard the scrape of her fork across an empty plate. She wolfed down her breakfast with gusto after the tension settled. He appreciated she didn’t hide her hunger from him. As much as many people shied away from eating in front of others, the only way he was going to ensure she recovered would be to supervise. Agatha was much too sweet. She’d give in if Melody pushed. Kevin was clueless, adorable, but clueless. Austin too. Havershum wouldn’t be bullied, but he doubted he could put the wraith in that position. Protect her? Sure! But make sure she ate three square meals a day, drank her water, and watch for signs of a lingering curse? He was good at hunting physical enemies, not intangible threats like embarrassment or confusion.What was he going to do about it anyway? Stab it?

“Youreallydon’t like my first name, do ya?” She pouted.

“What?” Smith was buffeted back with the accusation.

“Ms. Deathless, this. Ms. Deathless, that. My name’s Melody. And if I’m going to be staying here, you might as well have me on a first name basis.” Melody crossed her arms under her chest and cocked a brow.

Heat licked up his throat and across his cheeks. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to insinuate I didn’t like it. I do. I do like your first name.”

“Then. Use. It.” She accentuated each sound with over exaggerated movement of her mouth.

“Melody,” he blurted out.

“Better,” she nodded curtly before climbing to her feet. Smith rose to his own, following her movement. One step away from her chair, she opened her mouth to say something when he watched the color drain from her face. Her legs collapsed and he had mere seconds to zip through the air. He caught her with the crook of his arm. Melody blinked rapidly; a flush pink colored across her throat. Smith was breathless as he scanned her for injury. She jutted a weak finger up into the sky. “Oh, I see what you mean about the drain.”

Smith chuckled, easing her toward the fainting couch. She flopped down into it, laying her head back. Her hands flew to her face, covering her eyes. Smith should have grabbed her more water. He should have rushed to find her a pillow. Or even suggest they move her back upstairs.

But his attention dropped the rise and fall of her chest. It was rapid at first, he worried she was panicking. As it smoothed out, however, he realized he was just…staring. At her in that fucking dress.

Shejusthadto put her in a ruby dress like the prettiest rose in all the realm.

Smith wasn’t a fool. He knew himself quite well. Hard not to when he spent over eight hundred years wandering with just he, himself, and his mind. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that his desire would lead to his own special madness…because there was no reality in which Melody Deathless found herself attracted to him like he was to her. She’d have to enjoy pain! She’d have to hate a tender touch! She’d have to be…well…mad.

But he stared all the same. Memorizing how the dress flattered her in the most tantalizing way. If he were allowing himself to fantasize—which hewasn’t—he imagined how every inch of her would break out in goosebumps as he brushed his bare hands across that pretty, blushing throat of hers.

When she tossed her hands down into her lap, he jumped in his electric skin. Smith rushed to sit beside her, offering her the goblet of water. She weakly turned her face toward him and smiled. “Thanks, sorry, I got real dizzy there for a sec.”

“Not a problem. I promised to take care of you, and I will. Even if that means being your proverbial fainting couch.” He couldn’t help the smile as she snorted. Her shoulders trembled as she tried to hold back laughter.

“I feel so silly,” she confessed, taking the goblet from him.

“Why?” He eased an arm behind her, helping her sit up from against the plush furniture.

“Because I’m here, in this princess gown, being waited on hand and foot by the best tipper I’ve ever had and—well, you ever think you’re stuck in a dream and you’re just waiting to wake up?” She peeked at him over her shoulder before taking a sip of her water.

“I don’t dream, so I wouldn’t know. I’m sorry.” He removed his arm before he was tempted to do other salacious things like…he shuddered delightfully to imagine it draped around her waist.

“You don’t? Gods, what I wouldn’t give not to dream,” she sighed, drooping a smidgen in front of him.

He cocked his head to the side, resisting his habit of snapping his neck ninety degrees. It was funny when Dahlia threw things at him for it, or Agatha gagged…but he didn’t seem to care for the queasy look on Melody’s face. “Are you plagued by nightmares?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s always nightmares, but it’s never…nice? When I dream, it’s a jumbled mess of images and sounds that I can’t figure out. By the time I’m awake, I always feel more tired than when I went to bed. But I’ve always been that way. I just kinda got used to it.” She sipped at her drink before setting the cup down into her lap once more. Melody took a deep breath in before exhaling steadily through her nose. With a nod, she attempted to stand only for Smith to lurch to catch her and ease her back down onto the couch. “Might just—uh, you know, hang out here for a minute…if that’s okay with you?”

The wheezy, embarrassed tone to her voice made it hard to choke back a laugh. He didn’t want her to think it was amusing for her to try and fail. It wasn’t funny…but it was cute. And he’d not witnessed cute in a long time.

“Please, I insist. Can I get you anything to keep you entertained? We have books beyond comprehension; I can find a way to play music?” He hoped beyond hope her favorite hobby could be well contained. She raised her glass back toward her mouth but stopped.

“Do you have a sketchbook and pencils I could scribble with? Reading books with my eyes makes my brain go fuzzy, but I can listen to them just fine if you have something like that?” Her cheeks filled with color again. Smith wasn’t sure what unhinged, feral thought provoked him to, but he gently pressed two fingers under the base of her goblet. Her hands followed his lead, bringing the goblet to her lips. Melody took another sip while she stared at him with confusion.Good girl.

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