Page 34 of Outlier
I turned the hob off and pulled the pan away from the heat to rest on the heat-proof pad on my worktop. Then I rounded the kitchen counter.
Her eyes widened as I stalked towards her, but she didn’t back away, which I took as an encouraging sign.
When I reached her, I dropped my voice lower. “I’m going to kiss you now. Is that okay?”
Her eyes widened, and she nodded.
Then I cupped her delicate jaw with my big mitt of a hand, using the other hand to spread across her back and pull her to me as my lips fell on hers. Softly at first, but just like last night, Vicky was the one to deepen the kiss, also just like last night, in a mammoth feat of self-control, it was me that had to finish it.
But instead of stepping back from her, I rested my forehead on hers and closed my eyes.
“So,” I said, my lips nearly touching hers, but not quite. “If you wake up in my cabin with me, that is how I want you to start the morning. In fact, you can make this your standard greeting for me in future.”
“Kissing?”
“Yes, kissing. And I want you to come to me, not stand at the bottom of my stairs looking lost.”
“You are a very bossy human.”
“I know,” I said on a grin. “Get used to that.” Then I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the kitchen island. “Right, I need to feed you.”
Vicky climbed up on the stool facing the stove, and I switched the heat back on so I could finish making her breakfast.
“I’m not good with new places,” she blurted out as I was putting some bread in the toaster.
“Okay,” I said slowly, not sure where she was going with this.
She bit her lip and glanced around the cabin. “I wouldn’t normally be able to sleep somewhere I’m not used to, or without all my things, but this house is… different.”
“Different good?”
She nodded vigorously. “Differentverygood. Being in this house feels like being hugged all the time. It feels calming.”
Jesus. I turned away from the kettle to smile at her. “That’s great, love,” I said in a now hoarse voice.
Her description of the house that I built with my own two hands was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever heard.
“But I’m still not good with interactions that don’t have defined boundaries and social norms that I can understand.”
I tilted my head to the side as I slid a plate in front of Vicky. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
She sighed. “I struggle if I’m not sure what I should be doing. I’ve never woken up in a man’s house before.”
That possessive part of me surged to life again at that statement.
Christ, I was basic.
“And I didn’t know if you would want me to leave or stay, or whether I should be getting dressed into what I wore last night because I still have on your shirt, but I like your shirt, because it’s really soft, and it smells of you. And I like the smell of you because it’s like freshly cut wood and man mixed together—I’m very sensitive to scent. Anyway, when I’m not sure, I just sort of freeze.”
After all that, I decided I didn’t like the distance of the kitchen island between us, so I picked up the tea that I’d made for Vicky and brought it around to her side, stopping just in front of her as she twisted on the stool to look at me.
“Can I touch your face?” I asked her.
She nodded, and my hand came up to her temple to stroke into her hair.
“There’s so much going on in here all the time, isn’t there?” I said softly. “All those thoughts churning around and around. It must be exhausting.”
She nodded against my hand, her soft silky hair gliding through my fingers.
