Page 64 of Stalk the Dark
He stroked my hair. “We were in New Town getting fitted for the event. There’s a tailor there who can work with my size. We got a Raven telling us to get to the carriage stables. One of Ezekiel’s carriages was there with you and Agatha inside and Godor perched on top. He told me to get you to the Exciatio. Your friends showed up a moment later, and Hemlock drove them to the clinic.”
They were safe. The knots of panic in my chest eased, allowing me to finally focus on the man holding me, on the heat from his body that cradled mine and the gentle sweep of his palm as he stroked my hair. The stiff new material of his suit pressed against my cheek. My blood-stained cheek. Shit.
I pulled away from him. “Put me down or I’ll get blood all over your suit.”
“I don’t give a shit.” He crushed me to him again, hugging me tighter so all I could do was succumb and enjoy his rapid breath and the equally rapid beat of his heart. “You could have been killed,” he growled. “What were you thinking going up against a nest of sewer rats?”
“I’ve taken down sucker rat nests solo before. I just…I didn’t know a nest could be so large.”
His sigh vibrated against me. “It shouldn’t be. This was an anomaly; you weren’t to know.” His grip on me flexed. “I should have been with you.”
But this wasn’t how it worked. Not for me. Never for me. I wasn’t a damsel. I didn’t need protecting. I didn’t need hugs and hair strokes, but damn did it feel good to matter like this. To be coddled by a growly man that wanted to protect me.
I allowed myself a moment to revel in it. To pretend that this was all right. To melt against him and imagine that I was his to protect and that he was mine.
Just one moment.
This intense connection made no sense even though it felt right.
The tension left his body, and his breath kissed my temple. “Sleep with me tonight.”
My stomach flipped hard, and I squeezed my eyes closed, biting down on the insides of my cheeks to quell a moan of assent. “I can’t.”
He exhaled through his nose. “Don’t you want to?”
This wasn’t aboutwantorneed. But how could I explain it to him without sounding like the freak every guy I’d taken to bed had believed me to be, once I explained I didn’t want to have penetrative sex. I’d been called a prude, a cocktease, a bitch, and so much more. I didn’t want to believe that Ordell would be the same, but I didn’t want to be proven wrong either.
I liked the man I was coming to know and the image of him I’d built. I didn’t want that shattered, so I pulled away and offered him a small smile.
“I think it’s best if we stay friends. I don’t want to complicate things. I…I like this. I like hugs.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth, and he gently ran his thumb across my bottom lip, sending a delicious tingle through me. My mouth parted, his eyes darkened, and my pulse thudded painfully hard in my throat. I dropped my gaze quickly.
“Hey, it’s okay. Hugs are fine.” He nudged my chin up with the crook of his finger. “And if you ever decide you want naked hugs, I’m up for that too.”
The mood instantly lightened. “Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind.”
Or not, because thoughts of Ordell naked might just be too much for my lonely libido to handle.
This time when I pulled away, he didn’t tug me back. “How much time do we have before the Exciatio starts?”
“Forty-five minutes, and we’re a half hour away from the venue.”
“In that case, I best sort myself out.” I climbed back into the carriage, pausing to take another look at him. “That suit looks good on you.”
But it would look better off you.
No. Not going there.
He slipped a finger between his throat and the cravat and tugged. “Fucking hate it,” he growled.
But he looked sexy as hell, and my face must have communicated that because his lips curled in a knowing smile. He dropped me a wink. “I can’t wait to see you in your dress.”
I made a face as he closed the door, shutting me inside the carriage with Agatha.
“Well…” Agatha said. “If that isn’t chemistry, then I’m not sure what is. Why’d you turn him down?”
“Eavesdropper.”
