Page 28 of Prince of Storms
Which was when my brain decided to wonder what her nipples looked like.
“Fucking hell,” I snarled, getting out of my chair fast enough it tipped over backward. I walked to the far side of the kitchen, planting both fists on the table as I leaned over it, breathing heavily. Electricity flickered and died as I fought a war against the storm beating inside me. I was going crazy. Over a nobody!
It had to stop. I needed to maintain my composure around her. My mental lapses were getting worse, and that was unacceptable. I was better than that, stronger than that. I wouldnotsuccumb to my cock’s desires. I would not.
“Tor?”
My lungs inflated, then slowly collapsed as I exhaled. Then I glanced over my shoulders, keeping my eyes hooded so that if there were still signs of my heritage in them, she would be less likely to see.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked in that same tiny voice, her smooth, round features filled with worry.
I stared into those eyes, so standard in color yet beautifully unique in shape and size. Her face was thick and round, like her hips and thighs. She was a little pale. Had I done that? Was she scared because of my actions?
That just made me angrier. I didn’t want her scared of anything, least of all me. It wasn’t her fault that I couldn’t get my mind off her body and what I wanted to do to it.
But I couldn’t let myself do anything. Not with finding my mate so close on the horizon. The last thing I wanted was for her to be mad that I’d gotten distracted by some random woman along the way. The mate of a dragon prince deserved better thanthat.
Even if Mia was something spectacularly unique. She wasn’t just “any other woman.” But she wasn’t my mate, and I had to remember that at all times to ensure it influenced my decisions.
The stupid Watching Mirror can’t get here fast enough, I thought, wishing I’d just looked into it after the Fire Prince had outlined how he’d found his mate to the rest of us.
“Yes,” I finally said, remembering to answer her question. “I’m fine. Just lots of stuff on my mind.”
“Do you … want to talk about it?” she asked, clearly hesitant, unsure if that was crossing any lines.
“No,” I said. “But thank you for asking. I will be fine.”
She nodded wordlessly. I doubted she believed me, but that was okay. As long as she accepted my answer. “On another topic, if I’m going to be eating dinner here, can we get some dipping sauce? Or maybe some breadsticks. Plain frozen pizza is a bit too ‘bachelor’ food for me.”
I knew she was teasing me, so I kept calm. Not at her for bringing it up—I wasn’t mad at that. I was angry that I hadn’t realized just how crappy a meal it must have been. Was that what I would feed my mate? I couldn’t let her think such plain fanfare would be acceptable. Only the finest!
“We’ll get some other food brought in,” I said, making a mental note of yet another thing I had to set up before my mate ever set foot at the Manerium. How was I supposed to win her over when I couldn’t even get things likefoodright?
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she said.
“You didn’t offend me,” I told her. “Just reminded me that I need to have more options.”
She finished the slice she’d been working on, even eating the crust. I was glad to see she wasn’t a pizza-waster. Why that mattered, I wasn’t sure, but at that moment, it did.
“Anyway, I should probably get going,” she said. “I didn’t really plan to be here this late, though I do appreciate you feeding me. It’s a long drive back to the city.”
“You should stay here, then.” The words came out before my brain had a chance to think them over. That was how I operated normally, but when it came to Mia, it always seemed to backfire. Inviting her to dinner was supposed to be polite, feeding her because she’d been working so hard. Instead, it had turned into … Well, I didn’t need to revisit those thoughts.
“What?”
I couldn’t back down after offering. “Stay here,” I said. “It will save you two hours a day of driving. Two hours of extra cleaning a day gets you that much closer to being done.”
“Maybe,” she said. “I’ll think about it. I can’t tonight. I didn’t bring anything with me.”
“Well, tomorrow, then. You come, bring your stuff, and stay until it’s done. It’ll be faster that way,” I said.
“I can’t, Tor. I have a job, remember? I can’t just leave that for a week. I’ll be here tomorrow, early, but then I have five days of work before I can come back.”
Clenching my jaw, I nodded. Of course, that was what she would do. Why had I thought she’d want to stay?
Because you want her to stay. So you’re projecting.
“Very well,” I made myself say. Having her stay would probably be even worse than inviting her to have dinner with me. I was crossing all sorts of boundaries I shouldn’t. I’d kissed her in the store, which had been stupid.
