Page 21 of Revive
“True,” she agreed, allowing a snicker to well from her throat. “Would he really have stood and watched?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. He’s never once batted an eyelid over someone watching him. I suppose he might have summoned his inner gentleman and made a hasty retreat.”
“Does he have one of those?” Gentleman was not the word she’d ever have chosen to describe Xane Geist, then again, she really didn’t know him very well. Their interactions had always been slightly volatile…a touch awkward.
She filled the resulting uneasiness between her and Spook with more chips. A half dozen for her and three for Spook, that she held out for him to take with his teeth. It was a relief that he accepted them.
“Alle, I promise you it’s not all fun and roses between me and him.”
Could she have made herself sound more dubious with the cough she made into her hand? Honestly, that kind of crap wasn’t going to help, hence the troubled wash to the blue of Spook’s eyes, and the uneasy set of his perfectly curved upper lip.
“I’m a terrible friend. I demand too much and offer too little.”
That sounded more like the sort of guilt he beat himself up with—the fucking burden no one ought to have to deal with—than a true reflection of his relationship with Xane.
“It’s fine. I’ll wrap my head around it eventually, I’m sure. Meantime, Xane can have the obnoxious bits of you, while I claim dibs on the kinky, twisted, and downright filthy bits.” To ensure he didn’t attempt to countermand that proposal, she shoved another chip into his mouth, which he dutifully chewed and swallowed, but when she waved another, he ignored it in favour of one of the other cartons containing what looked like green mesh balls of the variety one might throw on a fire to help start it. “They look like something I should be feeding my guinea pig.”
“You’ll break Zach’s heart with words like that,” he chastened, waggling a finger at her.
Alle gave a dismissive flick with her hand. “Dunno who he is.”
“The chef. Also, you don’t have a guinea pig. And these are yummy.”
A fact he proved by stuffing three into his mouth in quick succession. Okay, but she remained unconvinced.
“I did when I was little. We had one each, actually. Mine was silver and white and called Tonka. Did you have any pets, Spook? I mean as a kid?”
“Dogs, cats, rabbits, goats. A demon chicken for a bit.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it used to lay eggs in my boots.”
“You’re making that up.”
He shook his head. “Not really sure I’d call them pets though, more like free roaming farm animals.”
All too aware of what other memories he associated with that location, Alle dipped her head, and concentrated on picking bits of sweetcorn off the pizza slices. When she next looked up, he was done with the spinach balls, and in the process of wiping an errant trace of butter from the corner of his mouth. He looked back at her, eyes velvet black and rimmed with sapphires.
“Spook,” she asked, rather timorously. “Once we’re done eating, would you spank me?”
She expected rejection. An unequivocal no, without room for negotiation.
Instead, he set aside several of the empty cartons on the table. “Why?”
It seemed to be a genuine question, neither petulant nor dismissive in tone.
“Because you’re being antsy about my relationship with Xane? Because I do understand that.”
“No.” Her rebuttal came out defensive. “Does there have to be a reason? Just, because I want you to. Because it turns me on, and I’ve a notion that maybe you’d enjoy it too. And things were going so nicely before…” She could still feel the echoes of her excitement over the fact he’d been about to nail her and nail her hard on the bedroom floor.
“Is that your way of saying you’d like me to warm you up and then fuck you? Do I need to throw some more wood on the fire?”
The room had actually become rather toasty.
“No,” she hedged. “What’s wrong with wanting to finish what we started?” Well, besides the fact he’d avoided her for eight months, but if they stuck on that point they’d never get anywhere.
Alle pushed her food aside and cleared the rest of the containers from the space between them. Spook’s hair masked much of his expression, but his eyes glittered in the fire glow, and his expression remained thoughtful, rather than armoured.
