Page 28 of Her Purr-fect Christmas Mate

The seconds stretched out. And then—she couldn’t help it.

She burst out laughing.

He stared at her, looking suddenly off-balance and, oh god, the uncertainty in his eyes. The surprise.Thatwas what she wanted. If she could only push him a little further—

Then what?She would need to be human to do any of the things that immediately sprang to mind. To shove him back on the butter-soft leather. To make his eyes widen with surprise. To make him make noises. Noises like the groan he’d made when she’d pressed her lips against his, the groan that was going to live rent-free in her head for the rest of her life, taunting her. She would need—

Whoosh.

8

Mordecai

Theairaroundcat-Peonyshivered.

It happened too quickly for him to look away. One minute he was leaning forward, elbows on his knees as he glared suspiciously at a tiny ball of fluff. He was sure she was up to something.

The next, a naked woman was perched on the edge of his bed.

He leapt to his feet. Shocked gold-brown eyes met his. Color brightened her already warm-toned cheeks. Her lips were lush and open. The rest of her—

With great effort, he averted his gaze and shrugged off his suit jacket. She took it from his outstretched hand. Her fingers brushed his. He pulled away swiftly as though that one touch might scald him.

His heartbeat filled his throat. All his senses were on high alert. He pushed them back. It wasn’t right. He’d only seen her for a single stolen second. His mind, his heart, shouldn’t already be so full of the sight of her. The scent. The rush of heat that had seared through his blood as she stared at him, and the accompanying hardness that meant he absolutely could not turn back to her quite yet.

She was spectacular.

I am so fucked.

Now turn around and enjoy how she looks wearing your gift,his dragon suggested. He gritted his teeth.I understand now why she didn’t want you to buy her new clothes. This is much better!

It was so much worse. And his dragon was right: he would enjoy looking at her far too much.

Movement behind him. A soft footstep. Another. He tensed. Was she…?

“This is awkward, isn’t it?” Her breath tickled his ear.

“Yes.”

And the circumstances, as they had both so thoroughly agreed, were not ideal. She seemed like a sensible person. He waited for the soft shush of fabric over softer skin to tell him it was safe to turn around.

It never came.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?”

He’d thought having her voice in his head was intimate. It was nothing compared to having her hot breath on his neck. The gentle catch in her words that felt like a lure deliberately cast to reel him in.

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

She wasn’t even touching him. She was just there—right behind him, so close that if he breathed too deeply he might brush up against her. Naked. Teasing.

His.

“Are you sure?” His own voice was a dry husk.

“I wouldn’t have started if I wasn’t sure.”

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