Touch of Seduction

by Rhyannon Byrd

  A low hum of music drifted softly from his lips. Beautiful. Dark. Enthralling.

  Before she could say anything to announce her presence, he drew in a deep breath, and his long fingers—fingers that had been inside her body just that morning—stilled, telling her that he’d scented her presence. Her cheeks flushed as he rose to his elbows and turned his head, looking at her over his broad, gleaming shoulder, his long hair still damp from his shower.

  In that moment Olivia felt the same sense of danger that had come over her that morning when he’d pulled her out of the restaurant and into the hotel parking lot. She recalled flinching from the brightness of the sun. Recalled the feel of its heat against her skin.

  And she recalled the way in which the reality of their situation had slammed back into her with stunning force. The fact that they were being hunted. That monsters were coming for them. That their lives were in danger. Run. Hide. Take cover, a chorus of voices had whispered through her mind.

  She’d known it was wrong, but she’d ignored them, and stayed there with him. Allowed him to kiss her. Touch her. Make her come.

  And here she was again, flirting with danger. Literally. Olivia knew she should turn around and leave, but for some reason she did the opposite. Taking a shaky breath, she moved a little way into the room, standing just to the side of the partly opened door. “What were you d-doing just now?” she asked, the words stumbling over themselves in her nervousness, her face no doubt burning with a ridiculous flood of color. She didn’t know what she was doing, slipping into his room uninvited, invading his personal space. But she couldn’t make herself turn and leave, her muscles locked in place, her body holding her prisoner.

  “I was just thinking about a piece of music I’ve been working on.” He gave a low, almost embarrassed laugh, his eyes heavy lidded…curious. Probably wondering what she wanted.

  “For the piano?”

  “Yeah.” He shifted, using his right hand to push the damp strands of his hair back from his face, the light catching against the golden bristles that covered his jaw and chin. “It helps me think. Even mellows me out.”

  Studying his expression, Olivia realized that he looked more relaxed now than he had when they’d stopped for the night. “Do you do that a lot?” she asked, leaning back against the wall. “Think about your music?”

  “I guess I do,” he replied in a low drawl, and without fail the corner of his mouth kicked up in another of those sexy, crooked grins that she could never get enough of. That she was actually starting to crave. “Hell, there were times when I was younger that the music in my head was the only thing that kept me going.”

  Olivia wanted desperately to ask what he meant by the strange comment, to ask about his childhood, but bit back the intrusive questions, knowing he would refuse to give her any answers. That had been made painfully clear during their earlier conversation about his tattoos and his scars, as well as his mother. Instead, she was just going to have to glean every little bit that he revealed, and try to piece together the story on her own.

  The only problem was that he gave away so little.

  Even though the shadows had left his eyes, it was still difficult to read his mood as he watched her from the bed, his dark body in sharp contrast against the bleached white linens. As the silence stretched out to an uncomfortable level, she started to edge back toward the door, ready to mumble something about letting him get some rest, when he said, “Where’s Jamie?”

  “Kellan and Noah are with her. In fact, I think they’ve been sucked into Hercules right along with her. All three of them, brainwashed by Disney,” she told him with a soft laugh. “We should get a picture. Blackmail them with it some day.”

  Though it sounded as if it hurt, his own low burst of laughter rumbled up as he rolled onto his side. A cocky smile played at the corners of his mouth as he braced his upper body on his left elbow, the heavy slabs of his muscled chest the most drool-worthy sight she’d ever seen. “So what brings you in here, Liv? You come to kiss me good-night?”

  Blinking, she struggled to concentrate on his huskily spoken words, but it wasn’t easy. Not when that damn towel was barely hanging together around his lean hips. When so much of that hard, powerful body was just lounging there, begging to be ogled. The wounds on his arms and side were already pale lines of color, barely visible in the soft glow of lamplight spreading out from the bedside table. His leg, however, was a different story. An angry-looking weal darkened his hair-dusted skin, but at least the cut was closed and no longer bleeding.

  And it wasn’t as if the battle wounds detracted from his beauty. Call her a savage, but she thought he looked sexy as hell sporting the scratches and scars. She only hated the pain they’d caused, knowing they’d had to hurt when they were made, no matter how tough he was.

  Clearing her throat, she gave herself a little shake and finally managed to say, “Actually, I, uh, just w-wanted to check that you were okay.”

  “Yeah?” There was something beautifully animalistic about the way he slowly rolled to his back and pushed his way up the bed, until his upper body was braced against the mountain of pillows, his right leg bent a little at the knee. The towel gaped, revealing a dark, provocative shadow of pubic hair and his heavy testicles, as well as the impossibly broad base of his cock.

  Olivia’s mouth went dry, and although she knew damn well that she should look away…she couldn’t. And the arrogant bastard knew it, his voice a low, seductive rumble as he bent his right leg a little higher. “You should probably come closer if you’re going to do a thorough job,” he drawled in a low, wicked slide of words. He bent his left knee a little, then let his leg fall open, dropping to the bed, the entire length of his dark, massive erection suddenly on bold display. “You know, of making sure I’m all right and everything.”

  She would have rolled her eyes if she could have looked away from the decadent sight, her mind boggling at the idea of taking something that size inside her body. It was both exciting…and more than a little worrying. “Obviously you’re f-fine,” she stammered, hating that her nerves betrayed her so easily.

  His eyelids lowered to half-mast. “Have I told you yet how hot it makes me when you stutter?” He lowered his hand, and she nearly drooled as she watched him lightly touch his fingertips to the dark, vein-ridden flesh.

  A soft, nervous rush of laughter fell from her lips. She wondered if his expression was teasing, but couldn’t seem to steal a glance at his face to see.

  “Really, it’s sexy as hell,” he murmured, still talking about her stammer. “Because whenever I hear it, I know it means you’re getting all wound up inside.”

  Her shyness urged her to look away, but she refused, watching as he curled his big hand around the wide root nestled in that dense patch of caramel hair. The shaft was as thick as her wrist, and she couldn’t stop the erotic images from playing across her mind. Breathtaking fantasies of what it would be like if it were her hands touching him…stroking him.

  “You wanna know why I was hoping you’d come in here?” he asked, rolling up into a sitting position as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

  She nodded, unable to get any words out. The moment felt so fragile, so intense. Thick. Viscous. It was almost difficult to breathe through the excitement, the air steamy against her skin, her face flushed with heat. Her mouth trembled, fingers fluttering with little twitches that she couldn’t control. She felt like a neon sign blasting out her helpless longing for something she knew she could never have. That could never truly be hers.

  “I was hoping you’d come to take me up on my offer,” he drawled, his slow, sin-tipped smile doubling her heart rate as he stood and took a step toward her.

  “You m-mean for an affair?” she asked, dazed by the sight of his stomach, the muscles cut in a way no human male could ever hope to achieve, no matter how many grueling hours he spent in the gym. And the way he moved. It was beautiful. He didn’t walk, he stalked…prowled, those ripped muscles moving with a r
aw, animalistic grace that completely betrayed the fact that he was something so much more than human.

  Oh yeah, she could so easily see him as the dangerous predator. As something that would stalk the shadowed jungle, taking down its prey with a deadly set of jaws.

  “Why do we have to call it anything, Liv?” He cocked his head a little to the side, hazel gaze bleeding to warm, rich amber. “Why not just enjoy it?”

  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then slowly opened them again. “B-because I’m afraid to.”

  Wanting nothing more than to kiss the frown from her lips, Aiden took another step toward her, and the knot on his towel finally gave way. As the damp cotton fell to the floor, he didn’t try to catch it. He figured he could have played the gentleman and covered up, but what the hell. He’d already spread his legs on the bed and flashed her his monster-sized hard-on. She made him feel like a freaking caveman, so why shouldn’t he go ahead and act the part?

  And though he knew no one would ever have believed it, he wasn’t in the habit of showing off his body in front of his lovers. He’d gone through enough of that during his years at Mueller’s, and had never really gotten into the whole admiration for his “size” when he’d become a man.

  But…it was different with Liv. It jarred him just how different she made him feel, though he knew he shouldn’t be surprised. She made everything seem new to him, so why should sex be any different? He might be as jaded and as used as they came, but Liv made him feel…fresh, in some whacked-out, weird kind of way. He wanted to show himself to her in an earthy, animalistic act of seduction. Watch her pale skin go warm as he flaunted his iron-hard cock before her, giving her proof of just how badly he wanted to be inside her.

  And maybe, just maybe, it would ease the ache. Make sense of some of the madness that had been tearing him up inside since he’d met her. That had only grown worse with each second that he spent with her.

  And maybe it will just make it worse, jackass.

  That was certainly a possibility. And yet, did he really care?

  You had better care. Because if you don’t, everything’s gonna blow up right in your face.

  No, he could control it. If it meant being able to touch her, he would find some way to master the beast and beat the bloody thing into submission.

  Wanna bet?

  Damn. He was looping so many lines of bullshit, he didn’t know what he was doing anymore—didn’t know which voices to listen to. To believe. All he knew was that he couldn’t be close to her and not touch her. Not when he was enjoying being around her as much as he was, something that never happened to him with women. Not to mention human ones.

  And then there was the head-spinning attraction. The I’ve-got-to-have-you-or-I’m-going-to-die burn of hunger. Her scent was like something that he could taste in his throat, through his skin. It was thick…warm. Delicious. His chest expanded as he pulled it into his lungs, savoring it, his awareness of her spreading out like a net. He wanted to throw it out and snare her in its grip. Wanted to take her into his arms and drag her away to his cave and…keep her, to hell with the consequences. To hell with “the Eve effect” and her hope for a normal life. To hell with his past and his fears and the fact she was human. To hell with all of it.

  At least for as long as it would take him to get what he needed.

  Aiden half expected her to shriek as he prowled toward her, but she surprised him, going perfectly still instead, her smoky gaze locked in tight on his cock again. She cleared her throat, her voice shaking with nerves. “You, uh, really shouldn’t d-do that.”

  A quick arch of his brows. “Do what?”

  “Walk around…like that.”

  Aiden stopped just a few feet in front of her, careful to keep his body positioned so that he wouldn’t be seen through the open door, and braced his feet. Hooking his thumb around the base of his cock, he pushed the shaft away from his body, imagining what it would be like if she sank to her knees, her parted lips begging for him to come closer. The swollen head was already slick, practically drooling with eagerness. “Tempted?” he rasped, gripping himself in a tight fist, the thick knotwork of veins going dark as he squeezed.

  “Yes,” she whispered, flicking her tongue against her upper lip in a quick, shy swipe, as if she was already licking the head of his cock, taking the salty bead there at the tip into her mouth.

  Her honesty caught him off guard, but only for a moment. “Ah, that’s good to hear, Liv. I was beginning to think I’d lost my touch.”

  She swept her gaze up to his lopsided grin, her brows drawn together in a V. Uncertainty flickered in her gaze. As well as caution. “Seriously, Aiden. Is this all some kind of game to you?”

  He’d started to take another step toward her, but stopped, the raw vulnerability of her expression hitting him low in his stomach. He hated that she could disarm him so easily. Make him feel things he didn’t want to feel, as if his emotions were suddenly hers to manipulate at will.

  “No. No game.” He ran his tongue over his teeth. “I want you, Liv. More than I should,” he added, fully aware that he was repeating words he’d said to her before. He shook his head, his hands aching as he fisted them at his sides, struggling to hold himself back from her. “But no matter what happens between us—” the gravelly words scraped against his throat “—I’m staying. Sex isn’t a condition of your and Jamie’s protection. I just want to make sure that’s clear.”

  She blinked up at him. Took a shaky breath. “You’re going to drive me out of my mind,” she said in a soft voice, “but you’re a good man, Aiden.”

  He snorted. “I thought you said I was a tomcat.”

  “You’d never be a good husband or boyfriend,” she offered with a wry laugh, “but I have a feeling you would make a great friend.”

  Something pulled tight in his chest, but he didn’t argue. “Then I’ll be your friend, Liv.” Until you’re ready to ask me to be more.

  Whoa. Taking a mental step back, he wondered where those strange words had come from. Damn it, he didn’t want her to ask for more, and even if he did, there wasn’t a chance that she would ever do it.

  Forcing himself back on track, he said, “I’ll be your friend, and if you’d give me the chance, I could be a hell of a lover.”

  She shook her head, pressing herself tighter against the wall. “God, Aiden. Do you enjoy torturing me? Tempting me to m-make an idiot of myself?”

  “You forget that you’re the one who came in here to me, Liv?” A sliver of his desperation suddenly bled through in his tone, his voice going gritty and hard. “And it wouldn’t be torture if you’d stop fighting the inevitable and just give in.”

  “Why? Why do you want this to happen? And for once just tell me the truth!”

  His gaze slid to the side, and he caught a flash of his reflection in the mirror above the dresser. Immediately he looked away, not recognizing the man who’d briefly stared back at him. There’d been too much intensity in his golden eyes. Too much need etched into the hard angles of his face. He felt too raw, too exposed, as if he’d been stripped down and everything laid out for the world to see.

  Which was pretty funny, really. Considering he was standing there in front of her bare-assed naked.

  Rolling his shoulder, Aiden locked his gaze on the white nothingness of the wall behind her head. “You want the truth, Liv? Well, here it is.” The words were low, guttural, all but ripping their way out of him. “The truth is that I should stay away from you, but I can’t.” He lifted his right hand, worrying three fingers against the edge of his jaw. “You make me smile. Make me laugh. Every time you walk into a room, my cock goes hard and my heart starts pounding like it wants to bust its way through my chest. My ears roar and my mouth waters.” Taking a deep breath, he lowered his gaze, locking onto the violet smoke of her eyes. “You want the truth? The truth is that I hate the way you keep pulling away from me. And the truth is that I don’t like being this out of control, but I can’t stop it.”

/>   “Then leave.” She broke eye contact with him as she sidled to the side, as if she was planning on slinking out the door and running away. “Let Kellan and Noah take over and just go.”

  Aiden reached out, smacking his right hand against the door. It slammed shut, the sharp sound making her jump. He moved closer, crowding her against the wall, caging her in. “Is that what you want? You want me gone?”

  She kept her eyes on his throat. Pulled her lower lip through her teeth. “We’re talking about you, not me.”

  “Don’t play games with me,” he growled, forcing the words through his clenched teeth as he smacked the flat of his palm against the door. “I’m not in the mood.”

  She trembled, closing her eyes, and Aiden forced another deep breath into his lungs, mentally shaking his head at himself. Christ, so much for keeping it light and easy.

  Smooth, asshole.

  The color in her face was burning brighter as she dared a quick look up at his face. “I tried to explain it to you before,” she whispered. “I don’t know the first thing about having casual sex, and I’ve never had a one-night stand in my life.”

  With one hand braced against the door, the other against the wall, Aiden lowered his head and buried his nose in the tender curve of her throat, torturing himself with her scent. “Who said anything about one night?” he muttered. “It’s going to take a hell of a lot longer than that for me to get my fill of you. And I can guarantee there won’t be anything casual about it.”

  Lifting his head, he trapped her with the burning intensity of his stare. “And if you keep telling me that you can’t,” he grunted, driven by the powerful urge to see her smiling up at him again, “it’s gonna give me a complex. I’m liable to start thinking that you just don’t want me. It’ll be pathetic, Liv, and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”