The vase on top rocked and fell, and I knew what was going to happen before it happened but couldn’t get my feckin’ feet to move so I could keep the blasted thing from shattering on the floor. Roses and broken glass ended up everywhere. Well, feck it anyway. So much for being stealthy. I would’ve left them except I didn’t want my wife to cut her beautiful feet. So I shifted them into my brother’s room just for fun.
“Tadhg?” Keelynn’s voice sounded all bed-warmed and sleepy and sensual.
“Shhhh . . . Go back to sleep.”
Like usual, the woman didn’t listen.
She sat up, lifting her arms toward the ceiling in a slow stretch. “What are you doing?”
What did it look like I was doing? Trying to stand up straight and not knock into any of this tiny furniture set out like a feckin’ death trap in the darkness.
My boot caught on something, sending me into the wall.Hello, wall.Thank you for catching me.
“Nothing. I’m not here.”Completely invisible.Stealthy as a shadow.
“Yes, you are. I can see you.”
“No, you can’t.” If she could see me, then she would be railing and screaming and calling forRobertto come and save her. She wasn’t doing any of those things. She was getting out of bed and coming toward me in nothing but a white shift.
Long, shapely legs on full display.
“Are you drunk?”
“Yup.”
“You’re drunk and you came here?”
Drunk or sober, I didn’t want to be anywhere else. “If Fiadh wants to kill my wife, she’s going to have to”—a hiccup escaped, making me seem far less imposing—“go through me first.”
“And you thought you could defeat her in this state?”
I couldn’t even defeat a feckin’ squirrel in this state. But that wasn’t the point. “It’s not about defeating her. It’s about giving her a more enticing target.” If I had an ink pen, I’d draw an “X” on my chest, so she didn’t miss my heart.
“Tadhg—”
“I like the way you say my name.” Always with a hint of exasperation. Liked her nose too. I tapped the upturned tip. She had a beautiful nose.
She didn’t look impressed by my confession. “You like the way I say your name?”
“I like a lot of things about you.”
Keelynn scooted closer. That was a good sign, right? Unless she was trying to get within arm’s reach to slap me again. “Like what?”
“Don’t think I should tell you. Don’t want to get slapped again.” That shite hurt my face and my useless pride.
“I promise not to slap you.”
“Ah, but you can lie.” Broken promises were the only ones I seemed to get these days.
She removed the ring, placing it on the floor between us. “There. I promise I won’t slap you.”
What did I have to lose? Not a damn thing. “All right. Why not?” I eased forward, inhaling the fragrant strands of hair falling down her shoulders.Heaven. “I like the way you smell.”
“That’s it?”
Oh, my darling wife, I’m just getting started. “No. I like the dreadfully high collars you wear that conceal this lavender-scented patch of skin right here.” I stroked her neck with my fingertip. “I like the way you taste.” She drove me out of my mind. “But most of all,” I whispered, feeling her heart hammering beneath my lips on her throat, “I like the way you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.”