Not likely. After the way her presence had earned nothing more than grunts and glares for the past few weeks? “Plight his… He can damn well keep his troth to himself, thank you very much. I don’t know where it’s been. And for the record, I have the legal power to have you committed for a mental health evaluation.”
“Is it crazy to be in love with love?” Susie trilled.
“The way you do it, yes. Don’t say the L word around me, it makes me break out in hives!” Then she grimaced. “I’ll see him. Can you show him back here without embarrassing me?”
Susie pouted, but disappeared and then returned quickly enough that Krista only had a minute or two to torture herself, wondering why the heck he was there.
She knew when he was in the hall before she even saw him. Okay. Yes. She could hear him, but beyond that, she couldfeelhim. She couldsmellhis wolf. It was like her foxcravedhim.
Then again, she hadn’t had sex with anyone other than her Battery-Operated Boyfriend in three months—ever since she’d ditched her ex. And she hadn’t hadgoodsex since… well, her memory didn’t go back that far. So it wasn’t a matter of fate, it was a matter of rampaging hormones. An advanced case of lust-osis.
She watched Blake strolling into the room, all muscles and raw power, and tried to remember that hot men were not to be trusted.
Which was difficult, because her body had turned on like an electric current was being put through her. Well, not literally. She was a medical professional. She knew that if she actually touched a live wire, it wouldn’t feel like this.
But maybe a low-voltage wire. Like testing a battery with her tongue. Or… other parts. She squirmed self-consciously.
Dear lord. All she wanted to do was to taste the skin at the base of his neck, to feel the pulse of his heartbeat as she ran her hands along his well-muscled arms. They’d be so hard.
Hard?
Judging by how tight his pants were at the crotch, he was having a similar reaction to her.
Her inner vixen chortled playfully. No sense of decorum.
Susie, pink-cheeked, fanned her face with her hand behind Blake’s back, then slipped from the room.
Krista’s heart rate accelerated as she imagined all the things she’d love to do to that incredibly gorgeous man. She wanted to rip off his clothes. She wanted to hear the sound of his shirt buttons hitting the floor— Oh, it was carpet. Okay, hitting the chair and the desk. She could practically hear him moaning as she felt how hard he’d become for her.
Wait. Hewasmoaning. Or groaning. Or… growling. Not consciously, but the sound rumbled up from his chest as he stared at her.
His amber eyes bored into hers, setting off a series of ever-growing fires rampaging through her body.
She struggled to control her breathing, pressing her fingertips to the desk, a piece of paper crumpling with the effort. All she wanted was to kiss him. Just once. To taste him on her tongue, to sample what he had to offer.
And that was precisely why she wasn’t going to do it. Hadn’t she had the best possible example growing up of what happened if you let your urges override your brain? You turned into Maybelline Ellis, that was what happened, and given the choice, she’d rather be turned into a fur hat and matching cuffs. At least that way she’d be some use to somebody.
She cleared her throat. “What can I do for you? I’m sorry about my great-aunt. She’s a little tetched in the head, as they say back home. Is that why you’re here?”
He didn’t answer right away. He didn’t move, didn’t twitch. He was like a big man-mountain, standing and staring. Finally, he blinked and stepped forward, raising his chin almost in challenge. “No.” His tone was harsh, so much harder than it had been earlier in the afternoon, and laced with defensiveness, too. Why?
“Then how can I help you?” She needed to get him out of there. Fast. Before her inner fox drove her to chew his clothes from his body.
Would that be a bad thing?
No.
Yes! Yes, it would be a bad thing! Totally unprofessional! Damn her trampy little fox! Not for the first time, she wished she could put her inner animal in a time-out.
He stepped closer. Krista tried to back away, but her butt hit the edge of the desk, and all she managed was to sway backward so she was staring up into his handsome face. He moved a touch closer—close enough that she could feel the heat from his big, hard body.
“I need…” His voice was a low, husky, musical growl. His pupils were dilated in those intoxicating whisky-colored eyes, and the smell of his skin was a dizzying musk that had her vixen rolling on the ground and panting for his touch. She squeezed her thighs together and suppressed a little moan.
“Yes?” she whispered.
“I need you…”
Oh my god, he reallyhadcome to plight his troth. She still wasn’t clear what a troth was, but maybe she should get her hands on it and find out. She’d bet he had a really impressive one.