Relief, and a desire to run from the room now that she’d been let off the hook, had Lyra rising too quickly. She didn’t register that Jaden had risen with her until it was too late and she’d walked right into him. Which, she realized later, had almost certainly been by design.
“Oh, sorry,” she blurted, her hands coming up instinctively to regain her balance. And of course she gripped the nearest available thing: him. She felt his hands at her waist, felt the taut muscle beneath her own hands. And whether it was her weariness that had shut her usual defenses down or something more subversive, Lyra found herself melting into him, against him, allowing herself just a few seconds of the wonderful sensation of simply being held.
She heard him breathe in, felt his arms go around her to hold her up, hold her against him. Lyra let herself linger, even though she knew it was dangerous. She sensed that Jaden felt it, too, this invisible thread that seemed determined to pull them together. She allowed herself only a moment to savor the way her body fit so perfectly against his, the feel of his breath on her skin.
Then she drew back and stood on her own two feet, trying to ignore the waves of longing and regret that swept over her the instant their connection was broken. It was a test, she told herself. To see whether she could handle being so close to Jaden without throwing herself at him or doing something stupid. And she’d passed, mostly.
But it was hard to feel much triumph when she looked at Jaden and saw the raw desire reflected back at her.
“Good night, Lyra,” he said softly, his voice like darkest silk.
“Good night,” she replied. And more shaken than she could have imagined, Lyra did the only thing she knew was safe, though it was the last thing she wanted. On unsteady legs, she turned and walked away.
And wondered whether it would be so easy the next time.
Chapter EIGHT
HE SLEPT LIKE THE DEAD because he had no choice, but Jaden was haunted by dreams. He awoke agitated and disoriented, eyes darting around unfamiliar surroundings as he sat up with a jolt. He saw ugly wood paneling, a pool table, an older TV. Small windows that had had thick cloth tacked over them to keep out the light. A look down told him he’d been sleeping on an old brown plaid couch, comfortably sprung and made up with sheets, blankets, and a pillow.
Jaden had woken up in so many odd places during his lifetimes that panicking didn’t even occur to him. Instead, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and collected thoughts that were always muddled upon waking at sundown. In that self-imposed darkness, he saw Lyra, her big golden eyes glowing softly as she looked up at him while he held her in his arms.
Then he remembered.
“Shit.” Jaden groaned, drew his knees into his chest, and dug his hands into his hair. All around him her scent rose, warm and spicy and singularly Lyra. The whole house was suffused with it. And he would be here, marinating in it, driving himself completely insane for a few more weeks.
Brilliant.
This had all seemed like a great idea last night. Amazing what a little sleep would do for perspective. Still, he was in it now, right up to his neck.
With a low groan, Jaden swung his feet onto the floor, gave his head a sleepy scratch, and yawned. He shoved the blankets aside and stood to stretch, exhaling with pleasure as his body awakened. The cool air of the basement swirled around his na**d torso, over legs that were bare but for a pair of low-slung boxers.
He seemed to remember Dorien showing him a bathroom down here with a shower. Pouring water on his head for a while sounded like a great idea, Jaden decided. He turned his head to look around, knowing he’d brought in the duffel bag he always packed and carried with him in case of an extended stay anywhere.
Her voice, low and sultry, stopped him in his tracks.
“Hey, I brought you—oh, sorry.”
Jaden turned to find Lyra, just three steps above the bottom of the stairs, staring at him wide-eyed in utter mortification. There was a small basket of toiletries dangling from one hand. She lifted it a little, almost apologetically.
“Brought some… um… bathroom stuff. For you. You’re not dressed. Yeah, I’ll go.”
It struck Jaden as funny that all it took to embarrass the seemingly un-embarrassable Lyra Black was to strip down to your skivvies. She turned to flee, but he had no intention of letting her. The thought of tormenting her was way too entertaining.
“No, hang on, I can use all that,” he said, walking very deliberately over and extending his hand. Intense color flooded her cheeks, and he didn’t miss the way her eyes swept over every inch of him before they moved to the far wall.
She wanted him. He’d finally been sure of it when she’d fallen into his arms last night. Or rather, when she’d let herself fall into his arms. He’d felt the brief instant when she let go, felt the way her body responded to his. And if he’d needed more proof, the way she’d hightailed it out of the kitchen would have been more than enough.
Ordinarily, that knowledge would have been sufficient for him to make a move on her. He’d be rusty, but Jaden was pretty sure he could manage a seduction without too much trouble. Going there with Lyra, however, was a far more complicated matter. What she was… what she wanted to be… and that was to say nothing of the fact that her father would happily dismember him if he so much as touched her.
He knew it was better to keep this whole operation platonic. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the simple things… like her reaction to finding him mostly undressed.
Jaden took the little basket by the handle and perused the contents, curious. Someone had been shopping—everything, including the basket, was new. He looked up at her, though she was still very pointedly not looking at him.
“You brought me dental floss.”
Her eyes slid to meet his. “Yeah. And?”
“You brought me aftershave.”
“I thought maybe you used it. Do vamps not grow facial hair? There’s a razor in there too. Are you going to give me a laundry list of the stuff I bought? Jesus. I’m leaving now.”
He grinned. He couldn’t help it. He’d had no idea Lyra would be so appealing when she was caught off guard like this.
“Thanks. The poofy thing to go with the body wash is a little girly, but I’ll live with it.”
“Or I can give you some other ideas about where to shove it,” grumbled Lyra. “You’re welcome. Just… do what you have to do and come upstairs. It’s been a long day already, so don’t take forever.”
“I won’t. I don’t know what your thoughts were, but I’d like to have a look at the area where you’ll have the Proving before we do anything. You can give me an idea of how it works, and we’ll go from there.”
“Works for me. I’ll be upstairs waiting.” She turned to go, but Jaden couldn’t resist one last poke.
“Lyra?”
She stopped, stiffened, and didn’t turn around. Her voice sounded strained. “What?”
“Why was it a long day? Everything all right?”
She gave a short, humorless little laugh. “Oh sure. The whole pack knows I’m living with our very first vampire ambassador, and I spent the afternoon shopping and getting meowed at. Do days get any better than that?”
Without another word, she stomped up the stairs, and Jaden didn’t have the heart to make her come back. She’d gotten herself into this mess, certainly… but even for as short a time as he’d known her, he was sure she had good reasons. And had she said “vampire ambassador”?
Jaden shook his head and carried the things she had bought for him into the bathroom, stupidly pleased that she’d taken the trouble. When was the last time a woman had bought him anything? Of course, this was just toothpaste and shampoo, he reminded himself. Which Lyra would be quick to reiterate if he brought it up again. But once in the little bathroom, as Jaden ran the water and picked up the shampoo from the basket, he saw there was something he’d missed. It was just a small thing, a little sample of what he knew was expensive cologne, hooked into a paper card.
Intrigued, he removed the plastic tube, pulled the stopper, and sniffed. It was subtle, but warm… exactly something he would have chosen. And something he would use, as she’d taken the trouble to get it for him. He knew she would brush it off when he thanked her… but he was going to thank her anyway. In her own way, Lyra was trying to make him feel at home. Him, with his perpetual duffel bag, always ready to take off at a moment’s notice.
The sweetness of her small gesture made him realize how very long he’d been running. How long it had been since he’d had a real place for his things, and things for a place, anywhere.
He didn’t want to feel touched, but that’s exactly what he was feeling. More when the realization hit him that he’d been turned around when Lyra had come downstairs: she’d seen his bare back, which meant she’d seen his whip scars. And he’d seen no evidence of it, no disgust, no judgment, and most of all, no pity when he’d turned to look at her.
Unexpected. Like everything else about the woman.
Jaden sighed and slid out of his boxers, then got into the shower and closed the curtain. For a sharp-tongued, reasonably rude little she-wolf, Lyra seemed to have a disturbing number of attractive qualities. And that was before he took into account how she looked in those jeans she was wearing tonight.
All he could do was hope she kept the rest of her better nature under wraps so he could concentrate on teaching—instead of further unwrapping. He’d already decided not to pursue the attraction. It was tantalizing, but pointless. When this was over, he’d go back to drinking blood in Tipton, she’d go back to being an overgrown dog in her spare time, and that would be that. Maybe he’d ask after that trio of Cait Sith Ty had mentioned, Jaden decided. Which reminded him… he needed to send Ty a quick text to check in, since he had no doubt there was at least one message waiting for him already. And after that, the phone was getting turned off and stuffed in the bottom of his duffel bag for the duration of his stay here. They knew where he was. He wasn’t a child who needed looking after.