Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 04 (11 page)

“Gadgets?”

“His custom-made security alarms,” he explained.
“Guy’s some kind of techno genius when it comes to that stuff.” She nodded,
busying herself with one of the bags he’d brought in earlier. Aiden could scent
her tension in the air, the subtle vibration melting into his body, almost as
if he was a predator on the hunt…and it felt good. “So I was wondering if there
was a reason you didn’t want to sleep in the same room as me. I mean, other
than the fact that I obviously make you uncomfortable.”

Instead of denying it, she pulled her lower lip
through her teeth and slanted him a curious look. “Like what?” she asked.

“Some guy who’s gonna take exception to you being here
with me?”

Her gaze slid away and she gave a quiet, nervous kind
of laugh. “Uh, that would be no.”

“What about Jamie’s dad? Won’t he be looking for her?”

She shook her head. “He left Monica before Jamie was
born and has never even met his daughter.”

“And you’re serious about no boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

Staring at her delicate profile, Aiden searched for
any signs of deceit. When she glanced at him again and caught the way he was
looking at her, a warm blush covered her cheeks. “What is it?”

He blew out a rough breath. “I just find that really
hard to believe, Liv.”

“What?” She ran her hands up and down her biceps, as
if she was cold. “That I don’t have a boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

She shrugged, turning back to the suitcase. “Sorry to
disappoint you, but it’s the truth. I ended my last relationship over a year
ago.”

Without meaning to, Aiden heard himself ask, “What
happened?”

Another soft laugh fell from her lips, but this one
had a brittle edge to it. “Let’s just say that he wasn’t the man I thought he
was.”

Aiden wanted to press her for details, but held back,
not knowing what to make of the unfamiliar burn in his chest. It had flared at
the thought of her with this unnamed male, as if the idea of her being with
another man actually mattered to him. Shaking his head at the bizarre,
completely unfamiliar concept, he watched as she sent a longing glance toward
the bottles of shampoo and conditioner she’d set on the dresser. “Go on and
take your shower,” he murmured. “I’ll watch over Jamie.”

She stared down at her niece, clearly undecided.

“Liv, look at me.” He waited until she’d shifted that
smoky gaze back to his face, then said, “I’d rather die than hurt a kid. And
I’m sure as hell not going to let anything happen to this one. If you’re going
to make it through this, you’ve got to start trusting me.”

“I know that,” she whispered.

“So go on, then. I promise I won’t let anything happen
to her.”

She pulled out some clothes, then grabbed her
toiletries. When she reached the doorway she braced one hand against the
doorjamb and glanced over her shoulder. “Thank you, Aiden. For everything. I
promise I’ll figure out a way to repay you for all of this someday.”

“Not necessary. And if you need any help in there
scrubbing your back,” he drawled, giving her another wink, “just let me know.”

SHAKING HER HEAD at his outrageousness, Olivia shut
the bathroom door behind her. She showered quickly, and within ten minutes she
was dressed in her favorite ratty pair of navy sweats and a gray tank top, her
towel-dried hair hanging loose around her freshly scrubbed face. She was ready
to race for the covers, but the instant she opened the door, she found Aiden
sitting on the sofa that he’d pulled into the room, thumbing through a
dog-eared copy of one of her favorite erotic romances.

“What are you doing?” she gasped, while Jamie snored
softly from the bed, obviously out for the count.

Without taking his eyes off the page, he said, “I was
curious about what you like.”

“What I l-like?” she stammered.

The low rasp of his voice stroked her skin like a
sensuous touch as he quietly said, “You know. Sexually.”

Something isn’t right here, she thought, only too
aware of the differences between them. Men like Aiden Shrader never even looked
twice at women like her, and they certainly didn’t admit to being “curious”
about their sexual fantasies. Olivia had always been too plain for that. Her
older stepsister, Monica, had been the jaw-dropper in the family. Tall and
perfectly proportioned. Then there’d been her younger stepsister, Chloe, who
was so tiny and slim and ethereal. From the time of her father’s marriage to Monica
and Chloe’s mother, Olivia had always just…been there. Stuck in the middle.
Average, except for the overly top-heavy part. She supposed her hair and eyes
could be considered assets, but had always felt as if they were kind of wasted
on the rest of her.

And the rest didn’t add up to much. Especially when
you threw in the shyness and the stammer.

Still, she had her pride, and she wasn’t going to just
stand there and let a man like Aiden poke fun at her, pretending he was
actually interested in what got her off. Tears pricked her eyes, her throat
burning with a sudden rush of anger. “I get that you don’t care for humans,
Aiden, but that’s no reason to be mean.”

When he slid his gaze up from the pages of the book,
the smoldering look in his glowing amber eyes made her shiver. “Mean?”

“You’re making fun of me,” she accused, fisting her
hands at her sides.

“And you’re making assumptions, Liv. I was serious
about what I said.” He shrugged one shoulder, looking almost embarrassed. “I
just want to understand you better.”

Olivia blinked, feeling as if he was suddenly speaking
a language she didn’t understand. “Is this…some kind of j-joke?”

Setting the book aside, he rolled up off the sofa with
an animalistic power and grace that made her heart race…her chest burn. Muscles
coiled and flexed as he stalked toward her, bunching and stretching beneath all
that tight golden skin. “You really think I’m making fun of you?”

She nodded, her mouth watering as she watched him
move. Feeling the need for retreat, she took a step back, and then another,
until she had walked herself right back into the bathroom.

And Aiden just kept coming closer.

“Why do you think I kissed you tonight?” he asked in a
husky rasp.

Shaking her head a little, Olivia struggled to
concentrate past the deep, rhythmic pulse of desire that was arcing through her
body, prickling beneath her skin. “I…I don’t know. But it wasn’t because you
wanted to have s-sex with me.”

“’S that right?” He snorted, then muttered, “You know,
in some twisted way, this is pretty funny.”

“What’s so funny about it?”

“It’s funny,” he said in another low, delicious
rumble, “because I’ve wanted to fuck you since the second I set eyes on you.”

Her heart tried to lodge its way into her throat, not
only from the shocking claim he’d just made, but from the way he suddenly moved
farther into her space, closing in on her with his heat and the tantalizing
scent of his body. And God, did it smell good. Warm and musky and male, like
something wild and earthy that could be found only in the hidden depths of a
dense, dark jungle. Something primal and raw and a little terrifying, it was so
damn delicious. “Wh-what are you doing?” she gasped, flattening herself against
the wall.

“Making the first of what is no doubt going to be a
long list of mistakes where you’re concerned.” The hard, sensual look on his
face was the most erotic thing Olivia had ever seen.

She wished she had the nerve to follow through on the
1,001 fantasies burning through her brain, but all she could manage to choke
out was a soft, trembling “Then be smart and d-don’t do it.”

Bracing his hands against the wall, the Watchman caged
her in, his rich, provocative scent hitting her full force now. It filled her
head. Covered her body like a second skin, enveloping her in a sensual cloud as
it mixed with the warm steam that still lingered from her shower. “Trust me,”
he rasped. “I would if I could, Liv. But I can’t.”

She had the strangest urge to laugh and cry at the
same time as she stared up into his hypnotic eyes, mesmerized by the swirling,
discordant streams of emotion burning inside him. Anger. Hunger. Arrogance. And
what she could have sworn was fear. “You really are such a strange man,” she
whispered, wondering how he could affect her so strongly when she’d known him
for nothing more than a handful of hours.

His beautiful mouth twisted into a lopsided smile as
he tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear. “Believe it or not, I get that
a lot.”

“I b-believe it.”

“You’re stuttering again.” His voice was soft,
seductive, his touch dangerously tender as he trailed one fingertip along the
side of her face, painting her skin with his heat. “You scared now, Liv?”

For some reason, Olivia felt as if he was testing her,
but she didn’t understand what he was after. And she definitely didn’t
understand the man. “I’m n-not afraid of you, Aiden.”

He lowered his hand, pressing his large palm against
the center of her chest, his skin fever-warm through the thin cotton of her
tank top. “Your heart’s beating a mile a minute.”

She licked her lower lip, acutely aware of her body
thrumming with need, her nipples gathering into hard, tight knots that pressed
thickly against her shirt. “You’re playing with me. I get that. I just don’t
know what you expect to get out of it.”

Aiden leaned close, enjoying the way her pulse leaped
and her eyes went dark. So dark he could see his own intense expression staring
back at him in the luminous pools of violet. “Maybe I just want another taste
of you,” he told her, lowering his head until he could press his mouth against
the side of her throat. Her skin was warm and soft, a fragile barrier to the
succulent heat that flowed beneath the surface. He pressed his tongue to the
seductive rush of her pulse, his body burning at the sexy little catch in her
breath. “Ever think of that?” he asked, pulling back just enough that he could
gauge her expression.

A small V settled between her brows. “But you don’t
even like humans.”

“True,” he admitted with a rough laugh. “But I seem to
be liking you just fine. And if you don’t believe me, then take a look for
yourself.” He gestured toward his lower body with a jerk of his chin.

Instead of doing as he said, she squeezed her eyes
shut.

He whispered, “Go on, Liv. Look. I dare ya.”

Trembling, she opened her eyes, glanced down and gave
a hoarse, quiet cry of hunger that just made his dick even harder, the brutal
ache pounding through all six and a half feet of him. “Jamie’s asleep.” He
ground the words out past his tight jaw. “We could shut the bathroom door.”

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, a soft tremor
shivering through her limbs, the scent of her need so thick in the air he had
to mentally claw onto his beast, holding it back from her. “As tempting as that
sounds, I’m afraid I’ll have to p-pass.”

Aiden didn’t say anything. He just fought for control
as he put his face close to hers and stared, waiting for her to look at him
again.

It took awhile, but she finally tore her gaze away
from his crotch and lifted it back to his face. “You seem…surprised,” she said
with a shaky, nervous kind of laugh.

His chest rose with each hard, slow breath as he
studied her from beneath his lashes. “To be honest—” his mouth tilted in
another crooked grin “—I’m not used to being turned down.”

“Especially by women who look like me, huh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he grunted, not liking
the insinuation in her tone.

“Come on,” she said dryly, rolling her eyes. “I’m a
plateful of leftovers compared to what must be the ‘usual’ for a guy like you.”

Aiden stared, not knowing what to make of her. He’d
never heard a woman speak of herself in such a way. The ones he’d known, for
the most part, had been vain creatures, obsessed with their looks and their
ability to seduce. But here was this one, trying to tell him that she was…What?
Plain? Something to be passed over? When he knew damn well that she was
beautiful—sexy and lush and soft in all the right places, and that was just on
the outside. Inside, well, she might have been a relative stranger to him, but
he’d already learned so many things about her character. She was obviously
brave, as well as compassionate and caring. Not to mention fiercely loyal to
those she loved.

She was, in short, completely fascinating.

It didn’t matter that she was human. That she was
under his protection. Aiden still wanted to lay her down for hours…days, and
show her in explicit, intimate detail all the things that he liked about her.
He liked her blushes. Liked the way her breath quickened when he said something
she considered wicked. It was driving him mad, thinking of the things he could
say…the things he could do, that would set that pretty pale skin of hers on
fire. He liked the idea of commanding her to keep her eyes on him, steady and
wide, while he spread her sex with his thumbs and went down on her. Liked the
idea of her convulsing against his tongue…