Chapter 22

"Right. He's caught me on the cusp of a bad dream several times and I've been able to go right back to sleep."

Lord, that was music to her ears. "Repeat after me. You were right, Olivia. I shall listen to you about everything from now on."

Gently, he cupped her jaw and tilted her head back until she stared at him upside down. With his face inches from hers, his somber, dark eyes swept over her face like a caress as his thumbs stroked her cheeks.

After a careful assessment, he sighed. "You are downright adorable sometimes. It's maddening."

She grinned.

He grunted and kissed her between the eyes, then brushed his nose against hers. "You were right, baby. I shall listen to youwithin reasonfrom now on. Better?"

"Define reason."

A grin split his face so fast she doubted he even realized he'd done it. Holy damn. It changed his whole appearance, infused the golden flecks in his eyes, and gave her a full-body tingle. From the inside out. His hardened edges disappeared, transforming sully and brooding into charming and approachable.

"I was right," she breathed. "Your grin is panty-melting."

He flinched, his brows furrowing.

"Boo. And there it goes." She shrugged, feeling the loss all the way to her toes. "I'll bring it back eventually."

He shook his head. "What in the hell am I going to do with you?"

"Anything you want." At the narrowing of his eyes and flare of his nostrils, she smiled. Seemed a certain unmentioned male's armor could be breeched. "Oh, you meant that rhetorically. My bad."

He growled, snapped his eyes shut, and released her. "Go to bed, Olivia."

Satisfied she'd chipped away at him a bit, she rose to her feet and stretched. The pain in her shoulder was mostly gone. "Do you like sci-fi?"

"What?"

"Sci-fi. The genre?" Teasing him was becoming her favorite pastime. She gestured between them. "Resistance is futile."

"Christ." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "And she quotes Star Trek. What next?"

She turned to leave when something in the corner caught her eye. "What's that?"

He glanced at the tin bucket and back to her. "Something to shut my brain off before I go to sleep."

Okay, now she was curious. Kneeling, she dragged the bucket over and peeked inside. There were a few tools that looked like extravagant ice picks, along with a couple knife-like things. She removed a large freezer bag and paused.

Figurines. Interesting.

Opening the bag, she smiled as she pulled out a carved replica of Bones, no bigger than her thumb. "You did these?"

He nodded, strumming his fingers on his thigh.

"They're good." Another one of her dog, a horse, a tree, and a few horseshoes were also inside. She remembered the box he'd crafted containing Justin's things and looked up at him. "That's some talent, Nate."

"Hardly. Like I said, whittling shuts off my mind."

She tilted her head. "Amy said that about her photographs, too. That she was just fooling around. She's wrong and so are you."

He only stared at her in response, and she got the impression he was carefully measuring his breathing in order not to react. Why? Had no one paid attention to see he was really great at this? Complimented him? Noticed at all?

Suddenly sad, she glanced at Bones. "Look, it's you." She showed the dog the figurine and grinned when he barked. "Bones likes it."

"He licks his own ass and sniffs crotches, too. Pardon my lack of enthusiasm."

She rolled her eyes. "Can I have this?"

"You can have them all if you really want them."

"I do." Rising, she put the items back in the bucket to grab later and set it aside. Hands on the arms of Nate's chair, she leaned close. "I'm going to kiss you goodnight."

He offered a lazy blink.

"What? No argument?"

"I've stopped fighting you. There's no point. I just go around in circles." His throat worked a swallow. "The same reasons for not doing this still apply, Olivia. We shouldn't. Period."

His struggle was waning. She could tell in the slight amusement in the curve of his lips and the lack of tension in his frame. She was getting to him. Good. He'd had her interest since day one. But he wasn't at the point where he was ready to grab what he wanted. Until then, she'd keep at this pace.

"Are you saying I make you dizzy?" She brushed her lips against his and he watched her through narrowed slits. The few times they'd kissed, he'd kept his eyes open, too. For a few beats, anyway. She wondered why.

His fingers tightened on the chair arms, turning his knuckles white. "If by dizzy, you mean frustrated as hell, then yes."

She smiled against his mouth and climbed sideways in his lap, earning a sharp inhale. Holding his jaw, she added pressure to his lips.

A furrow of his brows, and he closed his eyes. His mouth widened, spreading her lips so he could dip inside, and she moaned at the first shallow stroke of his tongue. As if holding back, he remained rigid, searching only with a kiss for her reaction.

He drew a rapid breath and pulled away to look at her. Gaze seeking, burning into hers, he shook with something she could only call unfettered energy. Instantly, like the decision had been made for him, his arm covered her to keep her against him while the other slid up her spine and into her hair.

Then, he tilted his head and sealed the gap, devouring her with fierce lashes of his tongue. His fingers fisted her strands and his groan rumbled from his chest to hers like his control was a thin tether. His kiss turned angry, harsh, and her arousal consumed. Every cell awakeneda part of herself that had been asleep, unaware this kind of heat existed.

He took and took and took from her everything she had left, only to seemingly give back pieces of himself in exchange. Punishingly, he urged her jaw wider, thrust deeper, and need raked her raw. Unrefined power vibrated from him, but he wouldn't snap the leash. Just tugged until...

Panting, he pressed his forehead to hers, eyes pinched tightly shut. "I'm sorry." His ragged breath fanned her face and he shook his head. "Christ, I'm sorry."

"For what?" And why? Please, whatever that was, he needed to do it again.

"That was no goodnight kiss. It wasn't even human."

She buried her face in his neck and closed her eyes. That was more passion than she'd ever known, and he wanted to apologize? "I'm only sorry you stopped."

"Damn it, Olivia." But the curse was a half-hearted muttering. "I don't do that very often."

She lifted her head, confused. "Do what?"

"I don't do intimacy. Making love, sex, foreplay? Not at all. Kissing included." He frowned with that look in his eyes, telling her he wished he'd never brought up the subject. "Forgive the term, but I fuck. That's it."

Understanding dawned. She'd suspected as much after the first time they'd kissed, but hearing it from him was...a reality slap. "Do you enjoy it when we're together?"

"I nearly swallowed you whole and you're asking me that question?"

She offered a reassuring smile. "I repeat, I'm only sorry you stopped. Let's make a deal. If you push too hard, I'll tell you. If you need time with an aspect of us being together, you'll do the same."

"This is wrong, you and me. I don't care how right it feels." He cinched his arm tighter to draw her closer to him and, after a moment, set the rocker in motion as she put her head on his shoulder. "I thought you were going to bed."

The gentle sway of the chair, combined with his warm body cradling hers, had her drugged and headed toward oblivion. "I'm working on it." She yawned.

"Your ethic needs improvement."

She smiled against his skin and hummed. It was the best she could do, considering.

He kissed her temple. A hearty sigh, and he dropped the back of his head to the chair.

With his thumb stroking her arm and fingers of the other hand lightly running through her hair, she gave in to the sweet darkness pulling her under and the safety he invoked.

And she woke in her own bed the next morning with the figurine of Bones on her nightstand.