Brides of the Kindred(52)

“Well, well.” He grinned at her. “So you think you can lay there and take whatever I dish out without reacting?”

Liv gave him what she hoped was a supremely confident smile. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”

“Care to make it interesting?” His eyes were half lidded with lust again and filled with amusement. “Want to bet on it, Olivia?”

Suddenly some of her confidence deserted her. “What…what do you want to bet?”

He shrugged. “Nothing sexual, don’t worry about that. We’ll bet tomorrow night’s late-day meal. If I touch you and your body doesn’t react I’ll teach you how to make my favorite dish. But if you do react you’ll teach me to make the dish with sea creatures rolled in those tiny white grains.”

Liv almost laughed. “You really want me to teach you to make sushi? I warn you, I’m not exactly an expert. Although it might be more appetizing than whatever you have in mind.”

“You’d better win the bet then,” he rumbled. “Are we on?”

Liv nodded firmly. “Yes, absolutely. Just…uh, just one more question. How exactly do we know who wins and who loses? I mean, your definition of reaction and my definition of reaction may differ. Like if you, uh, blow on my nipples and they get hard in response to the cool air, that’s not really valid in my opinion.”

Baird gave her that slow, hot smile again. “How about this then—if I make you come, I win. If you don’t come, you win. Simple enough for you?”

Liv’s mouth felt dry. “I…I guess so,” she whispered.

“Good.” He nodded. “So, you ready?”

“Sure.” Liv took a deep breath. “Do your worst.”

“Or my best,” he growled softly and, without warning, he pulled her into his lap.

Liv gasped and started to struggle before she remembered she wasn’t supposed to. Let him do his worst, she reminded herself, sitting stiff as a board on his knee. No matter what he does I’m not going to react. And besides, it’s just a dream.

Baird surprised her. She’d been expecting him to go straight for her breasts, or maybe to thrust one hand between her legs, because that was exactly what Mitch would have done. Her ex-fiance was a go-for-the-gusto kind of guy who had never bothered to find out if she had any erogenous zones besides the obvious ones. So she was braced for a mauling as she held herself straight and tall in Baird’s lap.

What she didn’t expect was for him to pull her close and nuzzle his face into her hair.

“Mmm, you smell so good, Lilenta,” he murmured, his hot, cinnamon flavored breath blowing against the side of her neck.

Liv couldn’t help shivering. “What…what are you doing?” she demanded, wishing her voice didn’t sound quite so breathless.

“Breathing you in.” He nuzzled her again, the slight stubble on his cheeks brushing against the sensitive skin of her throat and making her shiver for a second time.

Being this close to him, Liv could smell him too. Considering it was just a dream, her senses seemed extraordinarily sharp. The warm, masculine musk that seemed to be his natural scent filled her head, making her dizzy. She wondered hazily if all the Kindred’s sense of smell was more developed than a human’s or if it was just the Beast Kindred that were into olfactory pleasures. Whatever it was, Baird seemed content for the moment to just “breathe her in” as he had put it, without touching her with his hands at all.

Liv was still trying to still the pounding of her heart when she felt his mouth, soft and hot, at the side of her neck. God, he was kissing her! Kissing her like he had all night to drive her crazy. Her heart started thumping harder than ever, beating an erratic rhythm against her ribs and she wished she could get away just for a minute to take a breather. But if she did that she’d have to admit his touch was affecting her and he hadn’t even done anything overtly sexual yet! She had to toughen up or she was going to lose.

Clenching her jaw she made a determined effort to slow her breathing and calm her pulse. After all, it wasn’t that exciting. So what if she was sitting in a barely-there see-though nightgown on the lap of a gorgeous man whose only apparent goal in life was to make her come? What was the big deal?

She’d almost succeeded in convincing herself when Baird pulled back for a moment and looked in her eyes. “I can hear your heart beating like crazy, Lilenta,” he murmured. “Are you warmed up yet?”

“I don’t…don’t know what you mean.” Liv tried to keep her voice level and even but she still squeaked on the last word.