“I missed you, too.” She rubbed her face into his new white cotton T-shirt and clung to him. “You look great in jeans.”
Recognizing an olive branch when it was presented to him, he managed a smile and kissed her forehead. “I’m glad you approve.”
“Stacey wasn’t too hard on you, was she?”
“Nah, she’s all right. It’s you I’m worried about. How are you holding up?” There was such sadness in her eyes, and she carried herself as if burdened by a great weight. The distance between them was painful, crushing.
Lyssa tilted her head back and stared up at him. “I’m okay. I’m glad there are only a few more hours left before we can leave.”
“Me, too. Anything I can do to help speed things along?”
She gave a wry laugh. “Keep my office door closed. Every time I walk by and see you, I get flustered. Slows me down.”
As warmth suffused his blood, Aidan’s mouth curved. He half sat on the edge of the desk and pulled her between his legs. “Flustered? Or hot and horny?”
“All of the above.” Her hands stroked across the soft cotton that covered his chest, then she caught the chain that peeped out above his neckline and pulled it into view. “What kind of stone is this?”
It looked like an opal but appeared to glow from inside. She turned it over, but found that the mounting was solid silver in the back, leaving no place for light to pass through.
“I have no idea. It was a gift.”
“From a woman?”
He took the space of one breath to relish the jealousy evident in her tone, then shook his head. “No. A favorite teacher.”
“Good.” Lyssa dropped it back beneath his shirt and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed her lips to his, making him groan. “Back to work I go. Stay out of trouble.”
His hands cupped her ass and held her to him when she tried to step back. “Not so fast.”
Lyssa arched a brow at him.
“Did you eat?” When she wrinkled her nose, he had his answer. “You didn’t have breakfast, either. You need to take better care of yourself.”
Twisting at the waist, he caught up the bag that rested on the corner of the desk. He tucked his ankles behind her calves to keep her close, and reached inside for the Styrofoam container and spoon. He caught the handle of the plastic utensil between his teeth and used both hands to pry the lid open. Instantly the delicious scent of potato-cheese soup filled the air between them. He retrieved the spoon and grinned when her tummy growled in response to the mouthwatering smell.
“That’s my favorite soup,” she murmured, licking her lips in a way that goaded him to mimic her, his tongue following the lush lower curve of her mouth.
“I know.” He scooped up a spoonful. “Open wide.”
He alternated between feeding her and kissing her. It was as intimate as sex and just as moving. She laughed, her dark eyes bright with pleasure, and he wanted her. Wanted her this way, open and warm. He couldn’t wait to go home with her, to take her again. And again. And again. Indulging his every desire, every sexual whim, listening to the little whimpers she made when she was desperate for orgasm, wallowing in the lust that grew from the inside and worked its way out, not the other way around. Not for physical release, but for physical closeness, a connection as real as the one he felt inside him.
Then, when she was exhausted, her mind plunging straight through the Twilight into deep unconsciousness, he would be able to study the Stonehenge clue without distractions.
“No more,” she protested, when the contents were two-thirds gone. “I’m going to burst.”
“Just a little more,” he coaxed, encouraged by the healthy pink flush that had replaced her previous paleness. He winked. “You’ll need your strength later.”
She shivered in that delightful way that made his cock twitch, then opened her mouth, finishing every drop.
When she went back to work, she closed the door, and Aidan returned his attention to the books he’d stolen from the Elders. The jeweled volume read as if it was part of a collection, referencing information he suspected was located elsewhere. The text he’d stolen from the Temple of the Elders was even more difficult, filled with words that no longer existed and were not the roots of the language they used today. But it was all he had, and he would make the best of it.
He pushed back from the desk and stood, rolling his shoulders to alleviate the stiffness brought on by too many hours of unaccustomed inactivity. Then he opened the door and took the hallway to the front desk.
Stacey arched her brows at him, the silent toughness belying the cute image her cartoon tropical fish scrubs portrayed. “What’s up?”