Be strong. Just ask. Her lips parted.
“Good night.” He gave her a sharp nod before turning around and walking to his door. “Sleep well, Beauty.” He disappeared inside.
“Damn,” she whispered, facing her open doorway.
Shadow had not only gone into his room but he was now in the bathroom. She stared at the closed door that connected their rooms and wished he’d open it into her room. The light flicked off and she heard him return to his room. The door closing on his side was depressing.
She used the bathroom, brushed her teeth and listened for any sound from Shadow’s room. The darkness under the bottom of the door implied he’d immediately gone to bed.
Back inside her room, she shed her clothes and pulled on a nightgown. The sheets were cold when she lay down on the bed after turning off the light. She turned on her side and sighed. She wanted Shadow. Not just to curl up with in sleep—she wanted to touch him. Have him touch her back. The memories of her neighbors and their men kept flashing through her mind.
It was frustrating wanting something when she couldn’t have it. Breeze’s advice also came to mind but she discarded it. She didn’t want Shadow to ever feel as though she’d pressured him into having sex and he might if she stripped naked and just entered his room. Would he even agree to it if she demanded sex?
She shook her head. That definitely wasn’t how she wanted him. There was an awareness of her body that seemed unending. It was his fault. All those muscles and sexy sounds he made just made her think of sex with him. She wasn’t about to ever forget waking in that shed with his rigid cock nestled between her thighs.
Something tickled her ankle and she shifted her leg. It stopped, probably the sheet lying on her wrong. Her mind wandered back to thoughts of Shadow and how to get him into her bed. The days were ticking down until they’d return to Homeland. Her idea that frolicking with him in the water wearing the tiny bathing suit Breeze had packed might tempt him into sex hadn’t been an option yet. He wasn’t about to let her near the river again until one of them could swim.
Her eyes flew open as something tickled her foot again. Her heart jumped and her breath froze. Whatever it was moved again. She bolted upright and blindly reached for the light as she jerked her legs up to her chest. The lamp clicked on and she gripped the sheet, throwing it back.
A black spider was all she saw before she reacted. The shriek tore from her before she could stop it and she rolled right off the bed. The spider seemed to follow as her horrified gaze tracked it on the edge of the mattress. A loud thump sounded somewhere in the cabin and a door slammed into a wall. Heavy footfalls fell as she scrambled to put distance between her and the bed.
Her bedroom door flew open and Shadow stormed in. She turned her head, looking up at him. He wore nothing but a pair of boxers and a fierce look. “What is it?” His fingers were flexed into claws, his attention immediately fixing on the window. “Is someone outside?”
“Um, it’s a spider.” Her hand shook when she lifted it to point.
Shadow’s mouth fell open as he gawked at her.
“Look at it. It’s big. It was on my foot.”
“That tiny thing?” He crouched, staring at her instead of the intruder in her bed. “Did you fall out of bed?”
“It’s a spider.” Why can’t he understand how scary they are? It touched me.
He glanced at it, then her. “Hell.”
He straightened, walked to the bed and picked up the spider. She cringed. The thing could bite. It might be small but anything with eight legs had to have sharp little fangs. It made sense to her. Maybe its little legs had clawed tips. Eight of them. I hate spiders. The creepy, ugly things.
Shadow disappeared into the bathroom. She heard the water turn on. He returned and bent, his hands still damp as he lifted her from the floor. He tried to put her back on her bed but she clutched at his hot skin, shaking her head.
“It could have family. Maybe a nest in my bed.”
His eyebrows arched as he paused then turned and carried her into the hallway. He used his elbow to turn on the light before gently settling her on her feet. “Are you okay?”“It was in my bed. On my foot.”
“Now it’s outside. I opened the window and put it out there. It won’t get back inside.”
“Why were your hands wet?”
“I washed them.” He gave her a concerned look. “I take it you’re terrified of spiders?”
“Yes.”
His lips twitched. “It was tiny, Beauty. Not even poisonous. I’m pretty sure about that. Hold on. I’ll go check your bed and your room.”
She followed him just inside the room and watched as he shook out her sheets, bedspread, and even lifted the bed to peer under it. He swept the room, even opening drawers and pushing furniture around until he finally looked at her.
“No nest and no family.” Amusement glinted in his eyes. “It was a hermit spider.”
“That’s not funny.” She calmed though. “I’m sorry. I screamed, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
“I really hate them.”
“I realize that.”
She backed out into the hallway and he followed.
“Are you afraid to return to your room? Do you want me to check it again? We could change rooms. There’re no spiders in my bed.”
Here was her chance. She could use fear again to talk him into allowing her to sleep with him but she still felt guilty about doing that in the shed. Honesty was best. It was the Species trait she admired most and Shadow deserved that from a woman.
“I’m okay. I know you were thorough in your search and no more critters will bother me.”
“Good.”
It was impossible not to notice his chest. So broad, so bare and so close. The flat disks of his nipples were mesmerizing but not any more so than the way his stomach muscles tempted her to touch them, trace each one and keep going lower.
“Beauty?”
She realized she was staring at his boxers. Warmth heated her cheeks as she lifted her chin. “Sleep with me. Not because of the spider or because I just had a scare. I want you to hold me because I like it when you do.”
He said nothing but he swallowed hard enough for her to see his Adam’s apple bob.
She took a step closer, until they nearly touched. “Isn’t it time we got beyond our pasts? We’re two adults. I’m attracted to you. I think you’re attracted to me.” She glanced down and saw the way his boxers had filled out. The outline of his cock couldn’t be missed. “I know you’re attracted to me. Wasn’t holding me nice? I liked sleeping on you.”
“We should talk,” he finally rasped.
“About what?”
“This.”
Chapter Ten
Shadow trembled, wanting Beauty so bad he froze up to prevent himself from following through on lifting her into his arms and carrying her to his bed. He wanted nothing more than to strip her out of that nightgown and explore every inch of her with his hands and mouth.
“Slow,” he demanded.
“I’m not doing anything.”
He was without humor. “I’m talking to myself, aloud.”
“You’re not doing anything. Why tell yourself that?”
“It’s what I want to do.” He peered into her eyes, searching for fear, but found none. She was entirely too trusting. It made him feel guilty, as though he were the animal Mercile used to accuse him of being. “You should go to bed alone, Beauty.”
“You slept with me before. I want you to hold me and we’ll keep talking.”
He clenched his teeth to avoid snarling. She was either attempting to provoke him or was just too naïve to identify a male on the edge of losing control. He was aroused and she’d stated she was curious about sex. No way could he just lie next to her and sleep.
“Come into my room.”
Her voice was so soft, whispered, as if she were afraid. He didn’t see that emotion as he studied her. Her cheeks were a little pink though, hinting that she was embarrassed by her request. She was shy—had admitted to that already—a unique trait amongst Species.
“I won’t just sleep with you.” He wanted to warn her. “I can’t. We should wait until tomorrow night if you just want to be held.”
“What does that mean?”
“Tonight I’ll touch you and do more.”
Her pretty eyes widened slightly and more pinkness bloomed in her cheeks. “Come into my room.”
It was an invitation and an acceptance of them sharing sex. He couldn’t deny the amount of pressure he suddenly found himself under. It would rest on his shoulders to teach her that males touching her could be a good experience. Male, he amended. One. Me. The concept of someone else putting their hands on her made him furious.
“I trust you, Shadow.”
The sincerity in her tone humbled him. He didn’t deserve it. She had no idea of the demons he battled. He would do anything for her, including taking things slowly to make sure he didn’t hurt her. She wasn’t human although she appeared more so than other Species females. Never had he imagined taking a Gift to bed before meeting Beauty.
He took a deep breath and slowly rose to his feet. It just made him feel big and amplified their differences. She peered up at him nervously. He didn’t blame her, feeling the same. It had been a long time since he’d had a female. He’d avoided them because he’d been worried he’d fail to please them or his body would react negatively to the sight of them bare. Losing his erection during the sharing of sex would be humiliating but it happened sometimes when he remembered what had been done to him.