Talon (Uncompromising #1)(18)
The idea of him touching her, bathing her, taking care of her—fuck. I shook away the visual and choked down something that tasted way too much like jealousy. “He also stabbed you.” I wanted to kill the bastard.
Cradling her wrist, she studied the tile floor but she didn’t respond.
“You’re a beautiful girl, Siren.” I wanted to touch her so bad, show her how a man should treat a woman. I wanted to make her believe she deserved more than that piece of shit. “You could have any man you want.”
Her head came up and her eyes met mine. “I can’t have you.”
Every muscle in my body tensed with surprise and for one torturous moment, I let myself have the fantasy. Her smooth skin, her lips on mine, her eyes turning to liquid when she came… I shook my head. “I don’t do commitment.”
She drew in a deep breath and the swell of her breasts rose. “Yet you gave me a week.”
My heart rate kicked up tenfold. “Just what exactly do you think I was offerin’?”
Her hair drying in soft waves around her face, her bandaged leg showing under my T-shirt, she sucked her bottom lip into her mouth then released it. “Shelter, safety, a bed.”
I watched the last word breathe past her lips and swore it sounded like an invitation. Yanking my mind back to reality, I used every ounce of training I’d received to carve my expression to stone. Something was off, seriously off, because Siren didn’t flirt.
“I work hard and I fuck harder.” I didn’t know which one of us I was warning. “I don’t hold on to a woman for more’n a night or two. Women who want in on the rotation know there’s no exclusivity.”
“I don’t want to sleep with you, Talon.”
Barely inclining my head, it felt like my neck snapped from whiplash. “That’s what they all say.” I winked, feigning indifference.
She didn’t smile. “I’m not playing a game.”
No fucking shit. She was honest to a fault, except for every word she said, she held back five. It was emotional Russian roulette and neither of us were gonna come out winners. “I wouldn’t let you if you tried.”
“I get that,” she said with zero intonation.
“Good.” Jesus fuck, she was running me. I didn’t know if I was outplayed or outsmarted or if she was the least baitable woman I’d ever met. “What do you want for dinner?”
“Steak.”
“I have chicken.” I turned my back to her and started pulling shit out of the fridge. Knowing I was going to cook her a steak tomorrow night pissed me off.
SHE’D INHALED THE FOOD I’D set in front of her like she hadn’t eaten in a week. I put seconds on her plate and when she ate it almost as quickly as the first helping, I felt like shit for not feeding her all day.
“Dessert?” I asked.
She shrugged.
I cleared the dishes and grabbed some ice cream and two spoons. Sitting back down on the stool next to hers, I handed her a spoon and held out the pint.
Placing her hand over mine, she leaned in close and dug her spoon in. “First bite is always the best.”
The innocent gesture of her hand on mine, hearing her say bite, my dick stirred. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
“The split second before it touches your tongue, there’s anticipation. The second it hits your taste buds, there’s promise. When you swallow, it’s satisfaction. Anticipation, promise, satisfaction—it’s the perfect trifecta. But it only lasts for the first bite.” She popped the bite in her mouth.
Sweet fucking hell. Did she seriously just say swallow? “Did we just have ice-cream sex?”
She went for a second bite and her hair brushed across my arm. “How do you know Randy?”
She smelled like vanilla and jasmine and my T-shirt and I wanted to sink inside her. “Through Candle’s shop. When he found out we were both veterans, he decided we were best friends.”
She struggled getting her spoon in for another bite. “Sounds like Randy.”
I didn’t want to talk about him. I pushed her hand away and scooped out a bite for her. When I held it up, she hesitated. “How ’bout we make a deal?” Jesus, she was so pretty, every time I looked at her it was like I was seeing her for the first time. I just wanted to stare.
Her eyes on mine, she leaned forward and opened her mouth.
Christ. I slid the spoon between her perfect lips and my dick wanted in on the action. When her mouth closed, I forced myself to look away and remember what the hell we were talking about. “Don’t mention his fuckin’ name in my house.”
“And?”
“And nothin’.” I jabbed the spoon in and took a huge bite. Shit. She was right.