Lord, he loved her prickly temper. Her hair was practically crackling around her head, and all he could think was that he wanted nothing more than to see it spread out across her pillow and his hands tangled in it.
She was an array of walking contradictions. Sweet and surly. Innocent and experienced. And every facet of her intrigued him.
"I figure I did," he said. "But I thought I might've had a stroke just now, so I wanted to make sure."
"Where are you from? Originally," she added.
He hadn't been expecting that, and he was caught off guard. It had been a long time since he'd thought of home. He hadn't been there since he'd gone back for his father's funeral his last year of college.
"Baton Rouge," he told her. "Why?"
She nodded sagely. "You're too adept at talking like a Southerner. That's something that's inbred. Can't be learned."
He laughed and rubbed his hand over the scruff of his beard. "And here I thought I'd learned to cover it up so well after all these years." He shifted, anxious to get her back on track. "So, how are you going to seduce me?"
"I'm not sure, but it probably won't work if you keep sitting there asking me questions. I guess the first question should be whether or not you want to be seduced."
He arched a brow at her and then stood to his feet, so she could see the erection straining behind the zipper of his jeans.
Her eyes widened and she licked her lips. "I guess you do."
"Oh, yes. I do."
"I babble when I get nervous," she said. "I just thought I should tell you that up front."
"I've known you two years. I'm well aware."
"Oh. Good. I read a lot, so I've got this pretty well planned out in my mind. Knowledge is power."
"Fuckin' A," he said. "Tess, you could stand there in a paper bag and I'd be seduced. I'm so freaking seduced right now this is probably not going to last very long. You don't have to worry about me. I'm one hundred percent on board."
She smiled and her dimple fluttered at the corner of her mouth. And then her fingers went to the buttons of her shirt and all the spit dried up in his mouth.
"Wait a second," she said, and he bit back a groan. "How does this work between us and . . . everything else?" She waved her hands around as if he was supposed to know what the heck she was talking about.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"With Eve and The Gravediggers and all this secretive stuff. You said there were consequences. How much trouble are you going to get in if we go through with this? What will she do to you? Will she let me help you with the translations if she thinks we're . . . you know . . ." She waved her arms around again and he couldn't help but grin.
In Eve's eyes, he was following orders. But he knew it was much more than that. His plan had been formulating long before Eve issued the words to him, and he knew exactly what he wanted from Tess. He wanted all of her. The consequences didn't seem to matter so much as long as they were together. But there was always a chance she might not feel the same way.
"Our relationship is ours alone, no matter what she might tell you. We're not breaking the rules, and she'll hate that you're a distraction for me. But there's nothing she can do about it as long as we stick together. With that said, if I'm compromised, both of us will be marked for the kill. You have to understand that going in. It's a lot to ask a person to risk."
"My new middle name is risk," she said softly.
"I thought it was fun," he said, remembering she'd said something similar before the motorcycle ride.
"I changed my mind." She undid the buttons slowly, one by one, and the shirt parted inch by inch, teasing him with glimpses of pale flesh.
"How hell-bent are you on seducing me to completion?" he asked, eyeing the lacy camisole beneath her top. Her nipples were rigid peaks, and he realized the camisole was all she was wearing underneath. For some reason that drove him wild.
"I'm flexible at this stage of the game," she said. "Why? What do you have in mind?"
The way she asked him the question-a little bit taunting, a little bit sassy-had him moving closer. He pulled her into his arms and took her mouth-hard. But she was ready and eager for him. There was no slowing down or pulling back. All she'd had to do was tell him she wanted to seduce him, and it had worked like a charm. He was putty in her hands.
Her hands slid up his shoulders and behind his neck, tugging his hair loose from the leather tie he'd wrapped around it. He tightened his hold on her, his hands molding her, until he gripped her ass and lifted her up against him.
He pinned her against the half wall and her legs twined around him. Her shirt had fallen off of one shoulder, and his hand closed over her breast. He felt her nipple hard against the palm of his hand, and he rubbed it beneath the cotton of the camisole. Every stroke of his hand had her jerking against him, as if he were rubbing her clit instead of her nipple.