He stood behind her, bracing her against him, and gently cleaned the blood, sweat, and dirt off her. Every once in a while she’d shift against him, her soft buttocks rubbing against his cock. He couldn’t stop his natural reaction any more than he could make his heart start beating again.
She turned and looped her arms around his neck. Her eyes were still sleepy but more alert than before, and there was a spark of sensual awareness that hadn’t been there. “This is amazing. My senses are so much more alert. It’s like I can feel every drop of water as it hits my skin.” Her gaze fell to his chest. “I can see every drop of water on your skin.” She bent her head.
Tobias jerked at the feel of her tongue swiping across his nipple. His cock twitched, too, ready for more. He put his hands on her shoulders and moved her away from him. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Nix.”
Her brows lifted. “Don’t you?” She glanced down. “Mr. Happy there seems to think it’s a very good idea.”
When she tried to get close again he straightened his arms, keeping her at bay. Even while he knew he was doing the right thing, part of him was yelling at him to cut it out. He wanted to be inside her, now. But his Southern gentleman half won out. “My cock doesn’t do my thinking for me.”
“Since when?” She blinked like a sleepy, sultry kitten. “You’re a guy. I thought guys always led with their cocks.”
She might be right, but… “Not this time,” he muttered. He leaned forward to shut off the water. Nix took advantage and put her mouth on his shoulder, licking a trail across the sharp ridge of his collarbone before she bit down on his shoulder. Hard enough to draw blood, which she drew on with a hungry, sexy little moan.
God, she never made things easy for him, did she? “Knock it off.” He sounded a bit angry, and he was. Here he was trying to be a gentleman, trying not to take advantage of her vulnerability, and she kept teasing him.
She pulled away with an aggrieved sigh and opened the door of the stall. Stepping out onto the mat, she grabbed a towel and began drying herself. As soon as she moved off the mat, Tobias came out of the shower and dried off as well. He wrapped the towel around his hips as he walked into the master bedroom. He grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of shorts off the end of her bed. Turning, he saw Nix standing in the doorway, still completely nude and seemingly oblivious to it. He walked over to her, holding out her clothes. “Here,” he said, his voice gruff.
She slipped her arms into the sleeves of the shirt and dropped it over her head. The soft cotton draped her to midthigh, covering her curves yet somehow enhancing her femaleness. He stooped and held the shorts out for her, appreciating the dainty femininity of the act of her putting first one foot and then the other through the legs. He pulled them up as he stood.
She looked like a forlorn waif, and it brought out every protective instinct he had even though now, as a vampire-demon hybrid, she really didn’t need his protection in the least. He moved away from her, going to the bed to turn down the covers. “In you get.” He motioned to the crimson-sheeted mattress.
She held up one finger and padded back into the bathroom. When she came back out, she held the rift device in her hand. In his rush to get her home, he’d forgotten the thing was tucked in the pocket of her jeans.
Just as she reached the bed, she exclaimed, “Rufus!”
Tobias turned to see the dog standing at the open doorway. “Guess I can close the front door now,” Tobias stated, and left the room. He closed and locked the front door of the apartment and then went back toward the bedroom. He paused in the doorway and watched Nix with her dog.
Rufus had gotten closer to her, but backed away from every overture she made. His tail tucked between his legs, he whined and whimpered, confusion evident in the way his ears twitched and his head tilted from one side to the other.
She looked at Tobias. Tears made her eyes shine. “He…he’s afraid of me.”
Tobias shook his head. “No, sweetheart. He’s uncertain of you, that’s all. You’re different and he hasn’t figured it out yet.” Tobias walked into the room and stooped down beside the dog, who whined again and leaned against Tobias’s hip. “Give him time. See? He likes me, remember? And you’re part of me now.”
Pleasure ripped through him at that thought. No matter what their future held—whether they faced it together or apart—Nix was now and always would have part of him inside her.
She pressed her lips together and gave a small nod. With a slight sniff she climbed up onto the bed and sat cross-legged, her back resting on the pillows leaning against the headboard. She glanced at Rufus, who went closer to the bed and lay down, his gaze steady on her. “That’s right, baby,” she murmured. “I’m still me.”