Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 04 by Touch of Seduction Page A

wasn’t going to just
stand there and let a man like Aiden poke fun at her, pretending he was
actually interested in what got her off. Tears pricked her eyes, her throat
burning with a sudden rush of anger. “I get that you don’t care for humans,
Aiden, but that’s no reason to be mean.”
    When he slid his gaze up from the pages of the book,
the smoldering look in his glowing amber eyes made her shiver. “Mean?”
    “You’re making fun of me,” she accused, fisting her
hands at her sides.
    “And you’re making assumptions, Liv. I was serious
about what I said.” He shrugged one shoulder, looking almost embarrassed. “I
just want to understand you better.”
    Olivia blinked, feeling as if he was suddenly speaking
a language she didn’t understand. “Is this…some kind of j-joke?”
    Setting the book aside, he rolled up off the sofa with
an animalistic power and grace that made her heart race…her chest burn. Muscles
coiled and flexed as he stalked toward her, bunching and stretching beneath all
that tight golden skin. “You really think I’m making fun of you?”
    She nodded, her mouth watering as she watched him
move. Feeling the need for retreat, she took a step back, and then another,
until she had walked herself right back into the bathroom.
    And Aiden just kept coming closer.
    “Why do you think I kissed you tonight?” he asked in a
husky rasp.
    Shaking her head a little, Olivia struggled to
concentrate past the deep, rhythmic pulse of desire that was arcing through her
body, prickling beneath her skin. “I…I don’t know. But it wasn’t because you
wanted to have s-sex with me.”
    “’S that right?” He snorted, then muttered, “You know,
in some twisted way, this is pretty funny.”
    “What’s so funny about it?”
    “It’s funny,” he said in another low, delicious
rumble, “because I’ve wanted to fuck you since the second I set eyes on you.”
    Her heart tried to lodge its way into her throat, not
only from the shocking claim he’d just made, but from the way he suddenly moved
farther into her space, closing in on her with his heat and the tantalizing
scent of his body. And God, did it smell good. Warm and musky and male, like
something wild and earthy that could be found only in the hidden depths of a
dense, dark jungle. Something primal and raw and a little terrifying, it was so
damn delicious. “Wh-what are you doing?” she gasped, flattening herself against
the wall.
    “Making the first of what is no doubt going to be a
long list of mistakes where you’re concerned.” The hard, sensual look on his
face was the most erotic thing Olivia had ever seen.
    She wished she had the nerve to follow through on the
1,001 fantasies burning through her brain, but all she could manage to choke
out was a soft, trembling “Then be smart and d-don’t do it.”
    Bracing his hands against the wall, the Watchman caged
her in, his rich, provocative scent hitting her full force now. It filled her
head. Covered her body like a second skin, enveloping her in a sensual cloud as
it mixed with the warm steam that still lingered from her shower. “Trust me,”
he rasped. “I would if I could, Liv. But I can’t.”
    She had the strangest urge to laugh and cry at the
same time as she stared up into his hypnotic eyes, mesmerized by the swirling,
discordant streams of emotion burning inside him. Anger. Hunger. Arrogance. And
what she could have sworn was fear. “You really are such a strange man,” she
whispered, wondering how he could affect her so strongly when she’d known him
for nothing more than a handful of hours.
    His beautiful mouth twisted into a lopsided smile as
he tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear. “Believe it or not, I get that
a lot.”
    “I b-believe it.”
    “You’re stuttering again.” His voice was soft,
seductive, his touch dangerously tender as he trailed one fingertip along the
side of her face, painting her skin with his heat. “You scared now,