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

Liv?”
    For some reason, Olivia felt as if he was testing her,
but she didn’t understand what he was after. And she definitely didn’t
understand the man. “I’m n-not afraid of you, Aiden.”
    He lowered his hand, pressing his large palm against
the center of her chest, his skin fever-warm through the thin cotton of her
tank top. “Your heart’s beating a mile a minute.”
    She licked her lower lip, acutely aware of her body
thrumming with need, her nipples gathering into hard, tight knots that pressed
thickly against her shirt. “You’re playing with me. I get that. I just don’t
know what you expect to get out of it.”
    Aiden leaned close, enjoying the way her pulse leaped
and her eyes went dark. So dark he could see his own intense expression staring
back at him in the luminous pools of violet. “Maybe I just want another taste
of you,” he told her, lowering his head until he could press his mouth against
the side of her throat. Her skin was warm and soft, a fragile barrier to the
succulent heat that flowed beneath the surface. He pressed his tongue to the
seductive rush of her pulse, his body burning at the sexy little catch in her
breath. “Ever think of that?” he asked, pulling back just enough that he could
gauge her expression.
    A small V settled between her brows. “But you don’t
even like humans.”
    “True,” he admitted with a rough laugh. “But I seem to
be liking you just fine. And if you don’t believe me, then take a look for
yourself.” He gestured toward his lower body with a jerk of his chin.
    Instead of doing as he said, she squeezed her eyes
shut.
    He whispered, “Go on, Liv. Look. I dare ya.”
    Trembling, she opened her eyes, glanced down and gave
a hoarse, quiet cry of hunger that just made his dick even harder, the brutal
ache pounding through all six and a half feet of him. “Jamie’s asleep.” He
ground the words out past his tight jaw. “We could shut the bathroom door.”
    She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, a soft tremor
shivering through her limbs, the scent of her need so thick in the air he had
to mentally claw onto his beast, holding it back from her. “As tempting as that
sounds, I’m afraid I’ll have to p-pass.”
    Aiden didn’t say anything. He just fought for control
as he put his face close to hers and stared, waiting for her to look at him
again.
    It took awhile, but she finally tore her gaze away
from his crotch and lifted it back to his face. “You seem…surprised,” she said
with a shaky, nervous kind of laugh.
    His chest rose with each hard, slow breath as he
studied her from beneath his lashes. “To be honest—” his mouth tilted in
another crooked grin “—I’m not used to being turned down.”
    “Especially by women who look like me, huh?”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” he grunted, not liking
the insinuation in her tone.
    “Come on,” she said dryly, rolling her eyes. “I’m a
plateful of leftovers compared to what must be the ‘usual’ for a guy like you.”
    Aiden stared, not knowing what to make of her. He’d
never heard a woman speak of herself in such a way. The ones he’d known, for
the most part, had been vain creatures, obsessed with their looks and their
ability to seduce. But here was this one, trying to tell him that she was…What?
Plain? Something to be passed over? When he knew damn well that she was
beautiful—sexy and lush and soft in all the right places, and that was just on
the outside. Inside, well, she might have been a relative stranger to him, but
he’d already learned so many things about her character. She was obviously
brave, as well as compassionate and caring. Not to mention fiercely loyal to
those she loved.
    She was, in short, completely fascinating.
    It didn’t matter that she was human. That she was
under his protection. Aiden still wanted to lay her down for hours…days, and
show her in explicit, intimate detail all the things that he liked about her.
He liked her blushes.