The Vampire's Fake Fiancée (Nocturne Falls Book 5) by Kristen Painter Page B

visited him even in his dreams.
    “I slept like a baby.” She drank some more of her coffee.
    “Good. Today will be arduous. That rest will serve you well.”
    Her stomach rumbled and she put a hand to it, looking dismayed. “Sorry about that.”
    He laughed. “Not to worry. Breakfast is just around the corner. How about a tour of the house while we wait? Get you started on where everything is? The guest house we’ll do after breakfast.”
    “Sounds good.”
    “Excellent. Bring your coffee, if you like.”
    She set her cup back on the tray and smiled up at him. “Already gone. I can wait for breakfast to have the second cup. Lead the way. This place is really something from the outside. I can’t wait to see the rest.”
    He hesitated, captivated for a moment by the glow of pure interest in her eyes. He realized she wasn’t going to judge him based on his house. She wasn’t that kind of person. But then, why would she be when her valkyrie senses could tell her exactly what his motives were? Could she sense he wanted to impress her? Did she know that she’d made him nervous? And that those nerves were now gone?
    Could she sense that his desire to show her his home had suddenly been replaced by a very different need? One that had nothing to do with his house and everything to do with kissing her again. And again.
    She frowned a little. “Is everything okay?”
    “Everything is fine.” He put his cup on the tray beside hers. “I was just thinking we should test something first.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Your reaction.”
    Her frown returned. “To what?”
    “To this.” He pulled her into his arms.

    Tessa gasped as Sebastian’s mouth closed over hers. Her first thought was that she had no idea what the test was.
    Her second thought was that she didn’t care.
    She leaned into him, letting him kiss her and reveling in the fact that he’d wanted to do it again. And that she hadn’t been the only one to take pleasure in the moment they’d shared last night.
    Her hand settled on his chest. His very hard chest. She hadn’t touched a man this intimately in many years. The thrill of it zipped through her, hot and wicked.
    She shuddered with overwhelming pleasure just as he released her. She breathed open-mouthed, trying to catch her breath. “Th-that was a test?”
    He nodded, eyes gleaming silver-bright for a moment. Then he quickly looked away, suddenly concerned with the position of one of his gold cuff links. “Yes. I’m sorry to say you failed.”
    She got a hold of herself, straightening and shunting the pleasurable feelings he’d filled her with to some safe part of her brain where she could dissect them later. “I failed? What was the test?”
    He tugged at the cuff of his shirt. “To see how you’d react to a spontaneous show of affection.”
    Was that what that was supposed to be? Because it had felt like a blatant display of lust. But then, what did she know? He was the first man she’d kissed in ages so her ability to compare was pretty low. “I see. And I reacted with too much surprise?”
    “Precisely. If we’re a couple, those sorts of things should be more commonplace. More expected. Don’t you agree?”
    He had yet to make eye contact with her since the kiss. She decide to try a test of her own. “So that was just an assessment of my reaction?”
    He finally looked at her. “Yes. That’s what I said. Merely a test.”
    She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling and giving herself away. He was lying. She didn’t need her valkyrie senses to figure that out. He’d wanted to kiss her. The test excuse had been just that. An excuse. “Just checking.”
    He made a small noise of agreement.
    She crossed her arms, feeling a jolt of power at her new knowledge. “I’ll try to do better the next time.”
    He started, then quickly covered with a fake cough. “Very good. Well, we should get on with the tour or our breakfast will be cold by the time we return.”
    “Let’s