The words barely penetrated my brain before a very warm body pressed against me. I shivered at the contact. How had I gotten so cold? And how was he so warm? I turned my head toward him. Why did he smell so good?
My eyes popped open at the wrongness of what I was doing, and I tried to scramble away from the wall of Fenris’s chest. He was too fast and wrapped his arms around me before I could flee. Defeated, I closed my eyes against the mouthwatering view.
“You better have clothes on,” I rasped, irritably.
“Nope. Naked as the day I was born.”
“Fenris, don’t. I’m too hungry for teasing.”
His hand rubbed over my arm.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I should have fed more at dinner.”
The movement on my arm faltered for a second.
“You fed? Is that why you were crying last night?”
I sighed and tilted my head back to look at him.
“Yes and no.”
“I’m listening.”
“Could we talk about this in front of a nice roaring fire?”
“Fine, but I’m claiming my first hug of the day right here and right now. I just spent the whole night hiding my tail from a bunch of sex-crazed females, and I need comfort.”
I snorted as I wrapped my arms around him in return, careful to keep my hands high enough so I could pretend that he was wearing shorts.
“It doesn’t smell like you minded it. The lust coming off of you is enough to feed a family of succubi for a week.”
“Or maybe one really hungry one for a day?”
My hunger reared its ugly head, and I shook with my effort to control it.
“Fenris, go light the fire.”
He sighed and reached around to pry my hands from his back.
“Close your eyes,” he said just before slipping from the bed.
I wasn’t fast enough and caught a glimpse of his backside. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and I stayed very, very still as I struggled to recall the last horror movie I’d watched. It’d been exceptionally violent. Lots and lots of gore and strewn intestines.
One cleansing breath expanded my lungs, then another. Some of the hunger eased. I continued thinking of the movie and my deep breathing until the crackle of flames grew louder.
“Are you dressed?” I asked when I could manage to speak again.
“I put on a pair of shorts. I like how you decorated, by the way.”
Giving in, I opened my eyes and sat up. Fenris was in the process of plucking a pair of my underwear from the bench beside the door. He already had every undergarment I’d packed in his other hand.
A scarlet flush painted my cheeks at the sight of the ball of lace he gripped.
“Something followed me again last night. I thought spreading my things around would hide your scent so whoever it was wouldn’t know this was your place.”
He continued to stare at the scrap of underwear he held.
