Cassie stirred. One moment she was relaxed and fragrant and perfect in his arms. The next, every muscle grew rigid.
“Cassie?” His dick throbbed. Just the slightest touch…
“Hone!”
He growled at her shocked tone. “Who’d you expect?”
She jerked away, putting space between them. Her naked eyes, different without her glasses, blinked at him. “Did you have to make a move on me while I was sleeping?”
His laugh scratched his throat as it emerged. “I was lying here wondering how to get out of bed without waking you. You were on top of me.”
Delicate pink flushed her cheeks. “I’ve always been a bed hog.”
A picture popped into his mind—one of Cassie with a faceless man.
Hell to the no.
His taniwha swelled with fury, push, push, pushing against his skin-and-bone cage. A growl escaped, rippling in the air between them.
Her swift inhalation caught. She stared, wide-eyed. Easy to read her thoughts. Fight or flight. Damn his impertinent animal side.
“W-what was that?”
Hone refused to lie. Nah, avoidance to survive. Deny. Deny. Deny. He reached for her, dragged her close in one efficient move. Her curves fit him like perfect puzzle pieces. Soft to hard. She opened her mouth.
Hell, women liked to talk. No talking. Talking was bad.
He kissed her.
A mistake.
He acknowledged it the instant her lips softened against his.
His taniwha purred, glorying in his human half following his program.
Warning. Warning.Warning. Pull back. Pull back.Pull back now.
Instead, Hone deepened the contact, diving into the kiss. He inhaled, dragging in her floral scent. His tongue dragged across her lower lip, and he nipped her, her sharp gasp indicating surprise. The second she opened to him, he went all-out, tasting and learning her as he’d craved since the first time he’d spotted her with Emma.
She gripped his shoulders and pushed to separate their bodies.
Hone froze. Did she not want this?Hellfire.
He pulled back a fraction. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to force myself on you.”
“You didn’t. I can hear a phone.”
Cassie’s red, swollen lips drew his gaze.So pretty.
“The phone?”
Finally, her words pierced his fog-brain, and he, too, heard the summons.
“Stay there. I’ll get it.” He threw back the covers and stalked from the bedroom, mentally cursing himself for not placing his cell phone by his bed. He normally did. Cassie’s fault.
He licked his lips, located the offending phone and barked into it, “This had better be good.”
“It’s Jack. Emma says Cassie isn’t answering her call.”
