I narrowed my eyes at him. “Okay, bodily harm then?”
Before I could evade him, he grabbed me and tugged me closer, dropping his head so that his mouth was next to my ear. “Does spanking your ass until you beg me to stop count?”
My mouth went dry because his tone evoked something other than corporal punishment. Something a lot sexier. Once again, my hormones tried to take charge, all but shrieking for me to assume the position. I ruthlessly quashed the urge. After so many years of having zero sex drive, the sudden onslaught of horniness was difficult to handle, but I managed.
“Yes, spanking my ass would be considered bodily harm,” I answered primly. Then one of those sneaky hormone bitches snuck through my brain-to-mouth filter and forced me to say, “At least today.”
Immediately, the anger drained out of Macgrath’s face and the corner of his mouth turned up. He held my shoulders in both hands now, but his thumbs were caressing the lines of my collarbones in a hypnotic motion.
“What about tomorrow?” he queried, his voice quiet and hot.
I shook myself. “Tomorrow too.”
His smile widened and it was dazzling, even with the upper half of his face covered by the blindfold. “Well, I suppose there’s always next week.”
“Hell yeah!”my hormones cried.
“Okay, since you no longer seem homicidal, I’m going to remove the blindfold.” I paused. “But I don’t ever want you to sneak into the bathroom while I’m showering again. Understood?”
“I’ll make sure you invite me first next time.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that would never happen, but I didn’t think I was physically capable of uttering the words. While my brain wasn’t sure that I wanted to have sex with Macgrath, my body, and hormones, were already making a to-do list of all the ways that I would ravish him. The conflict was too strong for me to reconcile.
With a sigh, I released the spell that held the material over his face. As it fell away, he looked down at me, his green and gold eyes blazing. But the heat in them wasn’t due to anger. It was a fire of a different sort, the kind that led to those brain-numbing kisses he’d given me at the coffee shop.
It hurt to do it, but I stepped back, out of his grip. He let me, his fingertips sliding over my shoulders and down my arms as I moved away. When his hands reached mine, he clasped them gently.
I looked down at our twined fingers. “Thank you for taking care of me earlier and staying with me while I slept.” I lifted my gaze back to his and saw that he was no longer giving me that hot stare, but a warm look. One that affected me more deeply than I wanted to admit.
“Whatever you need from me, you’ll have it.”
When he said things like that, my mind wanted to throw caution to the wind and let my hormones have their way.
Instead, I said, “What I need right now is food. I haven’t eaten all day and I’m starving.”
He tugged me forward until our bodies met then simply wrapped his arms around me. I turned my head so that my cheek rested against his chest. Usually, I never noticed how tall he was. We were constantly arguing, challenging each other. Always standing toe to toe. In those moments, I was too caught up in the thrill of the battle and walking the razor’s edge between the desire to kill him and the urge to kiss him. I never noticed that he dwarfed me.
As Macgrath held me in his arms, I felt surrounded, but in a way that was comforting. His chest was warm and firm beneath my cheek and I could hear the slow, steady thump of his heart against my ear. I slid my hands around his waist and pressed my palms to his spine. His arms tightened slightly when I returned his embrace and he rested his chin on the top of my head.
It was strange and a little crazy that his hug, this vampire’s embrace, would feel like a safe place. Maybe the only safe place in the entire world.
After a few more seconds, he released me. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
Once we were downstairs, I noticed the house was empty.
“Where is everyone?” I asked as I followed him into the kitchen.
He gestured to one of the bar stools next to the island before he answered me. “I sent them all home a few hours ago. They were exhausted and needed to rest.”
“How long was I out?” I cleared my throat, my mouth still dry.
“About five hours,” he answered, pulling a bottle of water from the fridge and setting it in front of me.
“Thanks,” I murmured. Twisting the cap off, I lifted the bottle to my lips and let the chilled liquid fill my mouth. I swallowed nearly half the bottle before I placed it on the counter.
I watched as Macgrath moved around my kitchen, spooning rice and stir-fried chicken and vegetables into a bowl. He looked at home there, like he belonged.
Once the food was in the microwave, he faced me, resting his backside against the counter and propping his hands up on top of it.
