Still a little buzzed, Jay picked up the remote and tapped a few buttons. The landing page was full of nature shows and she landed on a live-feed of a camera somewhere in the deep ocean, with murky green water the color of a raw aquamarine.
She paused, transfixed by the sight of a shark weaving its way above a coral reef.
“This is all the algorithm shows me now, because of you.” Jay jumped, clutching the remote guiltily as Nicholas pushed off from the wall. His sleeves were rolled up and as he got closer, she saw little marks that must have been from the dog’s scrabbling dirty paws. “What’s this one?”
“It’s one of your ancestors. Cold-blooded, predatory, and always on the hunt.”
His eyes narrowed and then his shoulders twitched. She screeched when he vaulted over the back of the couch, causing the whole thing to shake so alarmingly that she felt a flicker ofreal fear when the springs shrieked beneath them as he tackled her.
“Nooo! Nick!” She half-gasped, half-laughed as she brought her legs to her chest, shoving at him ineffectively with her bare feet. He pinned her wrists down, despite her protests, and started biting at her face and throat. “Stop it! What are you doing?”
“Marking you for later.” A dull ache rocked her to the core as his teeth grazed the skin beneath her ear before he closed his lips over the base of her throat and sucked hard. Gripping him the way she was, she felt the low rumble of his laugh like a caress. “So I remember to eat you.”
Oh my god. Her hips suddenly felt as if they had been filled with hot lead. Giving her a slow, seductive smile, he tugged her sweater off her shoulders and bit her just above her left breast. Jay jerked with a gasp, her eyes swinging instinctively to the low wall over their heads.
“Is there a bird fish?” he whispered hotly.
“There’s a bird wrasse.” She pushed at him nervously and he growled. “Nick, seriously. I can’t go into the office with marks all over my throat.”
He gave a tug at her top. “Who said anything about your throat?”
“Stop it now.” She grabbed his wrist as she sat up, and he allowed her to push him backwards so that he was leaning against one of the arms, sitting sideways. “Where’s the puppy?”
“I put him in the garage.” His eyes kept flicking over her, like he found it impossible to stop. “I’ll take him to the vet tomorrow. They’ll see me without an appointment.”
Jay shook her head at the arrogant tone. His eyes were softer in this low light, though, and framed by those dark sablelashes, that icy gray almost looked warm enough to melt. “Are you sure he’ll be all right in there?” she asked worriedly. “There’s chemicals—and he might get lonely.”
“There’s no chemicals out there. Just a bunch of old Christmas shit. I’ll bring him into the house after he’s chipped—and washed.”
She put her hand on his chest. “Thank you.”
“Saying no to you wasn’t really an option.” His torso rose and fell beneath her palm. When she moved lower, he sucked in. “You have a history of picking up the strays.”
“Does the cold, ruthless millionaire have a heart, after all?”
“You tell me.” His lips parted as he watched her trace over his abdomen. Still stained faintly with wine, they were all the more tempting for their chiseled cruelty. “You’re the one who told me I didn’t have one.”
“I was wrong.” She leaned closer, bracing herself against his arm as she leaned up towards his mouth. “You weren’t what I thought you were.”
Jay felt the flinch of muscle through the thick waffle-knit and then he pulled away, sliding off the couch completely. She stared up at him, with her hands braced between her legs, confused and a little hurt. His face was unreadable.
“I’m going to make some coffee.”
Jay grabbed the throw blanket off the back and wrapped it around her shoulders. “I thought you didn’t know how to use the machine,” she called out, feeling vulnerable and small in the silence of the empty room. Her eyes darted warily to the wall where that spider sculpture had once sat. It was gone now—sold, she imagined. Or destroyed. “Wasn’t that why I had to make it?”
“I printed out the instructions in French.”
He was holding two full mugs when he came back. They smelled like the honey whiskey he had kissed off her body, and that realization nearly made her drop her cup when the scent hit her nose. “I’m not trying to get you drunk,” he said, a little coolly, watching her reaction.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. I know that look.” He leaned back against the arm, stretching out his long legs. “The last time we drank out here, you accused me of trying to drug you.”
Jay took a defiant sip of coffee and the warmth spread down her throat like a hot blush. “The things I say and do don’t just occur in a vacuum, you know.”
“I know.” Nicholas set his cup aside and her stomach flipped when he put his arms around her waist and hauled her up against his chest so she was sitting between his raised knees. Reaching down for his mug again, she heard him take a sip. “But I want you to feel safe with me.”
Jay froze.
