three
Lukyan removed the plates from the table. He whistled as he scraped the excess food into the garbage disposal. If Alek could see him now he would never let him live it down. Lukyan never whistled. Never! He smiled at the thought. If things kept up at this pace, he may never stop whistling.
Dinner had been perfect. Lukyan and Norah had decided to return to her cabin to eat. She set the table and laid out the food options while he lit a fire in the grate. Cate had chosen four different dinner options, and Norah and Lukyan had sampled a bit from each. He loved that she actually ate in front of him. He didn’t take women out for dinner very often, but when he did he usually left the restaurant annoyed. Watching a woman pick at her food was beyond frustrating.
He stacked the plates in the dishwasher and grabbed a bottle of wine from the counter. The bottle opener was cheap and it took him two tries to get it properly screwed into the cork. His wolf growled his impatience. Lukyan shook the beast from his mind. He was determined to do this right, which meant giving his mate at least a few days of courtship.
“I opened another bottle of wine, I hope you don’t mind.” Lukyan walked from the kitchen to the dining area, holding the bottle aloft. “I’m not usually a wine drinker, but it’s all you had.” He handed her a glass before pouring his own.
“What do you prefer to drink?” she asked as she accepted the glass.
“I don’t mind wine with dinner, or an occasional beer, but my preference is vodka. I suppose it’s my roots.”
“Roots?”
“I’m Russian.”
She sipped her wine, and then licked the wetness from her lips. Lukyan’s focus held on her mouth, making her grow warm with desire. It was a struggle, but she found her voice. “I was trying to place your accent. I can hear the Russian now that you mentioned it, but there’s more.”
He pulled her from the table toward the fire. “Let’s sit here, it’s cozier.” He took her glass and helped her settle before sitting down next to her on the floor.
“Tell me about the accent,” she prompted, reminding him of their conversation.
“Oh, yes. I grew up in Russia. Russia is a beautiful place with beautiful people, but for some, like my family, it’s just too difficult a place. We left when I was young.” He didn’t say how young. He didn’t think telling her he was nearly eighty-years-old when he left the old country would sit well with her human brain. Not yet, anyway.
“And then what? Your accent has something besides the Russian.”
“You have good ears.” He smiled and tugged playfully at her earlobe. Yes, Alek would definitely find this Lukyan hard to believe. “Until about fifteen years ago, I lived in Scotland. That’s where I learned to speak English. I suspect that’s what is tainting my Russian-American accent.”
“You lived in Scotland? I’m jealous. I’ve always wanted to go there. Tell me about it.”
Lukyan imagined taking his mate around the world. He had already entertained fantasies of making love to her on the beach. Now he pictured her laid out on the green, green grass of his family’s estate. Her fair skin and hair would look even brighter under the Scottish sun. “Maybe some day I will take you there. How does that sound?”
He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. His wolf howled for more, but Lukyan pulled away. He wanted to romance his mate before seducing her. She deserved all the small pleasures of courtship that he could manage. He did not want to elongate the mating process, he would love nothing more than to mate her right now, but he didn’t want to steal the pleasure of getting to know one another from her either. From what Cate overheard, his mate wanted romance. He would do his best to give it to her.
“Let’s get to know one another,” he suggested. “Tell me about yourself.”
Norah wore a dazed expression. Lukyan’s kiss was simple and sweet, and nowhere nearly enough. She wanted to climb on his lap and sample his mouth more freely. She shook the thought from her head. No matter what she had promised Jessie on the phone, Norah was not one to sleep with a man right after meeting him. She would never be brazen enough to do the things her mind imagined, but for the first time in her life, she really wished she was that girl.
“Tell me about yourself, Norah,” Lukyan caught her attention by lifting her chin with one outstretched finger. She blinked. “I think you were in a world of your own making for a second.” He smiled. Norah’s face heated.
“I— I guess one thing you should know is that I’m a little bit shy around people I don’t know very well. Or perhaps a better word would be reserved. I’m not shy, really. I don’t mind talking to people, and I like getting to know people. But I’m not the life of the party.”
Lukyan laughed. “I think people would say something similar about me. Some might even say I’m awkward.”
Norah rolled her eyes. “I know I’ve only met you, but there is nothing about you that would lead me to believe you are awkward.”
“Well, that’s just with you, sweet Norah. You are different. It’s easier to talk with you. Around others, I am sometimes awkward. I don’t like small talk and I get very uncomfortable when I’m around people that show emotion or are demonstrative in any way.”
Norah laughed. “Then you couldn’t do my job. I’m an admissions facilitator, and people cry all the time when I talk to them.”
Lukyan shuddered. “That would be horrible for me. I prefer numbers and patterns and puzzles. And lists — I almost forgot my love for list making.”
Norah laughed again, and Lukyan joined in. “Is list making a thing?” she teased.
“Oh yes. I love to make lists about everything. There are always list items running through my mind.”
“What lists are you making right now in your head?”
