Page 21 of Tamed By Her Touch

“Oh…all right.” Clair felt somewhat better. He was just being cautious then. And was his sense of smell really better than a bloodhound’s? That was fascinating. It made her wonder how else his Kindred anatomy differed from a human’s. Were there any other physical differences?

Her eyes wandered from the way his soaked shirt was clinging to his broad, muscular chest, down to the crotch of his black trousers, where there appeared to be a sizeable bulge running down the inside of one thigh.

“Doctor Donovan, are you well?”

His deep rumbling voice broke her train of thought and Clair realized she’d been standing there, staring at his crotch for who knew how long.

“Oh, uh, fine. Just fine,” she said, feeling flustered. “I, um, I’m going to get changed.”

“That’s a wise decision,” Kaelus rumbled.

Clair only nodded and then hurried out of the lab, her wet shoes squelching with every step. Her mind was in turmoil and all she could think about was the way the big Hybrid had held her in place as he sniffed his way slowly up her body.

6

CLAIR

Naturally, when she got back to the lab later on, there was a new rule added to the whiteboard.

Rule 5—Do NOT use any of my chemicals without asking first!

Clair was tempted to be irritated…but then she remembered again how panicked he had been when she’d spilled the molecular solvent on herself and how quickly he’d rushed to save her. Honestly, she really should have asked before using the solvent. So she supposed she could tolerate the latest rule.

Maybe Kaelus wasn’t treating her like a naughty child with his rules—maybe, just maybe, he was only trying to keep her safe. Though he certainly had a lot to learn about manners and people skills, she thought.

After the solvent incident, the big Hybrid was gruffer than ever. It was as though he thought revealing that he cared if she got hurt or not had somehow softened his image and he had to make up for it. But despite his gruff demeanor, little things started happening that made Clair wonder if her growly lab partner might not be all bark and no bite…

The first thing she noticed was the shelves.

It was about three days after the solvent incident and Clair was running late, which meant she came rushing into the lab with her hair still slightly damp from her morning shower, her satchel hanging halfway off one shoulder, and a large cup of coffee clutched in one hand.

She was already mentally cataloging the seven different things she needed to accomplish that morning and wondering if she had enough nutrient medium prepared to transfer the samples she'd been growing overnight when she stopped dead in front of her workstation.

Something was different.

At first she couldn't figure out what it was. Everything looked approximately the same—her plants were still grouped haphazardly along the counter under their individual grow lights, her files were still stacked in leaning piles which she knew drove Kaelus crazy, and the three small terra-cotta succulents she'd brought from Earth were still lined up beside her coffee station.

Then she looked at the shelves and realized that nearly everything she used on a regular basis had been moved.

Her bottles of plant growth formula, which had been stored on one of the upper shelves, were now sitting neatly at eye level. So were her nutrient solutions, her box of sterile specimen jars, and the little case which contained the specialized cutters she used to harvest delicate botanical samples. Even the extra rolls of sealing film she'd had to climb onto a stool to reach the week before were now arranged in a precise row where she could get to them without so much as stretching.

Clair slowly put down her coffee.

“Kaelus?” she asked, turning toward the other side of the lab.

The big Hybrid was bent over the Molecular Resonance Analyzer, apparently absorbed in whatever he was doing. He didn't turn around.

“What?” he asked shortly.

“Did you rearrange my shelves?” Clair asked.

“No,” he said.

Clair raised her eyebrows and looked at the shelves again. Then she looked at him.

“Really?” she asked. “Because yesterday my growth formula was up there.” She pointed toward the highest shelf. “And now it's down here.”

Kaelus made some adjustment to the analyzer and glanced up briefly.