Page 84 of Tamed By Her Touch

“Yes, but you’ll wear it now because our lovely hostess gave it to you which was extremely kind and generous.”

Clair gave him a warning look, and he stopped scowling quite so much.

“Fine,” he growled. “I will wear it.”

“Good.”

Clair stepped closer and held out the tunic.

Kaelus reached for it and she pulled it away.

He frowned.

“I thought you wished me to wear it.”

“I do. But apparently I have to put it on you,” she reminded him.

Kaelus’s jaw tightened with irritation and Clair tried not to smile.

“Arms up, big fella,” she said cheerfully, as though he was a giant, cranky toddler. “Let’s get this on you.”

“I know how clothing works,” he growled.

“Good—then this ought to go quickly.”

He muttered something in the Kindred Mother Tongue too low for Clair to hear—though she suspected was extremely rude—but raised his arms.

Of course, she couldn’t reach him. But Clair wasn’t about to give up. She stepped up on a nearby footstool and slipped the tunic over his head.

That should have been simple but even with her standing on the footstool, Kaelus was so much taller than she was that Clair had to rise onto her toes just to pull the garment down over his shoulders. But as she did, the footstool tipped forward and she stumbled and she wound up pressed directly against his broad chest. Her breasts brushed his bare skin and both of them froze for a moment.

Clair looked up and Kaelus looked down. His golden eyes had gone half-lidded.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“You need to stop apologizing every time your body touches mine,” he murmured, for her ears only. “It’s not like I mind the pleasure of your touch.”

“You acted like you did last night,” she pointed out breathlessly.

“I just said we shouldn’t do…what we did again—not that I didn’t enjoy it.”

“Well, you need to stop looking like you’re about to eat me every time we’re close,” Clair admonished him in a low voice.

His eyes flashed.

“That may be considerably more difficult. You look very beautiful today, wife.”

Heat rushed through Clair. She was suddenly thinking about the night before…remembering his deep commanding voice telling her what he wanted to see…remembering the way he had looked at her bare breasts and the hot suction of his mouth around her fingers after she’d touched herself for him.

But Kaelus had said they couldn’t do anything like that again. Which was fine with her, but if that was how he felt, he needed to stop looking at her like this!

“Could you bend down a little?” she asked, deciding to drop the subject.

He complied and Clair tugged the tunic into place and smoothed it over his enormous shoulders. Then she started fastening the little silver clasps. One…two…three.

Her fingers brushed his chest as she worked and Kaelus inhaled sharply.

Clair pretended not to notice. She fastened another…then another. The lowest clasp rested just above his abdomen, forcing her to stand very close as she worked. It was stiff and didn’t want to close.