Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
He opened the door. “Fine.”
She faltered. “Don’t you need a coat?”
“No.” He hadn’t felt the cold in a decade. Maybe longer.
Giving him a look, one of pure sass, she stomped outside in the large boots and down the two steps to the frozen ground. He shut the door, relieved as the frigid night air washed over him. Years ago he’d been taken by a rival Cyst group and tortured before his uncles had rescued him. Speed dating had been worse.
He gripped her upper arm, careful to keep from flexing his fingers. As a human female, her fragility couldn’t be overestimated. “It’s icy.”
“I know.” She clopped awkwardly in the boots. With the moonlight shining down, her eyes shone like rare brown diamonds with all their alluring facets. “Can I ask you something?”
He grunted his assent, his senses tuning into the environment around them, searching for threats.
“Are you a virgin?” she blurted out.
He halted them both and turned, staring down at her rapidly reddening face. What the fuck?
* * * *
Lyrica barely kept herself from slapping a hand over her mouth. The question about Kurjans had been on her mind since she had come up with the speed dating idea, but she hadn’t known how to ask. Not once had she meant to be personal just with Vero. Except, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Big and dangerous, his too-blue eyes held a sadness that no amount of his anger could veil. That drew her. More than his hard-assed and muscular body. “I’m sorry,” she breathed. “That’s not how I meant to broach the subject.”
“The subject?” He barely cocked his head while brushing a piece of her too-wild hair away from her face.
Desire dropped into her abdomen while her skin heated. Just from one tiny touch. She stared up, way up, to his sharply carved face. “Yes. It’s part of my job to know what I’m working with when it comes to matching prospective mates.” Did that make sense? Her mouth had taken over and was just spewing out words.
He blinked. Just once. Then he tapped the bridge of his nose as if trying to concentrate, his eyelids briefly closing.
She winced. “I really didn’t mean to be rude.”
His eyelids opened and the world filled with blue. For a second. “No.”
“You’re not a virgin?” A surprising disappointment flickered through her. Why? Seriously. Had she thought she could introduce him to pleasure? What was wrong with her head? Her body. Yeah, that was it. Her body was trying to take over. Bad body. Bad. “Vero?”
“No. Why?”
She took a deep breath and winced as frozen air burned her lungs. “It’s just, well, that the Kurjans have been so isolated from everyone else. Look where you live. In the middle of mountain ranges away from all civilization.” Her hands were freezing in the pockets so she scrunched her fingers into a fist. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
One of his dark eyebrows rose. They were so much darker than most Kurjans’. “Do I look embarrassed?”
She studied his face. His bone structure appeared sharp enough to hurt anybody who tried to punch him in his immortal face. His eyes glowed a Prussian blue, and mere curiosity hinted in his expression. No doubt because he let it. Heat and an undefinable tension rolled off him to surround them both with a hint of warmth. Power. Yeah, that was it. Power streamed from the guy. “No, you don’t look embarrassed.”
“Why do you?”
Apparently, some of the heat in her face resulted from a furious blush. “I don’t usually talk about sex with, um, friends.”
“Is that what we are? Friends?”
Was he mocking her? His expression hadn’t changed, but his lips had pursed with just a bit of arrogance. “Yes. We’re friends.”
“Hm.” He slid his fingers into her hair and brushed his callused thumb gently across her cheekbone.
She blinked rapidly, her breath quickening, her knees locking. Her clit aching. “What are you doing?”
“Not feeling friendly.” He leaned down, his mouth an inch from hers. “Talking about sex doesn’t bother me. Why does it turn you red?” His hot breath warmed her lips and somehow seeped into her mouth, heating down her throat, past her breasts, right to her aching sex.
“Vero.” It was the only word that came to mind. She tried to shake her head to get her bearings, but his casual touch kept her firmly facing him. Desire fired even stronger inside her, and she bit back a moan. This wasn’t healthy. Or normal. For the love of Pete, she had to get herself under control. Under her own control. Not his. “So you’ve had girlfriends?”
His lips twitched but didn’t curve into a smile. “No. I’ve had extensive training in sexual practices, like all Kurjans.”
What? She jolted. “Excuse me?”
“When we turn sixteen, we’re sent to one of several houses to learn about sex. How to perfect it. Those places are not on this continent.”