Images of the two of them together swirled through his mind, teasing her as they danced around. Shadows hid their bodies, but the action was clear. He wanted her, and the idea was so shocking, she found it hard to breathe.
She was prettier through his eyes, with a sultry kind of sex appeal she’d never seen in herself before. She was a dork, not some kind of exotic goddess the way he seemed to think. Her eyes weren’t nearly that big, her skin not even close to that luminous. As much as she liked the way he saw her, it wasn’t real. It wasn’t true.
As she watched Cain’s fantasies, her body began to heat, and a flush spread out over her skin. Her clothes felt too small. An empty, needy ache coalesced in her belly as every feminine part of her perked up in interest.
His vision-self bent to kiss her neck, and she swore she could feel the soft brush of his mouth on her real throat—the one that was not nearly so long and elegant as this fake Rory. But fake or not, watching his dark head work its way down as he layered kisses on her too-luminous skin was intoxicating. Tempting.
A moment later, the lovely images vanished, and she found herself being pushed away from his mind. She fought it, but was too weak from flinging magic around to fight him.
“You weren’t supposed to see that,” he said.
“Oh, I see how it is. You get to barge into my head, but yours is off-limits?”
“No, but there’s no point in subjecting you to my lack of control. Is there?”
Lack of control? That’s what he thought that was?
Her voice was a bit breathless, her mouth dry from what she’d seen. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Once you find your savior, we’ll part ways—in a few days, maybe a few weeks.” His arm shifted. Muscles hardened at her back, and she was lifted closer to him. Almost close enough to reach his mouth. “The things I want to do to you will take far longer than that. Why taste something rare if you know you’re only going to want more?”
Oh. Well. She hadn’t thought of it quite like that. She opened her mouth to respond, but not a single coherent thought came to mind. He’d robbed her of every one of them with the way his eyes lingered on her mouth as if dying for a taste.
The low, quivering heat in her belly was all in favor of giving it a shot. For however long she could have him. “You might not like me as much as you think.”
“Or perhaps I’d like you more. I haven’t been with anyone in a long, long time. It may take me a while to work my extended celibacy out of my system.”
That sounded like the most delightful of challenges to her. “Okay.”
“Is that an offer, Rory?”
She wanted it to be—she wanted to feel just a fraction of what those naughty thoughts of his made her feel—but the huge lag between her brain and her mouth was causing problems. All that came out was a noncommittal squeak.
His head bent over hers, his lips only an inch away from her mouth. And then he stopped. “I couldn’t slow you down like that,” he said. “You have your savior to find. We should probably get going.”
A second later, his mouth was gone and his hot expression froze over, as if they hadn’t just been talking about ending his extended celibacy. With her.
Cain’s pants buzzed, and she realized that his phone was vibrating. For a second, she thought it was some new kind of magic meant to rob her of her last few remaining brain cells. Everything was so messed up, she hadn’t expected something as mundane as a cell phone.
Cain answered the call. Rory wanted to step away from him and give him some privacy, but her legs weren’t cooperating. The sexy images, as well as playing with magic left her shaken and her knees way too weak to go for a stroll.
She heard the muted voice of another man on the line. Cain’s body straightened, and he shifted from relaxed to red alert in seconds. “I can be there by sundown . . . No, it’s my debt to repay. I made a vow.”
The other man spoke again, briefly, and then Cain hung up. “I have to go. It’s an emergency.”
She didn’t want him to leave, which was ludicrous. A few hours ago, she hadn’t even wanted him to know where she lived, and now she was having a freak-out festival over this?
Apparently, all this magical crap caused brain damage.
Rory put on a nonchalant air of indifference. She refused to let him know that anything he did affected her—leaving or otherwise. “No problem. I’ll call a cab to take me into the city to get my car. You can call me if you want to meet up later.”
He didn’t move a muscle, and yet he seemed to grow bigger, scarier. His arm at her back tightened, and she could feel his fingers curl at her hip. “If? You clearly still don’t understand the situation between us.”
“Kinda hard to understand something when no one’s bothering to explain it to me.”
Cain drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. His chest expanded to monumental proportions, and Rory couldn’t help but want to dig her fingers in just to feel all those muscles flex beneath his skin.
So yummy. But she was not nearly woman enough to eat him up. No way. A man like him was too much for her to handle. She’d been with only a couple of guys, and both of them were like children by comparison—all small and stringy. She was not a strong enough woman to withstand the kind of lover Cain would be—especially not after a long time of abstinence.
Though how he’d managed to go more than a week without some woman attacking him was a mystery.
“You’re right,” he said. “I should be more patient with you.”
If he was any more patient, her panties were going to combust. “Just tell me what’s going on.”
“I need to leave now—someone is in danger. I’d like it very much if you’d come with me.”