Page 32 of How to Seduce a Slender

Her mind was blank as she worked off pure instinct.Not traditionally my strong suit, but it’s kept me alive this long, hasn’t it?One of her hands unclenched from his vest lapel and held up a pinkie before him. Melody let out a shaky breath, “I pinkie promise not to tease you.”

“Are you sure you want to promise a pinkie? We know how well your track record is for the other promise.” His words curled around her, taunting her, plucking at her heart. The urge to stick out her tongue just to have him catch it filled her like a screaming alarm.Do it! Do it! Do it!

But there was something holding her back. A smidgen of fear of what would happen if she did. If she did it, if she leaned into him and stuck her tongue out…would he grab it…or would he…

Melody swallowed over the lump that was her tongue. “Just like a lawyer to be nitpicky about a contract.”

Smith chuckled, his fingers slipping off her shoulder before a long pinkie wrapped around hers. “Iwillhold you to his promise, sweet girl. If you break it, the consequence will have to befit the crime.”

Oh, I’m counting on it.

“Now…about the apron,” he sighed, slipping away from her. She blinked rapidly, trying to cool down the inferno he’d stirred in her body and steady her legs from the roller coaster she’d been on since she woke up. Smith opened the wardrobe and plucked a dressing gown from it. Melody obediently pulled it on without question as he held it open for her. Smith plucked her sketchbook and the pencils along with it before offering her an arm. “There’s been a complication.”

“Yippee,” she blurted out.

Chapter Twelve:

Smith

Iamnobetterthan a starved dog.He was right there, and his traitorous tongue just kept flapping.Why not just confess…Ms. Deathless, it would please me greatly to sink my teeth into your neck and shove my tongue deep in your mouth along with other orifices, might I perhaps convince you to moan my name?Who was he? A fool and a salacious, lewd pervert with no sanity left in his curdled brain. Who makes a promise with thehopethe other person would break it? A fool! That’s who! A foolish lawyer who would crawl over broken nails and hot coals just to have Melody Deathless lean into him once more.

And he’d do it in a heartbeat as he settled her onto the couch in his office. It was a cruel thing to want to return there…to her room where the words just flowed out of his mouth and her body was melted against his. Where she fluttered those eyelashes up at him and teased him to the point his stomach clenched. Because if they didn’t face the truth, that he’d failed her, he’d never be able to live with himself.

“There was a brain slug in your apron,” he confessed as he stepped back from her.

“A what now?”

He chuckled, sinking into a chair in front of her, hands folded over his lap. “A brain slug. It’s a necromancer’s tool. A non-sentient creature, they’re old school magic that is meant to do a lot of damage without a lot of questions. They chew through everything, including your poor notebook. I have nothing but scraps of paper left.”

“And that was in my apron?” Her mouth hung open before a pinch of disgust filled her face. “I told that bastard we needed to clean out those damn lockers. I know for a fuckin’ fact Walter was growin’ some sort of grossness in those damn things! And what about Josh, I bet he was leavin’ his socks in there, letting them grow sentient. I bet those things came from his damn toes!”

Smith tried to keep it together. He really did. But as she raved about all her coworkers and their filthy habits, her accent growing thicker with everydamn, he sputtered. The laughter hit him hard, knocking the wind out of him as he collapsed in half. By the time he got control of himself, it took all the power in his body to sit up straight again. Melody sat deathly still, covering her face with her hands. Her shoulders were trembling until he inhaled sharply, then her hands fell, and she snorted as she laughed harder.

“You think the slug came from a dishwasher’s dirty socks?” He cackled.

“Well!” She flushed, tossing her hands about flippantly. “Where else does a brain slug come from?”

Smith had to stand up, pacing away from her to gain control.Dragons damnit, this was serious.But Smith had come to realize Melody wasn’t the serious type. She didn’t brood nor ponder…the quietest time he’d had with her was with her sketching. Melody Deathless might be the end to him if he couldn’t keep his composure.

But then again…he’d never laughed that hard before.

Hands on his sides, taking strategic breaths in and out without looking at her, he got himself under control. When he turned to face her, she grimaced. “Sorry, was that a stupid thing to say?”

“No! No, I mean, had I said it, yes, it would have been silly, for I know where they come from. But I would never consider anything you say stupid.”

Melody brightened, flipping her wild mane of chestnut hair behind her shoulder dramatically. “Good! I thought I was really funny, but I wanted to make sure you were laughing with me, not at me.”

Smith cocked his head, remembering not to fully snap it, bewildered. “Melody, you are quite literally the funniest person I know…and I’ve been around for hundreds of years. I had to walk away because if I stayed there, watching you giggle and snort, I was going to keep laughing and this is serious. I have failed you! I was unable to retrieve key evidence to your case.”

She shrugged softly, picking at the dressing robe in her lap. Smith eyed her suspiciously. Melody peeked up, chewing on her lips before confessing. “You think I’m funny?”

“Mysides achefrom you,” he huffed, motioning at her vaguely with a singular hand. “But that is not the point here, Melody.”

“It’s kind of the point that matters to me,” she muttered under her breath. Her fingers continued to toy with the fabric pooling in her lap shyly.

“Melody,” he exhaled, stepping toward her.

“No,” she spat back with a twinge of brattish delight. Green eyes jumped up to check if he was looming over her. He was. They darted back down to her lap.

---