Page 31 of Immortal By Morning
Abril snorted at the question, her concentration on the ghosts she was trying to outrun, and then muttered, “Oh please. You must know you are. You’re nicely ripped, but not overly so. You have a handsome face, awesome smile, sexy bedroom eyes.” She shrugged. “Gorgeous.”
Crispin stared at her with wonder as she listed off his assets in a very distracted voice. He wasn’t even sure she was really aware of what she was saying as she worked to avoid getting her Pac-Man killed, and he decided Roberts’s idea had been a brilliant one. Crispin was quite sure she would never have admitted her attraction to him if she weren’t so engrossed in the game. Not that finding him attractive was all that unusual. She was his life mate after all, which pretty much guaranteed sexual attraction. But it was still nice to hear anyway.
A groan from Abril drew his attention to the game screen to see that she had died. It was his turn to play. And his turn to ask questions.
“What made you decide to become an executive assistant?” he asked at once.
She took so long to answer that he began to wonder if she was going to deflect this question as well. But then she admitted, “I actually wanted to study to become a vet.”
“Really? Why a vet?” he asked with interest. Crispin was a great animal lover himself and had toyed more than once with the idea of training to become a veterinarian for his next career when he was ready to move on from his present position.
“Because I like animals better than people,” she said lightly and then chuckled when he glanced up with an expression of surprise tinged with concern.
“I guess that sounds bad. But it’s only partially true. Maybe,” she added under her breath, and then gave a little huff and said, “I suppose I should probably explain or you’ll think I’m some kind of antisocial freak or something.”
Crispin didn’t comment and simply waited for her to say what she wanted to say. But he didn’t think she was a freak. in fact, while she was mortal, she sounded much like every immortal he knew. Avoiding others for the sake of their own sanity. If that made her a freak, then so was every immortal on the planet.
“You see,” she began, and then fell silent as a timer began to sound.
“Saved by the bell,” she said lightly standing up. “I’ll be back in a minute. Try not to get killed while I’m away.”
Twelve
Abril was gone before Crispin could comment, heading up the hall off the living room with Lilith quickly rising to trail her.
Abril and her shadow, Crispin thought with amusement as he continued to play. The dog seemed to follow her everywhere, no matter who else was in the room with them when she left. He couldn’t blame the Lab. He’d follow her around just as devotedly if it wouldn’t make her think he was a weirdo creep.
He smiled faintly at the idea of trailing her everywhere, tongue hanging out and arse wagging. But then he moved on to pondering what Abril had been about to tell him. It was obviously going to be an explanation for why she liked animals better than people, but now he was wondering what that reason could be.
Mistreatment or betrayal by a person or people was the most likely answer, he decided. Perhaps a best friend, a family member, or even a lover. That lastpossibility made him scowl. He was no fool. She had no doubt had lovers by now in her life, but thinking about that made jealousy rear its ugly head inside him. Which was foolish. Others may have kissed, touched, and made love to her, but he already knew none of them would compare to him. Any pleasure she’d experienced in the past in these phantom lover’s arms would be nothing next to what he and she enjoyed together. That wasn’t because of any great skill on his part. It was just guaranteed because they were life mates.
Just thinking about the pleasure he’d already enjoyed with her and what was still to come made Crispin hard. Unfortunately, his cock growing and shifting was enough to dislodge his towel. While the left end of the towel lay across his lap, the right side didn’t and dropped away leaving his outer leg and hip exposed. Crispin was quick to grab the fallen end and pull it back up. He then stood to rewrap it around himself more securely, wincing as the soundtrack from the game announced that the distraction had cost him a life. It was game over for him.
“C’est la vie,” he murmured to himself and decided he should go check on his laundry. It should be done about now, he thought, and headed up the hall wondering where Abril had gone.
He got the answer to his question when he walked into the laundry room to find the washer door open, and her just turning on the dryer. She’d shifted his laundry over for him. He was just about to thank her for that when Abril suddenly jerked around in surprise, her hand actually going to her chest.
“Oh, you startled me,” she breathed, letting her handdrop away even as her gaze began to move down over his body in the towel. There was no mistaking that the first shock of fear he’d caused had passed and she was experiencing something altogether different in response to his presence. Crispin could hear that her heartbeat had sped up. Her breathing had also become short, shallow breaths, and he could smell her excitement in the air. It was as sweet as nectar, drawing him toward her as he said, “I did not mean to startle you.”
A sound came from somewhere in the vicinity of the back of her throat that might have been a response. He wasn’t sure. He was only sure of one thing. “I want to kiss you.”
The words came out on a low growl as he continued forward. Although, he wasn’t even aware that he’d moved until she took a step back and raised a hand as if to stop him.
Stopping at once, he waited, uncertainty plaguing him. He knew she wanted him, so why was she stopping him? They were life mates. Life mate attraction was irresistible.
“I’d like to kiss you too,” Abril admitted softly and he started forward again, only to freeze when she took another quick step back and added, “But...”
She didn’t complete the thought for a moment, as if waiting to be sure he wasn’t suddenly going to jump on her, and then she swallowed and said, “But I don’t want to have sex.”
Crispin’s eyes widened and horror slid through him at the words. Kissing would lead to sex. There was no doubt in his mind of that.
“Okay?” she asked her expression a combination of hope and pleading.
Crispin hesitated. He wanted to say that was fine, that he understood. And he wanted to promise that they wouldn’t have sex. Unfortunately, he couldn’t guarantee that. He very much feared he didn’t have the self-control to be able to say with any confidence that kissing her would not lead to touching, and ultimately sex. No immortal would.
“I mean,” Abril said when he remained silent as he tried to think what to do, “making out is one thing, but it just feels too soon for sex. Okay?”
Crispin hesitated again, but for a much shorter period this time before asking, “What is making out?”
