Page 13 of Healing the Leonid Doctor's Heart
MARCUS BRUSHED HISmane forward in one rakish curl—and then smoothed it back and let it fall free. He’d tried a dozen different looks after the evening meal—a meal without Abigail.
What if this is a mistake? What if she expects you to have a frank discussion about scientific anatomy and the way the serum works? What if you hurt her and she never wants to see you again? You could drive her away and ruin things for everyone.
You mess this up, and you’ll be the laughingstock of the medical community, a doctor who invented a cure that he botched when it came time to use it himself.
Well, then.He looked down.This erection is going to waste.Nerves roared back, and the hardness faded as he stepped up to her door, a bottle of rich red wine in the crook of his arm.
Abigail opened the door in a pretty white dress that fluttered around her knees and showed off her bare shoulders. “Hi.”
“Wow. That’s new?”
“Jade and Nessa have them, too. Layla didn’t want this one. Come in.”
“Thank you.”Sweet Bastet, are we going to make small talk and be so hopelessly formal all night?
He sighed, and then his nostrils caught the sweetest aroma, different than a Felid in heat, but still unmistakably feminine, powerful, and needy.
Does she want me like I want her?
“What if we have some wine, listen to some music, and I show you that there’s nothing to worry about?” he suggested, setting the wine down.
“That’d be nice. I... I don’t know what Leonids like.”
“I’ll show you that, too. But I know what I like. I like Abigail,” he murmured, swaying close to her as she opened the bottle.
“I like Marcus,” she whispered back, leaning into him.
He could feel her heat, and his hardness jutted out, long unused but ready to reenter the field. “Bigger than you just means I can wrap my arms around you better.” His voice was low, hopeful. “If that’s something humans like?”
“I don’t know about all humans, but I’m absolutely starved for any sort of physical affection. No family nearby, no close friends... I wasn’t one for reckless sex.”
“Imagine being cooped up in this freighter with no one but Rupex for company for a few years—you’d invent something pretty time-consuming to do, too. And you’d miss all the people who used to be with you. Starved for affection, physical or otherwise, is a good way to put it.”
“That’s what this could be. Two friends. Feeding a need. Seeing if they could make something better?”
“My world has gotten much better since you arrived. I want to make this part of the world better for you.” One paw left her waist and slid the switch on the wall down, turning the lights to a dim yellow glow.
Abigail’s hand lined up next to his much larger paw, turning the media viewer on. “Pick some music?”
“The Leopardine Songs to Aphrodite are legendary for theirsoothingeffect.” Marcus helped her flick through until he found the right setting.
Sounds of low, throaty chants and purrs mingled with the scent of wine and arousal, all wrapped in a veil of warm, heady darkness.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to seduce me,” Abigail said in a hushed voice.
“Am I allowed to? Purely for the sake of our arrangement, of course.”
“Of course.”
ABIGAIL FOUND HERSELFwrapped in strong arms that dwarfed her, a tail skimming up her bare leg, as Marcus’ wide mouth pressed against her much smaller one. They moved from the table to the couch, the kisses slowly building in urgency and skill, until she found his textured tongue in her mouth, on her throat, sliding across her neck as she moaned.
We forgot the wine, Abigail thought as the world tipped on its side and Marcus was on top of her.
Her breath caught around a refusal, a confused plea.No, not yet, not now. Oh, yes, yes, now.But the feel of the massive bulge against his leg, now sandwiched against her thigh, was too much.I’ll rip and tear. It’ll hurt, and I’ll hate it, and then I’ll hate him, and...
Thoughts spiraled, leaving Abigail torn between pushing him away and dragging him even closer, if that were possible.
But to her surprise, he was the one leaving her side, lifting her up, and carrying her from the couch. “Marcus...”
