Page 5 of Love Bites
She blinked and he had the satisfaction of watching a bright red flush climb from her neck up to her cheeks. “Shit.” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “That was a rude question, wasn’t it? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”
As much as he enjoyed watching her flounder around, he interrupted. “It’s fine. I was just messing with you.” The words still didn’t make her blush go away. It was oddly endearing. “The truth is, I had to learn because I go America on business sometimes. It was kind of a requirement.”
“Oh? What business?” She seemed genuinely interested, if grateful he quickly changed the subject.
“I am a musician.”
She eyed him with momentary surprise. “Oh, really? Like in a band? What instrument do you play?”
He grimaced. Everyone always assumed he was in a band at first. While there was nothing wrong with being in bands, just once he wished someone would look at him and peg him for something other than ‘rock star.’
“I actually work for Michael von Angel. I play piano in his orchestra.” For a moment, a smile teased at his lips and he imagined Katheryn as an instrument herself. What tunes would he sing if he touched his fingers across her ivory skin? Would she sigh or moan as he brought her to a crescendo of pleasure?
Fuck. Just thinking about it made him hard, and he had to force back a moan.
“I also play the violin,” he whispered, his voice suddenly breathless. “The saxophone, the flute—”
“Can you play the guitar?” she interrupted. Her eyes shone with excitement, as if she were happy to hear about the instruments he played. It brought a smile to his lips.
“Yes, though I prefer the piano and the sax. I love jazz and Mozart, Beethoven, Bach…the classics.”
She raised an eyebrow at him as if she didn’t believe anything he was saying.
“Is that very hard to believe?” he asked.
She eyed him from head to toe for a moment, studying him intently. She stopped walking, and so did he. She circled him, slowly and sensuously. Her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration as she took in his form, and if he were honest with himself, it made him nervous as hell.
Finally, she stopped in front of him, and a slow smile played on her lips. “I can believe it.”
He exhaled a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. He reached out to touch her but remembered the surprising electrical jolt he’d felt earlier. He lowered his hand, cleared his throat, and kept walking. She followed at his side.
“What’s your job?” he asked curiously.
“I used to study immunology in a science lab,” she explained with a wink. “But I left to become an artist.” She shrugged as if it was irrelevant.
He blinked at her. It surprised him. Going from a scientist to artist overnight seemed like a drastic change. “Why’d you leave? Did it bore you?”
She shook her head and sighed, her shoulders slumping along with the action. “I had my reasons.” And she left it at that. He didn’t push. Nervousness rolled off of her in one giant wave.
Taking in her closed off demeaner, he figured he’d steer clear of that subject with her. And steer clear of the feelings that jumped from her mind like words jumped from pages or melodies would from piano keys.
He was always good at sensing the moods of humans, especially if he concentrated hard enough. The shallower the person, the easier they were to read. Sometimes, he could even pick up actual thoughts.
With Katheryn, it was different. Besides being keenly aware of the emotions rolling through her, hefeltthem as if they were his own.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to contemplate what that meant. But the truth of it was right there in the back of his mind, raw and demanding his acknowledgment. Two words that he didn’t dare whisper even through his own mind, out of fear that they may not be true.
“Well…” The word trailed off with a bit of reluctance as they made their way up to the hotel doors. They stopped just outside of them and paused, staring at one another but not quite speaking.
She seemed just as reluctant to say goodbye as he did. They’d only spent a few minutes together and he wanted more of her. Because something abouthersang to something that was dormant inside of his soul.
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he had to know for sure.
He stepped closer to her, close enough to touch but not quite. “We have arrived,” he whispered.
He watched the workings of her throat as she swallowed. She was nervous and fuck, if that wasn’t the cutest thing.
“Thank you.” Her own voice was a husky rasp, sultry, and it did something to his cock. Brought it to life and he knew if she glanced down, she’d see the tent in his exercise shorts. “I—uh—I appreciate it.”
