Page 35 of Aberrant Monsters
He nodded curtly, all business. “Good. In that case, we’ll meet after supper to discuss our first case. Please bring Telarion with you. He is, after all, part of this team.”
He didn’t look at me when he said the last part, so he missed my surprised smile. I’d expected him to be pompous and prejudicial toward Telarion, and yes, he was a little pompous, but the fact that he was so easy about working with an aberrant made him seem like less of an ass.
I didn’t know this guy, and maybe it was best to reserve judgment until I had a little more information. He worked for the Order, but that didn’t make him the enemy; after all, my mother had worked for the Order too and she’d been wonderful.
“We’ll leave you to get settled,” Uncle Fred said. He headed for the door and Nandi followed.
I lingered a moment longer. Quentin stopped unpacking and looked up at me inquiringly.
I licked my lips, suddenly nervous. “Do you think I can do it? Do you think I can catch these eldritch creatures?”
His face relaxed into a smile. “Your mother was the most powerful, the savviest, the smartest rift walker the Order has ever seen. And you, it seems, have managed to tame an aberrant, so yes. Yes, I think you can do it. In fact, I’d put money on it.” He glanced toward the door. “Now go get some supper. We have a long evening of education ahead of us, and I don’t plan to go easy on you. I can’t, not if we’re going to get these jobs done.”
I left him to his unpacking and arranging and headed back to the kitchen because food sounded perfect right now.
* * *
It was almosteight in the evening and Quentin had set the meeting for half past. Location was the study. That had given us enough time to scoff supper, talk about him behind his back, and for me to grab a quick shower to wash off my make-out session with Lothos.
I stood shivering in my bedroom, wrapped in a towel that skimmed my knees, damp hair sticking to my naked back, yanking clothes from my dresser in search of my comfy sweats when cool air pebbled my skin, signaling Telarion’s return.
I paused in my search briefly before continuing to root for the clothes.
“You called?” His smooth whiskey tone had a little more gravel to it tonight, almost as if he was upset.
Not that I’d made a study of the nuance of his voice or anything.
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, about an hour ago. Where were you?”
“Busy. Why? Am I not permitted to be busy now?”
His tone was needling, and I immediately slipped into attack mode. “Gorging your face with evil humans doesn’t count as being busy.”
A low, sensual chuckle brushed the back of my neck. “You can easily put an end to that by allowing me to feast on you instead.”
Oh, fuck, he was close now. Too close. Breathe. Relax. He won’t hurt you. I stopped rummaging and slowly turned to face him, clutching the towel to my chest to ensure it didn’t come free and pressing my ass into the dresser behind me to put some distance between us.
“What?” he asked. “What is it you wish to say, August…” He drew out the first syllable of my name tauntingly. “Say it. Go on, say what’s in your teeny human heart.”
Why was he being such a dick? Why was he goading me? Why the fuck did it bother me so much and why was I disappointed by it? It wasn’t like we were buddies. He was an unwelcome, unwanted visitor in my life.
Time to reset some boundaries.
I lifted my chin and met his gaze evenly. “Let’s get one thing straight. Feeding on my blood is for emergencies only. Sex is one hundred percent off the table, so don’t ever try to go there, and right now, while we’re in a deal with the Order, while our lives and existences are at stake, you will come when I call you. Understood?”
His hands landed on my shoulders, and he hauled me off the ground so I was suspended several feet in the air.
“You forget what you’re dealing with, tiny human. You forget what I am and what I’m capable of. This”—he tore the towel from my body—“belongs to me.”
The heat of his monolithic frame vibrated against my sensitized skin. My naked, damp skin all exposed, all on show for him. I should be struggling to get free, slap him in the face. Something. Instead, my head fell back so I could survey his ferally handsome face and devour his hungry, cruel mouth with my gaze.
His attention tracked to my naked breasts, then down my torso to the juncture of my thighs. His eyes lit up with a heat that communicated itself as a flare at my solar plexus. His thick, long tongue slipped free of his lips and kissed the spot beneath my ear. I froze, heart pounding like a jackhammer as he trailed his tongue down my neck, stopping at the hollow of my throat before continuing down toward my—
“Don’t…” Was that soft gasp of a plea mine? “Don’t touch me there.”
Don’t touch me because I don’t know if I can handle it. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself from arching into your caress. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me, but I’m not in control, so please, please don’t.
For a moment I thought he’d disregard my verbal plea but then his tongue retracted. “I can claim it at will. It’s mine.” His words were a possessive growl that nudged my ire.
