Page 79 of Aberrant Monsters
“Quentin?”
He blinked and looked down at me. For a moment his face was emotionless, the face of a mannequin, then his expression filled with life, mouth tightening at the corners, gaze sharpening and locking onto me.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“Good. I got some data.”
He smiled. “Well done on your first mapping trip, August. I’m proud of you.”
There was real warmth in his tone and in his eyes. I must have imagined the emptiness of a moment ago. The fog could make everything seem alien.
“Let’s get back and get you checked out,” he said.
“Anywhere but here is good.”
Back home, Quentin led me into the chilly north wing and to his room. Maybe it was time to look into getting the heating in this part of the house fixed.
“Seriously, you should move into the east wing with us.”
“I like it here.” He threw a smile over his shoulder. “It’s…calm and quiet.”
“And freezing.”
“The cold doesn’t bother me.”
“Yeah, you said.”
He pushed open the door to his room and stepped back so I could enter. It should have been weird being in a strange guy’s bedroom, but with Quentin it didn’t feel strange at all. Maybe it was because the room was in my house, or maybe it was because Quentin hadn’t eyed me up, not once. I mean, I was no supermodel, but I’d been called hot on many occasions, and guys not related to me usually looked at me in “that” way at some point, even if it was a fleeting look of appreciation. Heck, even Archie had done it once when I’d dressed up for a case.
Quentin, so far, had not. Not once. I was his charge and that was the whole vibe. I liked it.
He pressed some buttons on his laptop and then flipped open the lid of the gray machine. The inside was lined with a pink, squishy-looking material.
“You’ll need to strip and get inside,” he said.
“Strip?”
“Down to your underwear.” He headed back to his machine and tapped in more stuff.
When I didn’t start stripping straight away, he looked up with a slight frown that melted when he clocked my expression.
He sighed. “I’m so sorry. Do you want some privacy?”
“Pointless considering you’ll see me half naked when you put the lid down.”
He made a face that saidexactly.
I’d worn a bikini before. It was no different than that, but it was fucking freezing. “I hope it’s warm in that thing.”
“We’ll make this quick.”
I stripped out of my clothes, shooting a glance his way, but he had his eyes on the screen.
What? Not even a peek? He really was the most gentlemanly guy I’d ever met.
I climbed into the machine and lay down. The material molded against me, hugging my frame.
Quentin appeared above me, his gaze on my face despite all the flesh on show. “You ready?”
