Page 38 of Stealing the Star Stone
“You haven’t sucked mine.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she shifted her gaze away.
He paused.Or had she?His breath hitched, and he dipped his chin, hiding his expression while he sifted through his memories.Regret slammed into him with the endless faces blurring into one another.No, he couldn’t recall ever meeting her.He’d have remembered someone as dynamic as her.Maybe the blush was because she’d been thinking of sex with him or her late husband.
He’d take that as encouragement.“How many cocks have you known?”he asked, and received a slap in the face with a T-shirt.
She waltzed off, swinging her ass.Gone was his swagger.
He started to berate her, but the door slid open.
“Frederik, for fuck’s sake.”She leaped in and stood between the bodyguard and a semi-dressed Eli.“Didn’t your mother teach you to knock?”
“Icouldknock, but I’ll enter whether you allow it or not.”He shrugged.“So why bother?”He stepped aside for the breakfast trolley.“And never mention my mother again, Mr.Thorne.”
Ice slithered down Eli’s spine when the tension in the air thickened to menacing.He whipped on the closest thing, which, judging by the silkiness of the fabric, had to be a summer dress.If he had to protect Nova, being fully clothed was as prepared as he could be.Under the circumstances when he had no weapon.He eyed a stiletto and grabbed the pair.
“Thank you for breakfast,” he said, sinking onto the couch to slip on the shoes.It was years sinceAlien in Lipstick.He hoped he hadn’t lost the agility required to walk in six-inch heels without falling.
“And these.”Frederik flipped aside the trolley’s cloth to reveal a stack of weathered note books and a deck of cards.“All I could gather.”
Eli beamed.“You’re such a sweetheart,” he said.
The aroma of bacon teased him off the couch to lift the largest cloche.Layers of crisp bacon, rows of sausages, and a heap of scrambled eggs made his mouth water.
“How long before the tests start?”Nova asked, shoving a plate at Eli, who’d plucked a sausage with his bare fingers.
“I’ll collect you in half an hour,” Frederik said, watching their interactions.With a shake of his head, he left, granting them a little privacy.
Eli waved the half-eaten sausage in her face.“Quit doing that.”
“What?”she asked, scooping bacon onto her plate, a slice of toast, a pat of butter, and a dollop of marmalade.
“Trying to shield my nudity.”
She harumphed and flopped onto the couch.“It might be okay for you that the entire galaxy knows about that mole on your ass, but I’m not like you.”
“What do you expect from me?”He swept out a hand, pointing to the door.“I have as much warning as you do.”
She huffed, shoving a forkful of bacon into her mouth.Silence followed as she chewed.He should’ve known it wouldn’t last for long.
“Have you had that mole looked at?”Up she jumped, heading to the tea station.“Dark, irregular, growing—all the markers.”
He frowned.“I have, and it’s fine.My dermatologist offered to remove it, but it’s like a trademark, y’know.”
She giggled, which was odd on a grown man.“Sure, the mole’s what makes your butt recognizable.”
“It does,” he said, biting into his toast.
“So the double dimple in your left cheek has no part in this?”
He stilled, heat scorching his cheeks, traveling down his throat to his breasts.A slow ache built.Was this what desire felt like for a woman?“Nova, how do you know that?”
She shrugged.“You have the galaxy’s most photographed ass.”
“Um, no.”He sucked butter off his thumb.“All outlets and photographers know to hide the dimples or I sue.”
Her face paled, and she swiveled, giving him her back.“I saw it somewhere.”But her voice was soft, a rasp.
