Page 41 of Stealing the Star Stone
“Yesterday.”
Fire exploded within her, masking the warmth of relief.She curled her fingers into fists, trying to stem the urge to slap him.“I told you not to, Thorne.”
“I got it out of the way,” he said, not even glancing up.“Besides, you peeked.Fair is fair.”
“When did I—” She clenched her jaw, crushing the words.The double-dimple discussion from earlier… Never would she reveal she’d seen his gorgeous ass so many years ago.
His touch along her cheek, neck, and across her collarbone dragged her back to the moment.
She shivered, liking the caress more than she should.
“I don’t mind if you admire my body, Nova,” he whispered, the intensity in his eyes darkening the amber to gold.
A flood of heat rushed to her groin, dulling her thoughts, and ramping up the urge to fuck.She jerked back, now sporting a semi hard-on.
She cupped his cock.“Stop it,” she hissed.
“You can’t resist me forever,” he sang, then tossed her a charming smile.“And I’ll be waiting for your sweet pleas.”
She bristled.“Not a fuck—”
“Oh, no, not singular.Many,” he said, flipping through the pages.“So looking forward to it, too.Your irritability is probably because you haven’t been laid in a while.”
He’d flabbergasted her, again.She wasn’t wearing a neon sign stating she was celibate.So how had he figured it out?Sex hadn’t been a priority for Seth.They’d loved each other’s minds.But sexual releases were medically good for them, so they’d scheduled their bedroom time to once a week: Wednesday morning, post-shower.
Many a time she’d been disappointed, not finding the fulfilment she’d craved.They’d been happy, and it had seemed selfish of her to raise her discontent over this one aspect of their lives.Older her—wiser, maybe—realized how stupid she’d been.Cracks weakened a relationship, forming a fertile ground for anger, resentment, and unforgiveness.
“I’m sorry.I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“I’m not…” Tears dripped off her chin.She wiped them aside and sniffled.“Was thinking of Seth, my late husband.”She settled beside Eli and took up a discarded notebook.“There has to be a clue somewhere.”
“Are you wondering the same?”He waved at the scattered books.“Why do we have these?”
“Either they have tons of information we can use or nothing.”
“What we need is a tablet, a way to make notes.”He held his place with a finger between the pages.“Orien mentioned the stone hummed at a frequency too low for humans to hear.”
She shifted on her ass to find a comfortable spot, her thoughts ricocheting.“And it was multi-colored until we touched it.”
“Yeah,” he frowned, “but why us?”
“Exactly.”She thumped the book on her thigh.“And was the humming consistent?Did it react to anyone else?”
He shook his head.“If it had, they’d be in the labs with us, losing their hair.”
“True.”She slumped.“It’s too much to hope that these,” she swept out a hand, “are gifts from an ally.”
“Well, we’d know if we find a useful nugget of info.”
She divided the unread stack into two.“We’ve got to be thorough.”She flashed him a grin.“Up for the challenge?”
He chuckled.“I had other plans tonight, y’know.”
Time ticked by as they sifted through the scribbles made by various archeologists who hated Orien’s guts.That was made abundantly clear when on nearly each page, the man was cursed or disfigured with words amid vows for revenge.
“Today, the stone did something odd,” Eli read.“Deep in its depths, a spark flared white, then clear, before returning to a dark magenta.And all I did was touch it.”He met her gaze then resumed.“I didn’t mention this to Orien when X didn’t either.”
“Ex?”She clambered to her feet and stretched, working the kinks out of her back.Eli trailed her with a heated gaze when she looped around the couch to reach the tea station.
