Page 72 of Star Claimed Omega
She wished she could do the same to her handler.
Her hand trembled as she set her fork down.
‘You look pale. You OK,cariño?’ he asked, eyeing her too closely now.
‘I’m shocked at the attacker’s brazenness,’ she murmured. ‘I’m also glad you’re alright.’
His gaze softened. The wariness melted into a heated flare, along with an infuriating tenderness.
She reached to clear the plates, but as she passed him, his hand shot out and caught her wrist.
Her heart lurched.
She froze.
His fingers were warm and firm around her cuff, but not tight.
His eyes, under the glow of candlelight, were unreadable and dark.
For a beat, he didn’t speak. He just studied her for a beat.
Then he smiled, making her stomach somersault.
‘Santeagain,’ he murmured. ‘For the food. For looking after me. For being here.’
Soleil didn’t trust her voice. Her mouth parted, but no sound emerged.
His thumb stroked her pulse point. She shivered, and his mouth curved before he released her wrist and turned back to his wine.
But not before she caught it, the way his eyes lingered on her collarbone.
His gaze traced the soft flush in her cheeks, then to her mouth as his lips twitched like he might say more but thought better of it.
She retreated to the kitchen, breath unsteady, chest overflowing with emotion, her arm still throbbing where his fingers had rested.
Damn.
12
Chapter 12
SOLEIL
The morning light filtered through the glass wall facing the lake, gilding the air in amber and hush.
Soleil padded into the kitchen in her socks and one of her softer sweatshirts.
Her hair lay braided to one side, cheeks still warm from sleep, albeit one where she’d tossed and turned.
Her mind hadn’t let her rest, nor had her body, aching for the man under whose roof she lived, on edge with her growing attraction to him.
Now she froze mid-step as her eyes fell on the man in question, in a black vest, shorts, barefoot.
A mug was cradled in his hand, sitting at the head of his dining table, staring out over the sliding doors and water beyond.
The line of his muscled shoulders flexed as he turned, daybreak’s glow painting every ridge of his deltoids in molten bronze, highlighting his gilded orchid and sable ink.
He sensed her presence and glanced back.
