Page 44 of A Touch of Crimson
“You’re welcome. But if you ever put yourself in danger for me again, I’ll make you sorry you did.”
She shot him a glare he didn’t see, while secretly wondering if she was crazy. No sane modern woman would listen to that chauvinistic bullshit and hear a sensual threat in it. But she did, and some primitive recessive gene made her body tingle in response. “Don’t threaten me.”
“It’s not a threat. I won’t lose you. I’ve lost too much already.”
Wincing, she remembered he’d just lost a friend who had been like a brother to him. Her affront drained away. Struggling to find something to say to fill the sudden void, she floundered and managed a lame “Thank you for the clothes.” After a mental smack upside the head, she added, “They’re lovely.”
“I’m glad you like them,” he said, too neutrally. His control appeared absolute, but the softly howling wind outside and the steady rain told her otherwise.
Lindsay couldn’t bear his turmoil. She was as scrambled as he was—vulnerable—but she couldn’t hide it the way he did. And she couldn’t let him hide it, either. He knew her secrets, and she needed to maintain that openness now that they’d achieved it. “Although they’re clearly not suitable for wearing in public. Are you leaving me behind?”
Without looking up, he replied, “We’ll be heading out tomorrow. Together. Until then, you need to eat and rest.”
“They’re not really suitable for resting, either.” She poured syrup over her pancakes and began to eat.
He lifted his head to study her. “Aren’t they comfortable?”
She swallowed her food. “Sure.”
Adrian’s brows rose in silent inquiry.
“They’re also very sensual.” She stabbed her fork into a sausage link. “Designed to be sexy for the wearer and for the beholder. But I heard angels might not be wired the same way—sexually—as we mortals are, so maybe you weren’t thinking along those lines when you bought them.”
Very calmly, he set his tablet on the seat beside him. “You’ve been talking to Elijah. I would prefer it if you pose all your questions to me.”
“Well, see, that’s the problem. I don’t know what to ask.” She bit the end off the link with more gusto than necessary.
“Perhaps because there’s nothing to question.”
“I doubt that,” she said, chewing. “Are you leading me on? Maybe you picked me up because you needed a female companion for media purposes or a date for an upcoming event. Then I surprised you with the dragon, and you’re not sure what to do with me now.”
He set his elbow on the arm of the couch and settled in, displaying his body to even better advantage. He might be an angel, but he knew his assets and her weakness for them, and he wasn’t above exploiting both. “Oh, I know what to do with you.”
“But you didn’t do it the other night. And apparently you haven’t been doing it for a long time—if you’ve ever done it.” Oh god. She was getting turned on by the idea of him being a virgin. The thought of training a man like Adrian in bed…the things she could teach him…
“So,” he murmured, “the fact that I’m not promiscuous disturbs you?”
“Ha!” Lindsay wagged her knife at him. “There’s a big difference between discerning and celibate.”
“Maybe the celibacy exists because of the discernment.”
“Is that your answer?”
He examined the fingernails of his right hand. “I didn’t know there was a question on the table.”
“Okay, here’s one. Are angels forbidden to have sex?”
“No.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Any truth to the rumor that lust is beneath you?”
“What do you think?”
“I think I want to be beneath you. And I thought we were headed there—eventually—but I’m sensing there’s a whole lot going on I don’t know about.”
His tongue slid along his bottom lip, making her as damp as if he’d licked her with it. “Let’s head there now.”
Lindsay wiped her mouth with the napkin in her lap, then pushed back from the table. She moved toward him with a deliberately slow and sultry stride. Her hands went to the belt of her robe, her fingers sliding through the silken knot and loosening it. Reaching the coffee table, she allowed the robe to slide to the floor. She smiled when Adrian’s breath hitched.
