Page 33 of Moody as a Minotaur

Lately, my imaginary emergency planning focused on practical problems.

Like, what if the restaurant caught on fire and my stairwell collapsed before I could escape? How would Iget out of my apartment? How long would it take to tie my bedding into a rope? Should I buy a pre-made rope ladder now, so I didn’t have to waste that time? Or would one of those chute things be better? How would I save Sushi and the rest of the fishy gang? Could I get them into a plastic bag in time? How would I climb down a rope with my bag of fish? Who else had a fish tank in town where I could board them until I got another? What else should I grab on the way out the door?

Once I started thinking about things like that, the questions nagged me until I had some kind of answer for each one. It helped me feel prepared, even though I worried I’d be too frozen in shock to do anything at all if something really did happen. But at least I’d thought about the scenarios, right? That had to be a little useful.

But, of all the situations I’d ever imagined, discovering Willow Lake had talking cats that sounded a lot like two of the Rivers brothers was not something I’d ever considered.

How short sighted of me.

“Uh… Levi?” I shuffled closer to him. He still hadn’t moved. His shoulders lifted and fell rapidly. The only sounds to break the quiet were his panting breaths. I set my hand on his back, which was damp with sweat. A strangled noise twisted out of him. And he started panting faster, like he couldn’t catch his breath.

“It’s okay. Come over here and sit down.” I steered him into his desk chair. “Now lean down until your head is between your knees.”

Levi was a big man. And apparently, he wasn’t verybendy. He hunched over, but his head was nowhere near his knees.

“Okay. I’m going to find a bag. It’s going to be okay.” I patted him on the back. “It’ll all be okay.”

I opened a few cabinets in his office looking for something to use, but I didn’t find anything. Maybe the receptionist would know where I could find something. I poked my head out the door. She didn’t even put down her phone as she continued to chatter away.

“Hey, uh, Jasmine?”

She held up a finger to shush me.

“Jasmine,” I said with more urgency.

She frowned at me, her gaze darting to the mirror, probably wondering where Levi was. God. He’d hate it if anyone saw him like this. I pulled the door closed to block her view.

“Hold on a sec,” she said to whoever she was talking to. She pulled her phone away from her ear a fraction. She skewered me with an impatient frown. “What?”

“Is there a bag around here somewhere?”

“A bag?”

“Yeah. Like a paper lunch bag or something?”

“Nope.” She pressed her phone to her ear again.

I returned to the office. Levi’s eyes were so wide I saw white all the way around his irises. He also moaned in a distressing way that reminded me of the sound cattle made. I made sure the door was shut and locked before I went over and kneeled in front of him.

“It’s okay. You’re doing fine.” There had to be another way to deal with this. I read something on the internetone night… What was it again? Oh, right. I remembered now. “Okay. Now pucker up your lips…”

His eyes went wider. I hadn’t thought that was possible. His hands gripped the arms on his chair.

“I’m not kissing you.” Even if I had dreamed of doing exactly that more times than I could count. “It’s to help you breathe. Pucker up. That’s it. Make your lips into a tight circle like you’re going to blow out a candle. And breathe slowly through that little hole.”

And why was it, now that I had said something about kissing, that every word seemed to have some kinky alter-ego? Pucker? Tight circle? Little hole?

Jesus. I was a horrible person.

“Good job. You’re getting there.” I patted his knee. “Don’t worry about anything else. Look at me and keep breathing slowly.”

Some of my favorite fantasies about Levi involved me on my knees before him. Unfortunately, I didn’t think any sexy times would be happening today.

When his breathing was under control again, I reluctantly stood and retrieved one of the other chairs and brought it around so I could sit closer to him. Levi’s gaze flitted to the window where the cats had been a few minutes earlier, but he didn’t say anything.

“Are you feeling better now?”

His cheeks darkened, but he nodded. “Sorry about that.”