Tor turned to face me, his eyes piercing. “No matter. You’re here now.”
“I am. And I thought we could…talk.”
“Yes. I think we shou—” The distant sound of a phone ringing had Tor’s eyes traveling over my shoulder down the hallway. “I apologize. You caught me as I was finishing up an important transaction. Give me five minutes? Then I’m yours.”
I’m yours… That was promising. A man who wanted to end things wouldn’t say “I’m yours,” would he? No. No, he would not. I nodded and gave him a small smile. “Take your time.”
“Five minutes. No more,” he said, and then strode across the vast space, but when he got to the hallway, he looked over his shoulder. “Coming?”
It hadn’t even occurred to me to follow and listen in on his work calls, and I quickly scurried after him, leaving Faolán to curl back up in his bed. Tor led me into what had to be his office, judging by the ornate dark wood desk that he moved behind to answer the still-ringing phone. He gestured for me to sit, and I saw I had my pick of one of the two chairs in front of the desk, or the overstuffed leather couch that backed up to a corner and had a small coffee table in front of it. None of those things, however, were what had my attention. That honor belonged to the three enormous television screens that, combined, took up almost the entire wall.
Jeez, what does he need three freakin’ televisions in one room for? I barely even had one that worked, and it was the size of a legal pad.
“Security and the stock market,” Tor said, answering my unspoken question, and when I looked back at him, he had the phone to his ear, but he was watching me with amusement dancing in his eyes.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want his job. I’ll stick to museums, I thought, and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk while I admired Tor. The sleeves of his button-up were rolled up, showcasing his strong, tanned forearms, and his hair was styled back, though one piece fell in his face, and somehow, that small bit of disarray was profoundly sexy. As he ran his fingers through his hair, pushing back the stray, his eyes caught on mine, catching my perusal, and he smirked.
God, even his smirk is sexy.
Tor kept his gaze on me as he spoke, totally in control of the conversation, which sounded a lot like gibberish to me, not that I was paying much attention to the words coming out of his mouth. I was just paying attention to his mouth, and what I hoped it would do to me later.
“That’s fine, John. Send me the papers and I’ll look them over tomorrow.” Tor set the phone back on the cradle and rounded the desk to sit on the edge of it with me between his legs. Then he lifted his hand and traced my face with his fingers, as if he was familiarizing himself with me all over again. “You’re so beautiful, my lamb.”
I put my hand over his and turned my face to kiss his palm, and he responded by leaning forward to press his lips against my forehead. Then he nuzzled his nose against my hair and took a deep inhale before pulling back.
“Why don’t you go make yourself comfortable over on the couch? I’ll get us a couple of drinks, and then we can talk.”
Smiling, I nodded my agreement, and then Tor pushed off the desk and headed back out to the kitchen.
Brayden had no idea of this side of Tor, the affectionate side he never seemed to show to anyone else. It was just as much of a turn-on as the dominant side of him, and I loved that there was such a dichotomy.
I chuckled to myself at the comparison, which was surely what Brayden thought about Tor, and as I got to my feet, I tripped over the claw foot of the desk and went tumbling forward. Before I hit the ground, I reached out toward the desk for something to grab to stop my fall, but whatever it was my hands had landed on wasn’t anything stable, and as it came loose, I crashed onto the floor, narrowly avoiding hitting my head on the wood.
Jesus, you clumsy ass, I thought, as I lifted myself up, making sure I hadn’t done any permanent damage. Nope, no pain, not even a scratch, and as I sighed and got to my knees to pick up and put back the paperweight and remote control I’d moved off Tor’s desk, something flickered out of the corner of my eye.
When I looked to my left, all three of the television screens were on, and what I saw on them had my blood running cold and the breath leaving my lungs.