People had warned me that this was coming, that other guys would be making plays, but nothing had prepared me for the reality. Sen looked like he should have been holding a bottle of high-end men’s cologne, shot in black and white and stuck in a fashion magazine, not sitting beside me, eating high cholesterol foods.
“So how does this feel?” he asked, then crunched on the food.
“Weird, and people are always asking me that.”
“Just weird?” he asked, leaning forward, slowly, surely, and watching me. His eyes danced, as if he dared me to disagree with him, playing a strange little game of chicken I was bound to lose.
Sure enough, I couldn’t take it. I trembled with the effort of holding still, breathing in his scent, feeling his proximity and the heat of his body.
“That’s too close. Gotcha.” He settled back into his previous position, picking at his food.
Too close? He seemed bloody nonchalant as my heart felt like it rebounded within the cage of my ribs, my breath coming in sharp little pants.
He’s just a man. If he does not please you, send him away, my Tirian said. There are many who wish to take his place. Find one that triggers you less.
Everyone and everything triggers me, I said, tossing my fork down on the table.
“Sorry, that didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to,” Sen said.
“Not your fault I’m a basket case,” I mumbled, keeping my eyes on the congealing food.
“Did I hear you say badass?” My eyes jerked sideways to see him grinning, but there was no teasing there. Rather, he gave me a respectful nod, like one would to an equal.
I snorted at that, then shook my head.
“What kind of badass freaks out when a strange guy gets close to her?”
“A warrior,” he said, the smile fading. “You fought the fucker who hurt the two of you and put him in his fucking place. You got some scars from it? Most fighters do.” He jerked the collar of his t-shirt down to show me a white scar across his collar bone. “Got chomped by a beastie when we were on patrol.” He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a long snaking scar down his bicep. “Got knifed by a dickhead who didn’t want to go home when the bar closed.” My heart rate slowed as I watched the show of tempting little glimpses of Sen’s body. Somehow, the scars made him both hotter and more approachable. Probably all part of his plan. “This one’s the worst. Nearly killed me.” The smile faded as he pulled up the hem of his shirt to reveal cobblestone abs and a scar like an explosion site, frozen in ropes of pink keloid scarring. “Fucking boar… The thing got his bloody great tusk into me. Tore me up good. You can touch it if you like.”
I’d leant forward, studying the damage without even realising it, moving into his space as he had mine, causing him to grin again. That same challenging smile that belonged more on the face of some teenage boy, yet it pricked at me. I placed a hand down on his stomach, to the right of his belly button, and felt the strangely slick feeling of the scar. Then it came.
That same warmth, it felt like sunlight on my skin, like being wrapped in a warm blanket, like the feel of fur between your fingers. It was weird and alienating, to feel something so intensely about someone I’d barely said two words to.
“What is that?” I said.
“Attraction,” he panted out, his smile failing and reinstating itself. “Stronger than fucking normal.” He covered my hand with his, but removed it as soon as I pulled away. “Look, I was gonna take this slower, but fuck it. Come out with me. Everyone reckons the boys have gotcha locked up in that house of yours. Come and see more of Sanctuary. I wanna get to know Kade a bit better, spend some time with your boys, but…”
His words fell away as he stared at me, drawing closer, then stopping himself.
“You don’t want me to touch you? I won’t. You want to go home at any point? I’ll take you t
here. Fuck, you can drive if you want. We don’t have much, but let me show it to you, Flick.”
There was a desperate edge to his voice that sat oddly with his male model visage, something that had my eyes jerking up and documenting his every reaction. Because the view I’d built of myself did not include guys like him acting like this. Because I’d lived under the petty tyranny of one guy, aided and abetted by others. Because he was hot, because I liked the feel of him under my fingers.
Because it made me feel, for just a minute, powerful.
“This might be nothing. We might not like each other,” I said.
“I’m not asking for promises. I’m asking for an opportunity. Say yes, Flick.”
“So this is what it takes, does it?” a harsh voice broke in. Both of our heads jerked up to see a tall sandy-haired guy standing at the opposite side of the table, a dark-haired guy beside him. “That what Monster did, to get a chicky like you willing to climb Mount Everest? Showed you his boo boos? Got you hot under the collar?”
“Who the fuck are you?” I snapped out without thinking. Something inside me cringed at that, but I was willing to bet my eyes flashed green as I felt my Tirian shift.
“We’re the warm up act, love, if you wanna tackle our boy without rupturing your cervix,” the dark-haired man said. “Darren, Brett.” He pointed to each of them in turn.
“These are friends of yours?” I asked Sen with a frown, already pulling away.