Leopard's Run (Leopard People 10)

Timur set her on her feet beside the table and stepped back, fully expecting her to yell at him, or swing, one or the other. She did neither. She picked up her coffee mug and sipped. It was good coffee. The man not only cooked, but he actually made good coffee. She definitely couldn’t set him up to die. Men with his talents were needed in the world. She sent him a sappy grin and slid onto the seat closest to the window without a word.

Timur went back to the stove and picked up a plate. “You a picky eater in the morning?”

She shook her head. She was grateful for anything. She just happened to be the worst cook in the world, especially in the morning, because she didn’t want to do anything.

“Good.” He returned with two plates. Steam came off the contents, declaring they were hot. He put one in front of her. He’d already set the table and had utensils waiting.

She picked up a fork and tried the concoction. It looked like an egg scramble of some sort with vegetables and maybe ham or sausage in it. Whatever it was, it was darn good. Suddenly, she was hungry. The smell of coffee had gone a long way to making her feel human, and the fact that she could actually drink a cup right away, as soon as she was up, was a miracle.

They ate in silence for the first few minutes. She put her fork down and picked up the coffee cup. “Thanks for this. It’s really good.” It had to be said. Manners were important.

“You’re welcome. Are you grumpy in the morning?”

“Yep. Don’t like to talk. Don’t like to get up. Don’t like to do anything but put the blankets over my head.”

His slight grin was all about sex. Why she thought that, she had no idea. Maybe he looked at her like the Big Bad Wolf. She was no Little Red Riding Hood, but at the same time, her panties had gone damp and her sex clenched in a kind of warning. The lines carved into his face were purely sensual. Those cold blue eyes of his suddenly held a thousand secrets, all of which she wanted to know. She liked the way his tee stretched over his broad chest and all those delicious muscles were just waiting to ripple when he moved.

“You put the blankets over your head when I call you to breakfast, I’ll be pulling you right out and bringing you in to eat, even if you don’t have a stitch on.”

Heat slid through her veins. Little fingers of desire danced up her thighs. Her clit pulsed with need. She wondered if a woman could have a spontaneous orgasm just from a few words from a man. If it was possible, she would have put her money on Timur as the man who could accomplish such a feat.

“I don’t sleep in the nude.” She gave him the information in her snippiest voice and forked another bite of his delicious concoction into her mouth. Spices burst on her tongue. It tasted good. She wondered what he would taste like. His skin. His mouth. He had a gorgeous mouth. She risked a look. She could fantasize over that mouth all day.

“That’s going to change.”

“What’s going to change?” she asked absently, wishing he was nude and she could memorize his body with her tongue.

“Sleeping with clothes. I want you naked when you’re sleeping with me.”

He stated it so quietly, so perfectly matter-of-factly, that for a moment his declaration didn’t register. She stared at him, her lashes fluttering because she couldn’t quite believe her ears. Had he just said what she thought he had? She stole another look at his hard features. Yeah, he’d just said it.

“That isn’t happening, although, I must say, the coffee was very welcome and this egg dish is amazing. But still, with regret, I have to decline your invitation.” She forked more eggs into her mouth and feigned being calm while she chewed.

Who would pass up a chance to sleep with him? What kind of idiot was she? She was never going to have this kind of chemistry with another man. He didn’t have to touch her, he just looked at her with that mixture of detachment and dark, dark desire. The kind of desire that set a woman’s body on fire. She kept her eyes on his, not daring to look away.

A very slow smile barely curved his bottom lip, as if he didn’t really know how to smile. His eyes remained as cold as ice. All that glacier blue. She could get trapped there if she wasn’t careful. The need to see that ice melt was becoming far too strong in her, and gaining more momentum with each passing second they were together.