Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
But we’d been in each other’s presence for mere hours, and the level of how dismayed I was not only that we wouldn’t be going to the showing together, but that he’d be gone for three days, was, well…seriously dismaying.
“That’s okay,” I lied. “I’m used to going to things alone. But I wanted to say—”
“I would ask you to come with me on my trip, but as I’ll be busy, I fear it’d be boring for you.”
I’d been off-planet once. During a shoot for a vid titled The Other Side of the Sun. It was a sappy romance couched in an action-adventure. The hero died. The audience was incensed.
But my costumes got good reviews.
When I was there, I didn’t have a lot of time to explore, and I’d always wished I had. Off-planet travel was expensive, and I didn’t know when I’d get another chance.
Still.
“I don’t get bored easily. The thing is—”
His brows shot up. “Would you like to come?”
I started laughing as I reached high to press my fingers to his mouth.
Those weren’t hard like his chest; they were soft and lovely.
“Can I finish a sentence?” I requested playfully.
He took hold of my wrist, kissed my fingers, then pulled my hand back to his chest.
Mmmmm.
Nice move.
“Continue,” he urged.
“I just wanted to say…”
Dang.
How to say what I wanted to say?
A breeze ruffled his hair and picked up mine, so he pressed my hand to his chest as indication he wanted me to keep it there, then he reached out and gently tucked my hair behind my ear.
I felt his touch shiver down my neck in a tender way that settled right in my heart.
Okay then.
I knew how to say it.
“Thank you.”
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Thank you,” I repeated. “Thank you for being normal. Thank you for letting me grill you at dinner. Thank you for taking me somewhere fabulous, but not making a big deal out of it. It was an exceptional dinner, but it wasn’t an event. It wasn’t, look! Prince Aleksei is out on the town, squiring his latest squeeze. Thank you for making it just…us.”
“That is what we agreed, Laura,” he reminded me.
I shook my head. “Maybe you don’t understand. What I’m saying is, you could do that by just being you. Instead, what you did was you gave me you, the real you. That’s what you gave me tonight. And I really enjoyed having it. So…thank you.”
When I stopped speaking, he made a rough noise deep in his throat.
I felt that noise drive deep between my legs.
And then his hand was sliding along my jaw, back into my hair, and I could feel the heat from his body beating into mine.
I thought he was going to kiss me.
He didn’t.
“Come with me,” he murmured.
“To see the troll skin?” I breathed, so caught up in him, I was no longer following.
“To Thoth.”
Oh dear.
“I want that,” I whispered.
“Then it’s done,” he growled.
Growled!
That drove between my legs too.
Focus, Laura!
“Aleksei—”
“I’ll comm Allain to make arrangements.”
He shifted to move away, it seemed in order to pull out his Palm, but I caught his wrist this time, keeping it where it was and him where he was.
“Something to know about me,” I started quietly, and I had to admit, a little worried (right, more than a little worried) about what I had to say.
“Yes?”
I took in a deep breath and gave it to him.
“You’re going to show me that troll skin, and I’m going to get inspired. Then I’m going to descend into a place where it’s all about the script, the characters, the possibilities. By the time you get back from Thoth, I’ll have several options to present the director, with a full complement of sketches to back them up, because I’ll become obsessed.” I squeezed his wrist. “This is not about you. It doesn’t reflect on me wanting to spend more time with you and get to know you. It’s just how I am. It’s how my process works. And part of that will be frenzied trips to half a dozen fabric stores to pull swatches, and I’m not sure they’ll have what I need on Thoth. I could design while you go to your meetings, or whatever. But it’d be incredibly frustrating not to have access to a plethora of textiles to feed the obsession, the vision, and see what it’d be in execution.”
Aleksei said nothing.
I said nothing.
This was becoming familiar.
He spoke first. “Then you won’t go, and I’ll rearrange the meetings so I can be back in time for your friend’s showing.”
Oh, this sweet beast.
“That’s really thoughtful,” I whispered. “But unnecessary.”
“This showing is concerning me greatly, Laura.”
It was?
My question must have shown on my face because he answered, “It will be very difficult for me to know you’re among unattached males without me in your presence so I can mark you.”
Hunh?
“Why?”
“Why?” he repeated after me.