That statement brought to mind images of the hunter perusing the shelves at a grocery store, and holding up boxes of wheat pasta and sorghum pasta while trying to decide which one was the better choice.
I smothered a smile, laughing inside when I remembered that the hunter had a domestic streak. If only the Shadow Zone’s inhabitants knew that.
“Thank you,” I mumbled when he pushed my chair in behind me.
“You’re welcome.” He winked, an amused glint in his eye.
He seated himself, then handed me a full wine glass. I took a large swallow, definitely needing alcohol right now.
“I hope you’re okay with medium-rare,” he said as he cut into his steak.
“I’m a vegetarian.”
His eyes widened to saucers, and a look of such horror streaked across his face, that I burst out laughing.
“I’m kidding, totally kidding.” But I couldn’t stop my snort.
It took a second for him to regain his composure, but then he laughed and took a few jabs at me, which helped quell some of the stiffness rolling through my spine. Cheeky banter with the hunter I could handle, but romantic meals and unquenched sexual frustration? That was much more challenging.
Somehow, we managed to make it through dinner without it feeling like a Hallmark movie, which of course was helped when—despite the romantic atmosphere and crackling fire—our bantering and needling continued.
But despite our less than traditional way of interacting, I was thankful for it. It helped keep my stomach from roiling with nerves, and the constant smiles and laughs from the hunter—and okay, who was I kidding, from me too—made the meal actually enjoyable, which was an entirely new level of crazy.
I leaned back in my chair when I finished the last of my steak, so full I wanted to curl up in front of the fire like a cat and go to sleep. If only Prisha knew that I’d just shared a candlelight dinner with the menace of society. She would get a total kick out of it. Perhaps I’d have to add a P.S. to my letter.
“Shall we go to bed?” the hunter asked as he collected the dishes.
That statement snapped me upright like a jack-in-the-box. “Bed? Right. Forgot about that.” Fuck a duck.
A slow seductive smile spread across his face. “I haven’t.”
“I can do the dishes,” I said, surging to my feet as my insides fluttered.
“No need.” The hunter pulled something out from under the sink, and with bulging eyes, I realized it was a fae charm. Sure enough, he tossed the charm into the air, whispered two words, and in a flurried magical cloud, the plates and dirty pans disappeared only to reappear a moment later stacked on the shelves, as clean and dry as the day they were bought.
“I see you brought your expensive cleaning products along.”
“I don’t leave home without them,” he replied, totally deadpan.
Despite the anxiety swirling through my belly, I laughed.
The hunter prowled toward me, still not touching me, but his voice dipped when he said, “Time for bed. After you.”
I swallowed the dryness in my throat, suddenly feeling like a blushing virgin on her wedding night, not that I actually knew what that felt like since I’d lost my virginity in high school, but I imagined it would feel similar to this.
Turning stiffly, I marched up the stairs, but then that march turned into a jog, and then an all-out run. How had the night come this fast?
“Are you that eager to join me in bed?” the hunter called from down the hall, a smile in his voice.
“Ha ha, very funny!” I called over my shoulder.
When I reached the master bedroom, I grabbed pajamas, then realized I was holding that black lacy thing Tessa had packed. Definite no to that one. Throwing it to the side, I grabbed an oversized T-shirt and dipped into the bathroom to get changed and brush my teeth.
When I emerged, my breath sucked in when I found the hunter in the bedroom. He stood by the window gazing outside. He wore nothing but loose shorts that hung low on his hips.
My gaze crawled up his back, over the broad planes and tantalizing muscles, across the swirling tattoo, then dipped down his bare arms, taking in the chiseled biceps and sinewy forearms. Despite trying desperately to keep my arousal smothered, I knew it was apparent when the hunter turned. His nostrils flared, and a slow smile curved his lips.
“I take it you like what you see?”
Since I wasn’t dignifying that gloating comment with a response, I dove for the bed. I was under the covers with them pulled up to my chin before the hunter could turn fully around. I rolled to the farthest side of the bed that I could manage, but I was teetering. One misbalance, and I’d end up on the floor.
“Night!” I called shrilly.
The lights clicked off, and I heard the hunter dip into the bathroom. The sound of running water and brushing teeth came next, then the flush of the toilet.
My heart hammered as a thousand self-deprecating insults flew through my head that I’d been asinine enough to agree to this deal.
A moment later, the covers lifted and the bed dipped. The hunter was in full predatory mode, moving as silently as the wind.
“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” he asked, a smile in his voice.
“Yep. I’m good. Nighty night!”
“It’s just that you look like you could roll off the bed at any—”
“I’m good!”
A long, heavy sigh came, then the feel of the mattress sinking further when he inched closer to the middle.
“Please stay on your side,” I said formally.
A soft chuckle came from the dark. “We have sides?”
“Yes, we do. Think of us like an old married couple who ignore each other every night and give each other our backs when we turn the lights off.”
“I can’t imagine being an old married couple with you. I doubt we’d be that mundane.”
I snorted. “Well, then you should stop reading romance novels. All couples end up that way.”
“I don’t read romance novels. I read non-fiction.”
“Well, then don’t start reading romance. It’ll only give you wayward ideas of what reality’s actually like.”
“Does that mean you read romance novels?”
“Hardly.” I snorted, even though, yes, I totally read them. But I wasn’t going to tell the hunter that. I could only imagine the merciless teasing that would ensue.
“Are you speaking from experience then?” he asked. “Do you have memories of being an old married couple in your previous life?”
“No, but if I did, I imagine that’s what it’d be like.”
“You know, I’ve never seen or heard you look so tense before. Maybe I should massage—”
“Nope! Don’t even think about it. Your side. My side. Don’t cross it or I’ll gouge your eyeballs out.”
“Hmm.” Another dip came from the mattress, then he purred, “There’s that violent side I love so much.”
“I highly doubt that you would love it if your eyeballs were hanging from your head by their retinas.”
A strangled laugh came from him, before he said huskily, “So graphic. You’re giving me a hard-on.”
I whipped around to face the hunter, my mouth falling open. “Are you serious?”
He laughed—truly laughed—and I realized I’d fallen right into his trap.
“No, that particular image doesn’t turn me on, but the thought of you attacking me and raking your nails over my chest, now that—”
“Goodnight!” I whirled back around, giving him my back once more, and even though he made a few more comments, trying to draw me in with his insufferable demony wit, I didn’t fall for it.