Page 13 of Speechless
She smiled.
A full-wattage albeit very shy smile that brought the cutest dimples to her narrow face and gave her an innocent, almost childlike aura. Something bright glowed in her eyes, and all Connor could think was,I need to make her mine.
He led her back to the bedroom, mindful of her bare feet. She hadn’t done any permanent damage in her escape, but her dainty soles had taken a rough punishment and he had no doubt they gave her discomfort. He asked her to wait beside the bed and didn’t miss the anxious glance she gave it.
“You’re not here for that, baby. I’m not asking that of you.” Connor unwrapped her from the damp towel, scrubbed it gently over her hair, before he tossed it into a chair in the corner. “Laundry pile.”
She remained motionless where he’d left her as he moved to his drawers and pulled out a long black T-shirt with a big, tough-looking bull emblazoned on the front.
“Arms up,” he ordered and quickly dressed her in the T-shirt.
What might have fit him perfectly was not a good fit for Jenna, Connor thought and stifled a laugh. He was tall and fairly broad. The T-shirt hadn’t been made for a lass nearly a foot shorter and half his size.
In essence, it drowned her in waves of black, silky material.
“Okay, looks like we’re good to go. Let me just change and we’ll go hunt something nice up for your breakfast. Actually, it’ll be lunch but never mind,” he added with a wink.
He started pulling items from different drawers, then gave her a sidelong look. “Why don’t you, ah, go downstairs and find Sarah, baby? I’ll only be two minutes getting dressed.”And I don’t want to frighten you with the sight of a big, naked male body.
Jenna glanced toward the door, then back at him. She eased closer to him, her fingers curling around his forearm in a fierce grip.
Well, shit. Connor stared at her dumbfounded and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now. He patted her hand gently. “Okay then, you just stay there.” He frowned. “You ever seen a naked man before, Jenna?”
Something dark and haunted flickered through her eyes before she nodded. The fingers on his arm flexed, trembled with some unpleasant memory.
“Sit down,” he said gently and eased her onto the bed. With careful moves he plucked her fingers from his arm and set her hands in her lap, placed his on top in reassurance. “Give me two minutes to get my boxers off and some clean ones on, okay? Just close your eyes until I say so.”
She did so, and Connor wasted no time in springing for his underwear drawer and yanking out a pair of dark green boxer briefs. He whipped off his wet pair and tossed them into the corner with the towel, then whirled when Jenna gasped loudly.
Her eyes as round as moons, her pupils dilating as they drifted down his body to lock on his crotch, then shooting up and to his right. Her pale skin flushed a brilliant shade of red as her mouth dropped open.
He sighed heavily. Now she’d be traumatized forever by the sight of his penis standing at half—no, make that full-mast. As if she didn’t have enough to think about in that bonny little head of hers.
*
There were things going on inside her Jenna never knew existed. Her mind screamed at her to turn away, to avert her gaze before Connor got mad and lifted his hand to her for disobeying a direct order. She knew the punishment for disobedience, and it wasn’t something she ever wanted to suffer through again.
Meanwhile, her belly filled with the oddest fluttering sensation. Between her legs, the place she associated with dying filled with moisture, slick and plentiful. And how sick wasthat, she asked herself in disgust.
The man was sculpted to suit all aspects of female appreciation. Even her limited knowledge of men didn’t stop her from understanding that this man in particular was an exception to the rule.
Sire’s body couldn’t compare to Connor’s temple of muscle.
Her eyes flicked from point to point, landing anywhere but on that body. She couldn’t stop the anxiousness, didn’t know what to do with herself. She wanted to look, to touch, to hold. Would his skin be as soft as it appeared, his muscles as hard and strong? Would the warmth of him dispel the aching cold settled in the heart of her?
His hand pressed against her cheek, and when she found the courage to look at him, she discovered she was disappointed to see he’d gotten dressed—albeit casually—in dark grey jogging bottoms and a black T-shirt.
“I’m sorry,” Connor said quietly. “That was unorthodox of me.”
Unorthodox? Jenna frowned at the word. She reached out, mirrored the gesture of his hand with her own and smiled a little at the scrape of bristle against her palm. Her brazenness shocked her but the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips felt like coming home.
His gray eyes darkened swiftly until they resembled the heralding clouds of a vicious storm. She traced across his firm mouth curiously and watched something dark and feral flash across his face.
Part of her, the innocent she was, cowered in deference to the beast chained behind Connor’s calm outward façade. Another part of her shouted for joy at the newfound knowledge she wasn’t the only one with something locked away. And the third part of her, the part kept segregated from society and that had taken the biggest hits from Sire, simply threw back its head in a howl and beckoned Connor’s dark side to join her.
“Don’t start something I’m not prepared to finish,” Connor said, his voice a wicked rumble in his chest. His hands cupped possessively around her head, making her tilt back to stare endlessly and without complaint into his beautiful eyes.
Her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips; his gaze dropped to watch the movement. Slowly, he bent his head and touched his mouth to the corner of hers. First one, then the other. Soft as the brush of a butterfly’s wings, with just enough pressure to send a shudder of unimagined pleasure arrowing down her spine.