Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Liv gave him a sidelong glance. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we can do whatever we want and when we wake up none of it will have really happened. That’s the beauty of dreams, don’t you think?”
“I think you’re crazy if you think I’ll do anything with you at all, dream or no dream,” Liv told him.
Baird shrugged. “Suit yourself. But can you honestly tell me you’re not the least bit interested in how it would be?” He leaned closer so that his muscular arm brushed hers and his thigh pressed against her bare leg. “There’s something between us, Olivia. Something you can’t deny.”
“I…I most certainly can.” But to her distress, her voice came out sounding breathy and uncertain. She cleared her throat. “I mean, you’re wrong.”
“If you’re so sure I’m wrong then you won’t mind letting me touch you.”
“T-touch me? What do you mean?”
“This is our holding week, Olivia.” Baird gave her a stern look. “That means I’m legally permitted to hold you and touch you.”
“But not under the clothes,” Liv reminded him anxiously. God, dream or no dream things were spinning out of control.
“Don’t worry, Lilenta. I won’t break the rules.” He raised a black eyebrow at her. “Worried you’ll lose control when I touch you?”
Liv frowned, her earlier resolve coming back. “Of course not. You know, you are so full of yourself. So sure I’ll do anything you want the minute you put your hands on me. Well I have news for you, Baird, I’m not that easy.”
“Well, well.” He grinned at her. “So you think you can lay there and take whatever I dish out without reacting?”
Liv gave him what she hoped was a supremely confident smile. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“Care to make it interesting?” His eyes were half lidded with lust again and filled with amusement. “Want to bet on it, Olivia?”
Suddenly some of her confidence deserted her. “What…what do you want to bet?”
He shrugged. “Nothing sexual, don’t worry about that. We’ll bet tomorrow night’s late-day meal. If I touch you and your body doesn’t react I’ll teach you how to make my favorite dish. But if you do react you’ll teach me to make the dish with sea creatures rolled in those tiny white grains.”
Liv almost laughed. “You really want me to teach you to make sushi? I warn you, I’m not exactly an expert. Although it might be more appetizing than whatever you have in mind.”
“You’d better win the bet then,” he rumbled. “Are we on?”
Liv nodded firmly. “Yes, absolutely. Just…uh, just one more question. How exactly do we know who wins and who loses? I mean, your definition of reaction and my definition of reaction may differ. Like if you, uh, blow on my nipples and they get hard in response to the cool air, that’s not really valid in my opinion.”
Baird gave her that slow, hot smile again. “How about this then—if I make you come, I win. If you don’t come, you win. Simple enough for you?”
Liv’s mouth felt dry. “I…I guess so,” she whispered.
“Good.” He nodded. “So, you ready?”
“Sure.” Liv took a deep breath. “Do your worst.”
“Or my best,” he growled softly and, without warning, he pulled her into his lap.
Liv gasped and started to struggle before she remembered she wasn’t supposed to. Let him do his worst, she reminded herself, sitting stiff as a board on his knee. No matter what he does I’m not going to react. And besides, it’s just a dream.
Baird surprised her. She’d been expecting him to go straight for her breasts, or maybe to thrust one hand between her legs, because that was exactly what Mitch would have done. Her ex-fiance was a go-for-the-gusto kind of guy who had never bothered to find out if she had any erogenous zones besides the obvious ones. So she was braced for a mauling as she held herself straight and tall in Baird’s lap.
What she didn’t expect was for him to pull her close and nuzzle his face into her hair.
“Mmm, you smell so good, Lilenta,” he murmured, his hot, cinnamon flavored breath blowing against the side of her neck.
Liv couldn’t help shivering. “What…what are you doing?” she demanded, wishing her voice didn’t sound quite so breathless.
“Breathing you in.” He nuzzled her again, the slight stubble on his cheeks brushing against the sensitive skin of her throat and making her shiver for a second time.
Being this close to him, Liv could smell him too. Considering it was just a dream, her senses seemed extraordinarily sharp. The warm, masculine musk that seemed to be his natural scent filled her head, making her dizzy. She wondered hazily if all the Kindred’s sense of smell was more developed than a human’s or if it was just the Beast Kindred that were into olfactory pleasures. Whatever it was, Baird seemed content for the moment to just “breathe her in” as he had put it, without touching her with his hands at all.