Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Callan shook his head. “What other places do you frequent?”
“Not many. The grocery store, my dry cleaners. I order most things, and I doubt it’s the delivery guy since they’re always different.” He sighed and started to run his fingers through his hair but it was pulled back. With a headache flirting through his skull, he needed his hair down, so he quickly did that. He ran his fingers through the loose strands then looked up to find Callan watching him avidly.
“You have pretty hair,” the demon said softly. “I like it down.”
“It’s more professional to keep it up, but I was getting a headache, so it’s staying down for the last class.” He looked at the note again. “I just don’t understand what makes one person think they can be this intrusive in another person’s life. There has to be something really wrong with them. Just knowing I’m being watched like this is really starting to mess with my head. I brushed it off at first, but I can’t now. This is serious.”
“It is.”
Callan surprised him when he reached out and fingered some strands of Lonnie’s hair.
“It’s so soft,” Callan whispered.
It was his one feature Lonnie felt was actually pretty. Even Richard had loved his hair, always urging him to keep it long. Lonnie preferred it that way, so Richard’s opinion hadn’t factored into his reasons for keeping the length. Now, he stared up at Callan, who seemed almost mesmerized by it, and he was fiercely glad he had this one thing that made him stand out a little. With his thin, too-wide lips and his ridiculously small nose, he’d always felt his face wasn’t attractive, but the way Callan looked at him made him feel differently. He did feel attractive when Callan stared at him. Which thrilled him to no end because gaining the interest of someone so amazing made Lonnie’s heart swell. Callan had such a presence with his huge body and his craggy face. He was a magical being. More than human.
And he’d made his interest plain with his gift and the way he gazed at Lonnie. It filled Lonnie’s stomach with butterflies.
His breath caught when Callan moved his fingers to his lips, tracing the lower one with his thumb. They stared at each other, a sexual tension Lonnie had never felt in his life building between them. And when Callan’s usual frown lifted into a smile, Lonnie found he couldn’t breathe at all. That thumb kept gently tracing his lower lip, and the urge to suck it into his mouth was so strong, he opened his mouth.
“Professor Russell?”
He jumped back as one of his students hurried into the classroom, breaking the tense moment completely. At least he hadn’t been sucking on Callan’s thumb like he’d wanted to.
Heat filled his cheeks as he turned to face his student. She was standing rather awkwardly, her gaze darting back and forth between him and Callan as a smile tilted one corner of her mouth.
“Yes, Lana, what do you need?”
She launched into a discussion about her current story as Callan moved away from him and leaned against a wall. But Lonnie stayed highly aware of the demon, his body inwardly vibrating with excitement. There was something…powerful there. Something out of his realm of experience.
And he wanted more.
Chapter Twelve
Callan
Callan had his next courting gift ready. He’d had the first gift wrapped, but this one he did himself. Took him three frustrating tries. He stared at the blue paper proudly. It was the exact shade of Lonnie’s big blue eyes. Getting the corners just right had been a bitch.
Lonnie was in the kitchen, cooking another of those big breakfasts he barely made a dent in, so Callan knew they were for his benefit. In his own way, Lonnie was courting him, too. He just didn’t know that making a favorite meal for a loved one was a part of this.
Taking his gift into the kitchen, Callan knew he was smiling like a fool, but he couldn’t stop. It had taken four stores that catered to preternaturals to find this.
“Another gift?” Lonnie turned from the stove and waved the spatula he was holding in the air. He wore a soft-looking pair of black pajama pants and a loose blue T-shirt. His pretty hair was pulled into a tail, probably so none went into the food. “Why are you giving me presents?”
“Demon tradition.”
“Again? You’re going to have to explain more about this at some point, you know.” He turned back to the stove to flip the eggs. Bacon sizzled in the other pan, and Callan could smell some kind of bread baking.
His stomach growled loudly.
“From the sound of your belly, I may need to cook more food. Do you like biscuits and gravy? My mother was from the south and always made it for Gabby and me.”