“Oh yeah. Because it takes serious brains to beat the bad guys with a huge metal stick.” Julian rolled his eyes in disgust.
Cyn studied her nails. “Oh look, I’m a big, bad warlock. I think I’ll give myself a mani-pedi while my summoned pet does all the work.”
“Yup. I named my pet Paladin.”
They glared at each other across the console. “Hmph.” Cyn relented first. “Maybe we could group sometime.”
“Oh, baby. I am so turned on right now.” Julian leaned forward and tried to steal a kiss.
Cyn added another bruise to his leg. She was really beginning to like these shoes.
“You’re mean.” Julian pouted as he put the car in gear and turned down her street.
“Yes. You have a problem with that?” She was fighting off a laugh. God, the man was such a goof! And he liked the same stuff she did, crazy though it was.
She was in such deep shit.
“Nope.” He pulled into her driveway and cut the engine. “I like it.”
She shivered. His deep voice had turned sultry, sexy as hell. She had goose bumps running down her arms. How the hell was she supposed to resist him when he spoke like that?
He leaned over the console and cupped the back of her head. She had learned to crave his taste in the short time they’d been dating. Cyn wasn’t one to give in to cravings just for the hell of it, but she was learning that Julian’s kiss was more than a craving. It was rapidly becoming an addiction.
Her heart beat faster as his lips drew near. She wanted his kiss more than anything, even more than she’d wanted Living Art. God, what was she supposed to do? Two weeks of dating and the man had her melted into a puddle of mindless goo.
His mouth came down on hers, gentle and patient, his tongue stroking her lips until she parted for him and allowed him inside. His taste hit her, made her shiver. Her nipples beaded beneath her padded bra, a new addition to her wardrobe thanks to a certain sexy Bear. It wouldn’t do to let him know that they went hard whenever he touched her. He kept it slow, languid, seducing her with his kiss, his hands staying exactly where he’d put them.
He was adhering to the rules she’d set down, and she’d never been more sorry in her life.
Julian broke the kiss and smiled down at her. His eyes were pure silver. “Let me walk you to your door tonight.”
Oh hell to the no. If Julian got to her door she’d invite him in, and she wasn’t ready for that. She swallowed hard. “Not yet.”
Is that my voice? It was husky and low and, God help her, chock full of a need she wasn’t quite ready to fulfill.
Julian grimaced and shifted in his seat. He smiled, and she was once again reminded of why she wanted to take things slow when his fangs poked his bottom lip. “I’ll watch for your signal.”
She shook her head. Really, the man took overprotective too far sometimes. No one was after Cyn, and the fucker who’d been after Tabby was in shifter jail, hopefully getting his ass reamed by Tony the Tiger. “You’re the one who told Alex and Ryan to constantly stop by the shop, weren’t you?”
Those silver eyes darkened back to brown. “Why would I do that?” He pulled back until he was back in his own seat. “Alex is the overprotective one, not me. Ryan, on the other hand, just wants his mate.” The look he shot her should have melted the dashboard. “I understand how he feels.”
She remembered some of the things Alex had told her, about how shifters yearned for their mates until it became almost painful. “Have I told you you’re doing a good job with the whole dating thing?”
“It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”
She could practically feel the laugh trying to break free. She huffed and tapped her foot. “Way to ruin a mood, Share Bear.”
He froze. “Oh no you didn’t.”