on the edge of her thumbnail. She didn’t have to go home. She didn’t need her handbag or anything else. And Vivian would be more than happy to lend her something to wear and drive her wherever she wanted to go.
* * *
Quill reclined in the tub, arms resting on the sides, his eyes closed. The air was moist, fragrant with the scent of Callie’s lavender-scented bubble bath. He smiled inwardly, amused by the turn of her thoughts. She worried that he was controlling her actions. Control was not quite the right word, he mused, though he had planted suggestions in her mind, like telling her to meet him in Hunter Park and calling her to him after the Knights attacked him. He wondered if she would decide to spend the next few days with her friend.
And if he would let her.
* * *
Callie was a block away from Vivian’s house when there was a shimmer in the air and Quill appeared on the sidewalk, fully clothed, in front of her. Startled, she reeled back and would have fallen if he hadn’t grabbed her arm to steady her.
“What . . . what are you doing here?” she exclaimed. “How . . . ?”
“It isn’t safe for you to be out walking alone at night.”
“I’m fine!” she snapped, jerking her arm from his grasp.
“Come home, Callie.” His voice caressed her like dark silk. Lost in the depths of his eyes, she didn’t resist when he captured her hand with his.
When he turned toward home, she fell into step beside him. They walked in silence for several blocks. Callie glanced at him surreptitiously from time to time, thinking he looked devastatingly handsome in a pair of black jeans and a pullover sweater the same shade of dark gray as his eyes. And then she frowned. “Where did you get those clothes?”
“I made a quick trip to my lair.”
“Your lair?” Animals had lairs. People had homes.
“Where I take my rest.”
“And where might that be?”
“I’m afraid that’s something I never share.”
“Is it nearby?”
His gaze assessed hers. “Why do you want to know?”
“You know where I live,” she said with a shrug. “Turnabout is fair play, don’t you think?”
“Ordinarily, yes. But in this case, it’s better for both of us if that remains a mystery.”
Callie mulled that over. Surely he wasn’t afraid of her? Maybe he was worried that she might betray him if she knew. She wanted to believe that was something she would never do, but in reality, she feared that, under certain circumstances, she might tell his enemies anything they wanted to know.
Quill smiled as he followed her train of thought. The longer he knew her, the better he liked her.
“How long are you planning to stay at my house?” she asked as they turned onto her street.
“Would you like me to leave?”
She started to say yes, but the words died, unspoken. The truth was, she liked having him there. Until she met Quill, her life had been dull and predictable. Save for Vivian, she had few close friends. Most of the girls she had known in college had married or moved away.
When they reached home, Quill held the door for her, then followed her inside.
Callie went into the kitchen for a can of soda. When she returned to the living room, he was sitting on the sofa, his long legs stretched out in front of him, one arm resting along the back of the couch. His gaze met hers, a question in his eyes.
She hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then went to sit beside him. A million butterflies took wing in the pit of her stomach when he slipped his arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him, suddenly breathless as he took the soda from her hand, placed it on the coffee table, and drew her into his embrace.
For a time, he simply held her. Not so tightly that she felt trapped. She met his gaze, wondering what secrets lay hidden in the depths of his eyes. Anticipation thrummed through every fiber of her being as he lowered his head. She had expected him to bite her, felt an unexpected thrill of excitement when his mouth claimed hers.
His lips were firm and cool, his tongue hot as it swept over her lower lip. Leaning into him, she moaned softly as he deepened the kiss. She clung to him as the world spun out of focus and there was only the two of them, mouths fused together, bodies