That was because as bad as he hated to be mocked and insulted by men, it was even harder to take from a woman he found desirable. Nothing stung worse than to muster the courage to talk to a woman and then have her shoot him down before he could get more than a badly stuttered word out.
And if they laughed at him ...
There were some humiliations no one needed.
As much as he despised it, he was extremely attracted to this woman. All he could think about was tasting her lips. Of making love to her until they were both spent and dizzy.
To have one moment in her arms ...
But he wasn't brave enough to risk it. He'd been mocked enough in his life. Now, he only wanted to exist in solitude.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Ren would have ignored it had it not been Talon's ringtone. He still needed to tell them that the Ixkib was safe.
Pulling his phone out, he turned his back to the woman and answered it. "Osiyo?"
Kateri froze at how deep and resonant his voice was as he said "hello" in Tsalagi. It sounded nothing like it did in her dreams. It was much, much more masculine and baritone-like rumbling thunder.
And while his back wasn't as terrifying as that penetrating grimace he wore whenever he faced her, it was every bit as well formed as his front. The kind of back that begged a woman to run her hand down it so that she could feel those hard muscles flex.
Her throat went dry as a wave of desire seared her. Stop it, Ter ...
That was much easier said than done. There was something about him that was absolutely magnetic.
"She's here." Then Ren was silent again as he listened.
Well, at least I'm not the only one he ignores. She was surprised he wasn't tapping out his answers on the phone-one tap meant yes. Two for no.
After a few seconds, he spoke again. "Later." He hung up and closed the phone, then turned back around.
"So, you can speak," she teased.
His face completely somber, he nodded as he slid the phone into his pocket.
"Can I ask who was on the phone, since it was obviously about me?"
"Talon."
At least she finally got a word from him that was actually directed at her. "You know ... wow, these two-syllable answers ... impressive. Can I ratchet it up to three? Oh heck, let's go for broke and get a whole sentence out. What do you think?"
Ren wanted to be angry at her, but for some reason he found her charming. She wasn't attacking him ... she was playfully teasing him about the very things Jess, Choo, and Talon got on to him for.
Because of the way he'd been treated as a human, he never liked conversing with people. It was easier to pretend they didn't exist. After all, he'd been invisible to most of them while he'd lived. Hell, even in death people rarely acknowledged him. It was why he kept to the shadows, out of their sight.
"C'mon, big guy," she said, rising up on her tiptoes so that she could lay her hand against his jaw.
The moment her flesh touched his, his entire body went white-hot. Every hormone he possessed fired into overdrive. For a moment, he couldn't breathe as that heat seared him and he tried to imagine what she'd taste like.
With a smile that caused his stomach to flutter, she moved his jaw up and down. "You can do it. Look how easy...." Then she deepened her voice to mimic his. "Wow, Teri. I never knew speaking would be so easy. Thanks for telling me. I might even want to try and do this on my own one day."
In spite of himself, he smiled at her antics. No one had ever been so playful around him. Most kept a wide distance out of fear.
Pulling her hand away, he stared down at her. "Ha ha."
She scowled. "You really can't go over two syllables, can you? What? Did you lose a bet with a sorcerer or something? If you let out three does your head explode or do you get some form of ED?"
Erectile dysfunction? She did not just go there....