“You know I noticed you that first meeting?”
She stared at him in disbelief. “No, I didn’t know you noticed me then—was this before or after you tried to kill us all?”
“That was politics.”
“Well, that makes me feel a whole load better.”
Annoyance flashed in his eyes at her sarcasm, but was quickly gone. “I did notice you, and that was something that I wasn’t expecting. I haven’t wanted a woman in years. I thought it was the Meridian, just another side effect, and then I saw you and—”
“And it was love at first sight. Aw, that’s so sweet and a total load of bullshit.” She couldn’t believe he was trying to get around her like this. Talk about low. Her hand went to the laser pistol at her waist; she fingered the trigger and wondered whether she should shoot him.
“Not love at first sight, no. I’m not even sure I believe in love. Maybe once I did, but not anymore—occupational hazard of living a long time, I guess. No, it was more in the way of lust at first sight, but that was good enough for me.” He grinned and for the first time he looked wholly human. “You’re the reason I picked this ship. I believed I was no longer a man—you made me think otherwise.”
The slimy bastard might not have done it in a while, but he hadn’t lost the ability to flirt. Even acknowledging that, and the fact that she knew he was trying to manipulate her, her heartbeat still fluttered. To her complete and utter amazement, she was softening toward him. The sensation was so new that when he reached out and took her hand, tugging it away from where it rested on the butt of her pistol, she didn’t attempt to pull away. He held it lightly, turned it palm up, and stroked it with the pad of her thumb. A tingle ran from her hand, up her arm, then down through her body, to settle in the hollow place where her stomach used to be. He lifted the hand to his mouth and placed a soft kiss in the center of her palm. The tip of his tongue touched her skin, moist and incredibly hot, and flames burned along her nerve endings.
Tannis locked her muscles rigid to stop from squirming, but her whole body trembled. And not with fear. Part of her told herself to get up, show him the door, keep this on a strict business footing. The rest of her… Well she didn’t understand what the rest of her wanted, but whatever it was, she was sure she’d never wanted it before.
“I know you feel the same,” he murmured.
“I do?”
Is this how he felt? All hot and heavy. She’d never understood the desires that seemed to drive other people, never known why they went such lengths for something as messy and unpleasant as sex. Now, for the first time she had an inkling.
“I saw the way you looked at me that day.”
“You did?”
Jesus, she must sound like a complete moron, but her brain refused to cooperate—in fact, the traitorous organ had turned to mush.
“Yes, it made me hot and hard.” He laughed softly. “And you’re doing it again right now.”
“I am?” Her voice came out as a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I am?”
“Oh yes. Come here.” He pulled on her hand, and she almost fell toward him. Her other hand shot out for balance and landed on his chest. She could feel the hard muscle beneath her, the heat of his skin radiating through the soft material. He tugged a little harder and she found herself pressed up against him. She waited for the sense of revulsion to overwhelm her, to give her the strength to back off. But nothing even remotely like revulsion came along to help her.
Breathing in deeply, she caught the scent of warm male, musky and strange to her, and she realized that she hadn’t been this close to a man since Rico had carried her on board El Cazador all those years ago. The thought pulled her up short, but then Callum’s hand slipped under her chin and lifted her face. For a moment she gazed into his eyes, they’d darkened to deep, vibrant purple, and she lost herself in their depths, hardly even noticed his mouth lowering to hers.
His lips were incredibly soft and insistent.
For someone who claimed he hadn’t done it in a long time, he was certainly a good kisser. Not that she had much to compare it to—nothing really. Then she forgot about everything, as he parted her lips and his tongue pushed inside.
She stiffened but then relaxed against him with a tiny sigh. Maybe he sensed her incipient fear, because he kept his movements slow, almost languid, as he filled her mouth with the hot, wet thrust of his tongue, and her body melted against him, her insides turning molten.