When he reached Dana’s name though, Aidan hesitated.
He’d seen her every night since their first date. He had taken her to dinner. She had cooked for him in her home above her shop. He had cooked for her at the country home he rarely used. They had slumped down, hip to hip, on her sofa and watched movies together, feet propped on her coffee table, hands brushing as they shared a big bowl of popcorn. They had walked along the stream behind her home, holding hands as the night serenaded them.
She was so warm and funny. So affectionate.
They had talked and laughed and kissed and touched and teased until his body burned.
And he had loved every minute of it.
It had been the best two weeks of his entire existence.
But they had not made love.
Though Aidan thought she was ready to take that next step, he hesitated.
Yes, they had learned a lot about each other. But she still didn’t know that one oh-so-important fact: that he was immortal.
It just didn’t seem right to make love to her without telling her first.
And he sure as hell didn’t want Reordon to be the one to tell her. Chris might claim to lack bias, but he would always think the worst of Aidan.
Aidan wouldn’t put it past Chris to sabotage his relationship with Dana out of pure spite.
“What’s wrong?” Seth asked.
Glancing up, Aidan found the Immortal Guardians’ leader studying him carefully.
Aidan shook his head. “Nothing. Just trying to puzzle it all out.” Returning his attention to the papers on the table, Aidan skipped Dana’s name without circling it and continued down the list.
Aidan spent damned near every spare minute he had with Dana. He didn’t need Chris to confirm that she was all right. Aidan would keep her safe himself.
Besides, she didn’t work for the network. And Aidan thought it likely that Veronica had been targeted for her network connections.
Why Gershom—and it had to have been Gershom—had chosen to adopt Aidan’s appearance to abduct her, Aidan didn’t know.
Hopefully Chris would get the bug out of his butt quickly enough to help them figure it out so they could find her.
Chapter Six
Dana glanced at the clock. Aidan was due any minute. And she was eager to see him again. The day had been a long one, the visions she’d had compelling her to deliver more bad news than usual. The high point had been telling LeAnn, who had just discovered she was pregnant and didn’t want to wait to hear it, that her baby was a girl. The midpoint—or the good news/bad news point—had been telling Connie that her husband wasn’t cheating on her and spending their savings on a mistress, he was blowing it gambling. And the low point had been telling Ashley to stop procrastinating and see her doctor because the cancer was back.
The tinkling of the bell over her door alerted her to a new arrival. Turning, she watched Aidan duck inside. He was dressed casually tonight in black pants and a black button-down shirt with the collar open. They had decided not to venture out tonight and instead planned to order in from that fantastic restaurant he’d taken her to on their first date and watch a movie.
“Hi, handsome,” she said with a smile. As always, the stress of the day fell away and her heart began to beat faster as he grinned down at her.
“Hi, yourself, beautiful.”
Grabbing his tie, she tugged him down for a kiss.
Lightning struck at the first touch of his lips, sending heat coursing through her body.
Humming his approval, Aidan curled an arm around her waist and drew her up against him.
Dana rose onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck.
How he made her body burn. No man had ever made her feel the way Aidan did, so desperate for his touch.
Aidan wrapped his other arm around her, clutching a fistful of her hair and urging her closer. Her breasts pressed against his muscled chest, nipples hardening at the delicious contact. When he slid his other hand down over her bottom, urging her against his growing erection, she moaned.
It was getting harder and harder to resist the urge to make love with him.
Was fourteen dates long enough to wait? She had wanted to take things slowly and proceed with caution but really didn’t think she could go another night without feeling his bare skin against hers.
He was so damned hot. And Dana had never felt happier than she had during the past two weeks. It felt almost as though she had been merely sleepwalking until Aidan had found her and woken her up. He made her laugh, made her heart light, and eradicated the loneliness that had begun to weigh on her as her damned gift ruined every relationship she tried. She had really begun to think she would never find that special someone, that she would spend the remainder of her life alone.
But Aidan wasn’t threatened by her gift. He rarely even mentioned it. Visions still came to her. The same two of Aidan sword fighting with his reenactment buddies. She’d had more visions of them making love as well, which made it all the harder to resist temptation. But the other things she had seen had been pretty mundane. Him standing in a sunny meadow with his hand on a man’s shoulder. Aidan had told her the African-American man was his friend Cliff, who was ill.
She also saw him singing a lullaby to a pretty redheaded baby. That, he had told her, had been a moment from his past. The child he’d sung to in a very appealing, deep voice was the little one for whom he had cleaned up his language and was now a toddler.
The fact that she caught glimpses of his past, present, and future didn’t seem to bother him in the least. It was so nice to have the freedom to simply be herself around him. To be around someone who didn’t care that she was different. And to have so much fun with him.
Aidan gave her something to look forward to every evening. Instead of dreading the quiet that would surround her the moment her last customer left, Dana now couldn’t wait for the day to end and counted the minutes, knowing Aidan would arrive soon after and the two would spend hour after amazing hour together.
Life was good again, in a way it really hadn’t been since her parents had died. All because of the man in her arms.
Dana combed her fingers through his hair, arched her hips into his.
Groaning, Aidan rocked against her.
Sparks of heat shot through her as she broke the kiss on a gasp.
Aidan ducked his head, burying his face in the crook of her neck. “Damn, you feel good,” he whispered, his deep voice hoarse with need.
It only excited her more. “What do you say we forget dinner and the movie?” she whispered, her breath shortening.
“How you tempt me,” he rumbled, tightening his hold.
“If I tempted you as much as you tempt me,” she pronounced boldly, “we would both be naked right now.”
He growled—actually growled—as his hands roved her back.
His phone chirped in his pocket.
Aidan swore and loosened his hold.
Dana groaned.