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Dee Tenorio
Long minutes later, when they d finally started breathing like people instead of
stampeding beasts, Travis wrapped her in his arms and pulled her to his side. Vetta was
too boneless to even ask questions, which was great because her brain was too mushy to
think of any.
Sleep, he whispered, smearing a kiss across her forehead.
I never sleep, she replied. At least, that s what she meant to reply, but he was so
warm and his hold so comforting that she had fallen into darkness without even realizing
it.
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Test Me
Chapter Five
She woke to the soothing strokes of a rough hand at the small of her back. A smile
spread over her mouth and she suddenly understood what it was like to be a kitten.
Warm, curled against a comforting body, petted by a steady hand. Of course, this hand
had a goal, curving over her butt as if trying to gauge how well it would fit in his hand.
They hadn t bothered with getting under the blankets or turning off the small lamp
on her bedside table. Beneath the canopy, though, in that mild yellow light, they were
warm enough skin to skin. She burrowed against Travis s chest, her legs tangled with his
bristly ones, his heartbeat beneath her cheek, steady and strong. This was what she d
wanted for her first time. This warmth, this comfort. The sense that he cared enough
about her to hold her, even if only for a few minutes. She exhaled a sigh, one that felt like
it came from her toes. Yes, this was what she d wanted.
I have to leave.
Her eyes opened in surprise and before she realized she d done it, her arms tightened
around his waist. What?
He made a growly, sleepy noise she recognized. He usually did it when he had to
admit he d done something to her that didn t come off quite the way he meant. Like the
time he drilled holes in her test tubes. Her stomach tightened so fast it bordered on
painful. She pulled her cheek from his chest and met his slightly guilty expression. He
couldn t give her a whole minute with her fantasy, could he?
Back to your lab? she asked, hoping she sounded casual. She might not be happy,
but it wasn t as if he d offered anything more than sex. Disappointment was not in the
bargain.
Um, yeah, that too.
Too, she repeated to herself. Maybe it was the orgasms, but her brain couldn t
figure out where else he d go.
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Dee Tenorio
I& Shit, this would have been easier if I d told you yesterday like I meant to. His
body didn t go anywhere, but she could feel him pulling away in another sense. He
looked away and his hand stopped moving on her back. Whatever he had to say, she
wasn t going to like it. That much was obvious. She had no intention of hearing it with
his hand on her ass.
She pushed at his chest, disentangling their limbs and rolling away from him. She sat
up, her nudity more exposing than she ever expected. Her robe hung from the back of her
bedroom door, the silk calling like a siren with its brilliant red hue. Telling herself that
after what they d done, watching her walk three feet without a stitch on was hardly going
to affect the man, she leapt to the door and snatched the full-length robe. She wrapped it
around herself and tied a double knot as quickly as she could.
As ready as she ever would be, she spun to face him and found him sitting up& in
more ways than one. Stricken, she tore her eyes from his obvious erection to his rueful
grin. Can t help it if I m an ass man, honey.
She crossed her arms over her breasts, an effort definitely needed not to look at the
thick length all but sitting on his lap, staring at her. How about you just work on not
being an ass, then?
He chuckled. Can t make any promises, but I ll try.
Well, it couldn t get better than that, not really. She sat on the chair across from the
bed, taking a deep breath while she waited for him to explain himself. And waited. He
just stared at her, his stare roving from her ankles to her face and back down. She could
only imagine the way he saw her, hair wild and sticking up as well as out; hugging her
robe around herself, not a trace of sophistication anywhere near her. His half smile did
nothing but make her nervous.
Travis, she finally snapped.
He met her questioning glare, shaking himself out of whatever he must have been
thinking about. Sorry, I was& He cut himself off to scrub his shaggy hair. I m leaving
town. Moving out, he clarified with a cough.
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Test Me
If she d thought her stomach was hard before, the sudden clenching inside felt like
something had bitten into her. Moving where? Why?
There were more questions, but they were too hard to push through her vocal cords.
Had she said something? Gone too far in their last bout of practical jokes? Was he going
to move in with one of his various lovers? Her brain automatically tried to ferret out the
memory of his last pseudo-girlfriend. The one who did some sort of weird scream thing
in Travis s lab that had frightened Vetta s own assistants before they realized no one was
being murdered. Bitsy? Betsy? Badger? It wouldn t come, just the memory of the
woman s pillow-flattened red hair as she d left the lab a few months ago, never to be
seen or thank God, heard from again.
My grant s gone. Travis interrupted her mental search with an uncaring shrug.
Can t compete with more effective studies, so no one is biting. I m out.
Broke? It had happened to their colleagues from time to time, but Travis had
always come through. She d seen him make do with less money than a panhandler more
times than she could remember. He hadn t so much as let her buy him a lunch at those
times either. He had the pride of a brick wall and it showed in every hungry line of his
body.
Suddenly, the predicament shone in a harsher light. No money to Travis meant no
money, period. Possibly negative dollars. Where are you going to go?
He shrugged again.
She opened her mouth, automatically about to tell him that he didn t have to leave
until he found his feet again, but his dark eyes narrowed to slits of gathering wrath. Her
mouth snapped shut.
So that s my news. That s why I didn t and still don t think we should
get& involved.
Carefully, Vetta twined her hands together on her lap. You didn t want me to get
attached. As if she had to sleep with him to be attached to him. The man had been a
near-daily part of her life for seven years. She knew his voice better than her own. If she
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