Sex Symbol (14 page)

I selected another coffee mug, making sure it was a different color than the one Eramus had put on the counter.

“Just in case,” I said, holding up the cups. Taking the coffeepot in hand I asked, “How do you take it?”

“Any way I can get it.”

The sexual innuendo was even stronger than the coffee I’d just made. When I gave Eramus a questioning look he explained, “I like coffee.”

I crossed my arms underneath my breasts and continued to stare at him, unable to stop my playful smile. “You weren’t talking about the coffee.”

He rose slowly and I tried to focus on his eyes instead of the way those jeans clung to his crotch. Eramus was close enough to touch. His scent drifted to me as I my eyes moved to his smile. Seeing my gaze deliberately shift made his grin even wider, revealing his even, white teeth once more.

He lifted his arm and took the sugar from one of the lower shelves beside the sink.

“You mean you aren’t going to drink it black?”

He laughed. “Do you know why men drink black coffee? ’Cause if you don’t I’m going to let you in on a secret.”

I leaned toward him, propping on the counter. “Enlighten me.”

“To impress women.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding. That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s true.” He added two heaping spoonfuls of sugar to his cup and then went to the fridge. “No one really likes black coffee. At least, that’s my theory.”

“And you think that men only drink it that way to impress women?”

He closed the refrigerator and turned around with a carton of fresh cream in his hand.

“Exactly.”

I watched the cream swirl around in his cup before asking, “So, you’re not trying to impress me?”

Eramus took a sip of coffee and then added more cream. “Honey, if you’re not impressed with the fact that I didn’t molest you for the past two days, I don’t know what else to do.”

“Is that right?”

I took a step toward him and he didn’t back down, meeting my look and smiling at the challenge. Eramus set down his cup and leaned closer, close enough that I could almost taste the coffee he’d been drinking.

“That’s right.” His lips almost brushed mine as he spoke. The already deep baritone of his voice seemed even lower, as if he were deliberately trying to create a certain vibration. “I had you in my bed for two days, naked except for my robe.” Eramus brushed his face against my hair. “Your shampoo smells like hyacinth.” He pressed his lips to my throat and I could feel his sharp inhale as he ran his face up to my ear. “And your skin smells like vanilla.” He moved back just enough that I could look into his eyes and doing so nearly brought me to my knees. “I held you against me in the night, felt your soft breath against my skin—and I never once looked underneath the robe.”

“Eramus…”

He smiled again and the spell his words had cast was temporarily broken.

“I didn’t take advantage. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy myself.”

It was all I could do to hold the pot steady as I poured myself a cup of coffee. When I sat down at the table, Eramus remained propped against the counter, giving me the best view I’d had in days, including the sunset.

“So, what have you been doing for the past two days?”

He took another sip of coffee and made a face. “I put too much sugar.” Then he seemed to remember what I’d asked. “I’ve been planting wolfsbane in your yard.”

“O-kay. Do you think that will keep the other wolf away?”

“It should at least keep him out of your yard. But if he really has business with you, I doubt it will keep him from following you around.”

That scared the shit out of me. Was he trying to give me a heart attack?

“What do you mean, follow me around? I can tell you right now he doesn’t have any business with me.”

Eramus nodded his acknowledgement of my words. “There’s a good chance he was after me, but couldn’t enter my yard. Yours was the closest he could get.”

I sighed with relief. “Well, that makes a whole lot more sense. I mean, what the hell would a werewolf want with me?”

The raised eyebrow was answer enough, but if there were any blanks, his smile filled them in nicely.

“Forget I asked that.”

“Any time you want the answer, just let me know.”

Eramus finished his coffee as he explained about the new plants in my yard. “This is the best time of year to plant wolfsbane. It naturally grows in much colder climates. I didn’t want to mess up your yard, so I planted them behind your other flowers. No one will even see them behind the rows of azaleas. But they’re not for decoration anyway. They need partial shade and whatever you do, don’t touch them with your bare hands.”

“Anything else I should know besides don’t touch the new poisonous flowers in my yard?”

My question was sarcastic, but Eramus paused to think it over anyway. “I think that about covers it. Here’s your key.”

He put my house key on the table and I gave him a confused look.

“When you ran over here you said you left the back door unlocked. So when I talked to Justina I asked where you hid your extra key. She told me. I checked to make sure no one was inside, and locked things up for you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I appreciate what you did. It’s not that.” I laughed softly. “Justina knows I’ve been sleeping here and that you’ve been in my house. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

He winked and my heart fluttered on cue. “Give her something to talk about,” he teased.

“Well, I suppose I should go back now. I’ve got work to do, things to catch up on.”

Truthfully, I felt at home with Eramus, but I didn’t want to impose. I removed his robe and shivered just a bit as I handed it to him. His big warm hand wrapped around mine and gently pushed the robe back in my direction.

“It’s cold out there,” he said softly. “I’ll get the robe when I come to pick you up.”

“Pick me up for what?”

He grinned. “For our date.”

“Is that so? When were you going to ask me?”

“I asked you Monday night.”

Teasing him was way too much fun. From the look on his face Eramus enjoyed the game as much as I did. We both knew I wanted to go out with him. Guess my pride wouldn’t allow me to give up so easily.

“And as I recall, I didn’t answer.”

I slipped back into the robe and found my bedroom shoes beside the door. By the time I looked back up Eramus was right in front of me. Once again, his look said it all.

“And what do you say now?” he asked softly.

His hand was warm against my shoulder, burning even through the robe. He could have reached for so many other places with no objection from me. But he chose my shoulder. I liked that.

“I say tomorrow night.”

“Sunset.”

“I’ll see you then.”

The kiss I gave him was chaste. However that didn’t make its effect on my body any less potent.

The drizzle had stopped and even though the sky remained overcast, I thought it was a beautiful day. Cold, cloudy days are so relaxing to me. I breathed in the fresh air as I made my way through Eramus’ rose garden, noticing that he’d already put up the trellises. The garden looked complete. When I stopped to smell one of the white roses I almost tripped over a pipe. It was running out of the ground and stood about two feet high. Remembering what was right beneath me, I guessed it to be an air vent.

His garden was lovely, but the most beautiful flower was his climbing Don Juan and it was growing up the other side of the house. I decided that while I was out I might as well take a look since Eramus said it was doing so well. I hadn’t looked at the rose in years and even though my old neighbor used to mention it from time to time, I hadn’t thought about it since he’d left.

As I rounded the corner my breath caught. Trellises had been attached to the entire side of the house years ago to allow for growth. And since I had last paid attention, the rose had covered at least half that space. It was magnificent. Hundreds of blood-red petals covered the ground, freshly fallen due to the storm. There were too many blooms to count and their sweet fragrance filled the air. The vines had wrapped around a window upstairs so that they formed a delicate frame, just like a picture. When Eramus appeared there I guessed it to be his bedroom.

I selected a rose and while smiling up at him, plucked it.

He raised the window and propped against the sill.

“Be careful. You do remember what happened when Beauty picked one of the Beast’s roses?”

“It was her father who picked the rose,” I corrected, lifting the blossom to my nose.

“Same difference.”

I paused, hesitant to go too far. But at the same time, I didn’t want to say goodbye. Not yet.

“Have you had breakfast?”

He looked surprised. “No.”

“Want to come over?”

Sandpaper could not have erased his wicked grin. “I thought you had work to do, things to catch up on.”

“Well, I’m not doing anything until after breakfast.”

*

By the time I got out of the shower I was sure I was running late. But one look at the clock said otherwise. It had only taken me thirty-five minutes to indulge my fantasy and take a bath. While I braided my wet hair I looked down at the drawing I’d left on the bed.

Once we were inside Eramus had offered to start breakfast and give me time to shower. It had only taken me five minutes to commit to paper what I saw every time I closed my eyes. Eramus. He was lying on his stomach, naked. Every curve and valley of his perfect body was outlined as if by candlelight. And he was watching me, peeking up above his forearm. The only part of his face that was visible was his eyes. And if I ever decided to color the sketch, they would be amber instead of brown. I was very proud of my drawing. It was the best I’d done in a long time.

Despite the fact that the picture was a nude, it wasn’t overly graphic. I had decided against full frontal nudity for a couple of reasons. One, I didn’t know what Eramus looked like naked. And two, I was afraid my imagination wouldn’t do him justice. So, the drawing left something to the imagination. Why I felt I had to draw it before getting in the shower, I’m not sure. Maybe I just needed to get it out of my head.

I continued to glance at the picture while getting dressed. After locating my green sweater and a comfy pair of jeans I looked at it again. Finally, I had to close my sketch book in order to finish. Since I planned to go into town shortly, I put on some boots and did my makeup.

Surprisingly, after doing nothing but sleeping for two days I hadn’t looked that bad. When I first got upstairs I’d approached the mirror with dread. But my hair was fairly smooth. I must not have moved much in my sleep. But thoughts of sleep brought thoughts of Eramus pressed up against me and my heart started doing flip-flops again.

Enough thinking for the moment. I was starved.

As soon as I stepped into the hallway the most amazing smells greeted me. It smelled like waffles, bacon and coffee. My guess wasn’t too far off. When I entered the kitchen I found Eramus flipping a blueberry pancake.

“I’m impressed.”

He turned around and I saw that he was wearing my pink apron that said “The other white meat”. I couldn’t help laughing.

Eramus had changed out of his wet clothes before coming over. In addition to my apron he was wearing another pair of formfitting jeans and a green t-shirt. I also noticed he was barefoot. When he saw me glance at his feet he explained, “I stepped in a mud puddle on the way over. My shoes are on the front porch.”

I just stood there staring at him for a minute, wearing what I’m sure was a goofy smile.

“You look great in pink.”

He took a dramatic bow before turning back to the bacon. “Thank you.”

I walked over to the sink and hopped up onto the counter, putting my butt right beside his mixing bowl. Eramus didn’t seem to mind me studying him while he cooked, so I took advantage. His biceps flexed when he lifted even the smallest plate. It was only a slight movement, a ripple across his sun-bronzed skin, but it was intriguing. He’d taken one of my hair clips and pinned up the front of his shaggy hair. I snickered when I noticed the clip was pink.

“Oh, you looking at this?” He pointed to the clip. “I found it in the downstairs bathroom. Didn’t want my hair to get into the pancakes.” His smile could have lit the room. It was like someone had bottled sunshine and decided to release it in my kitchen. I’d never had anyone’s smile make me feel this way. It literally made my day. I realized then that I hadn’t felt sad or even remembered James until he’d asked me about my ex. Mrs. Morrison’s nosy words didn’t matter at all in the cozy little kitchen with his smile. I liked the way his bare feet sounded when they walked across my floor. And I liked the fact that I had to sit on the bar to be eye level with him.

Suddenly I remembered Justina’s words, “Over six feet of therapy,” she’d called him.

“What are you doing here, Eramus?”

“Cooking breakfast. You invited me, remember?”

I shook my head. “No, I mean in Peace.”

He poured another pancake on the griddle before turning back to me. “I was living in Florida. My home was destroyed by a hurricane last year. I rented a place up in Georgia for a while before finally buying the house next door.”

Well, he’d answered my question, but not what I wanted to know.

“What I mean to say is, I’ve never met anybody like you before.”

“Meaning?” He flipped the pancake before turning to me with a smile.

“You’re great. You’re good looking, you cook, you’ve got a great sense of humor. And you’re single. I suppose it’s just hard for me to believe that you’re not with someone.”

He laughed and I wondered if my honesty was a bit too much.

“Did you miss the part about me being a werewolf? ’Cause I could have sworn I told you I’m a werewolf.”

I reached for him and he let me pull him closer. When I took the clip out of his hair he pretended to pout and I laughed again. Running my fingers through his hair felt even better than I’d imagined it would. Strands smooth as silk and the color of milk chocolate fell through my hands. Eramus took another step toward me and I moved so that he was right between my legs.