I did laugh that time, even though the expression on his face was one of grim determination. "Putting aside the fact that I am getting along just fine without faith of any sort, just how do you expect to do that?"
"The third trial is tomorrow." He took my chin in his hand, tipping my head back to look deep into my eyes. "It will be very difficult."
"More old ladies beating the crap out of me? I could really do without that."
He leaned closer, and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me right there, outside my room. "I will make a deal with you—if you can give me proof that the trial is mundane, I will serve as your champion without requiring you to pardon me when you are admitted to the Court. If you cannot provide proof, you will accept the truth, and will reward me when you are accepted."
"Mundane?" I asked, more than a little distracted by his nearness. Theo was an imposing presence by any standard, but when he was close enough that I could count individual hairs in his widow's peak, he was almost overwhelming.
"Ordinary. Not supernatural."
I smiled. "Oddly enough, I have a similar bet going with Sarah. I don't think taking on another comer will be a problem. You, sir, have yourself a deal."
He took the hand I offered, a light kindling in his eyes. "Shall I show you how a deal was sealed a thousand years ago?"
His lips brushed mine as he spoke, and before I could decide what I wanted to do about the overwhelming urge to kiss him, I was doing just that, my mouth opening to welcome his, my body all but melting when his fingers dug into my hips, pulling them against his. I am not the most feminine of women, but the steely, unyielding hardness of his body made me very aware that I possessed more curves than I had given much thought to. His mouth was demanding, hot, tasting faintly smoky from the whisky, insisting that I give him what he wanted. I had no qualms at all about kissing him, going so far as to jerk the back of his shirt out of his pants so my hands could slide up his back.
"Salus, woman, do you have any idea how good you taste," he growled into my mouth, one hand sliding around to cup my behind, the other sweeping up to my breast.
"It's the lime in the gin and tonic," I answered, unable to keep from wiggling my hips against him.
He growled again, deep in his chest, his eyes molten with sexual desire. He caressed my breast beneath the velvet of the dress, ever so slightly tweaking my nipple. "Of all the women on this planet, why do you have to be one who will fight me every step of the way?"
"Some men like the chase," I said breathlessly, arching my back to press more of my breast into his hand. I trailed my fingernails down his back, causing him to shiver as my hands dipped lower, to his oh-so-attractive derriere.
"I prefer the yielding that follows," he said just before he kissed me again, a kiss of so much blatant sexuality that I seriously considered the possibility of going to bed with him.
Luckily, Sarah chose that moment to use the bathroom next door to her room.
"Well!" Her voice was rich with amusement. I had no doubt of the picture we made—me groping his behind, while he had one hand on my breast, our bodies locked in a sensual embrace.
Theo and I parted, although he kept his hands on me as he half turned to look at Sarah.
She grinned at us both, and winked at me before proceeding to the bathroom. "I'm glad to see you're taking my advice about something."
Chapter 8
"It was just a kiss."
"You said that three times already. Would you turn off that light?" Sarah plumped up a pillow behind her, and tucked the coverlet firmly over her legs before sitting back.
"A perfectly innocent kiss!"
"Honey, there was nothing innocent about that kiss," she said with a knowing look.
I stomped over to the light she had left burning on the desk and turned it off, feeling awkward and unsure of myself. I don't know why I felt compelled to explain that the kiss Theo and I shared was not what it seemed, but there I was, wringing my hands as I tried to sort through my emotions and thoughts.
"I find him physically attractive even though he's got some issues," I explained. "There's nothing wrong with a healthy libido."
"Nothing at all, especially when the recipient of your attentions is a gorgeous angel. I looked up nephilim while you were occupied with Theo. That's what a nephilim is, you know. Kind of a sub-angel, the result of a union between—"
"Oh, I know all about that," I said, waving my hands around for a moment before I was aware of what I was doing. I am not at all the hand-waving sort of person. "It's part of this tale he spun me. That's neither here nor there—what I want to know is what is going to come of a relationship with a lunatic!"
"I thought you said it was just your libido?"
"It is!" I shoved the chair aside just because I could. "But you know me—I don't do casual sex, so if things progress beyond kissing, I'm going to end up in a relationship. With a madman!"
"Theo isn't a madman," Sarah said calmly, picking up the book she'd brought to read on the vacation.
"Well, maybe not mad by the strictest definition of the word, but you have to admit that he's not normal."
"Of course he isn't. He's immortal. Are you done trying to convince yourself that he's not handsome as sin, and twice as delicious?"
"I did not—oh, you're impossible!" I said loudly. "And speaking of that, you sure changed your tune quick enough."
"What do you mean?"
"Yesterday you were positively drooling over Theo."
Sarah looked surprised for a moment. "Don't be ridiculous—I'm happily married, which you know."
"That didn't stop you from ogling Theo yesterday." I refused to examine why it bothered me that she had ogled him. It couldn't possibly be important.
"Oh, that was before," she said, returning to her book as she waved a dismissive hand toward me.
"Before what?"
"Before Theo explained he wasn't for me."
I sat on the chair, staring at Sarah, confused by her calm acceptance of the short-lived lust she had felt for Theo. "Aren't you the least bit disconcerted about the fact that Theo interested you? Should happily married women feel that sort of thing?"
"They should if the man in question is a nephilim." She sighed at my puzzled look. "I thought you knew about nephilims? Didn't Theo tell you that they have an effect on mortal women?"
"No, he didn't." I frowned.
"Ah. Well, that's why I initially fell victim to his attractive self. He dismissed the effect once he realized I was being affected by it."
I shoved myself out of the chair and stalked to the far side of the room. "He didn't dismiss it for me!"
"That's because you weren't affected by him in the first place. That's interesting, actually. It could mean he's the real deal, at least so far as you and he are concerned," she said, looking thoughtful.
That was a thought. I considered that for a moment, then decided it was yet another distraction I didn't need in my life. I wished Sarah good night, and left her to her book.
I slept poorly, waking up roughly every hour to find myself wrapped in vague remnants of nightmares. The unease caused by the nightmares hung over me all day, leaving me feeling itchy and nervous even though we spent a delightfully normal day touring a nearby castle, during which no ghosts, ghouls, specters, or phantoms of any sort manifested themselves.
"It was nice to have a day where the oddest thing we encountered was that woman who insisted on bringing her parrot on the castle tour," I commented at dinner that night.
Sarah glanced toward the door of our private dining room, nodding. "Although I could have done without you expounding at length about how much force would have to be supplied to rip someone's limb off while on the rack."