Page 79 of Carnal: The Beast Who Loved Me

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Carnal was waiting on a stool at the end of the bar when Rosie threw her apron in the bin and grabbed her shawl.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she moved toward the door.

“Told you I’d be here.”

“And here you are.” She smiled. “Bye.”

He stepped around her but didn’t stop her path toward the house. He simply walked backward. “You owe me.”

That brought her up short. Tilting her head back she looked up at him. “What do you mean I owe you?”

“Our date was cut short. The picnic? You owe me half a date.”

Carnal was encouraged when he saw the corners of her mouth twitch. “You gonna let me drive your bike?”

“Definitely not.”

“Well then, why should I give you half a date?”

Without warning he pulled her into his body and resumed the kissing he’d so expertly delivered in the hallway during the early morning light. Somewhere between the time her body started to hum and drawing him closer with her hands around his neck, she forgot every reason why she might object to anything Carnal had in mind.

When he pulled away from the kiss, his hands continued to grip firmly enough to keep her snug against him.

“Second date?” he asked.

“Okay,” she croaked.

He turned her around and began walking with his arm slung over her shoulder. Another time she might have objected to that show of possession, but her body was still tingling. Carnal seemed to have a gift for establishing intimacy anywhere, anytime, at the drop of a hat.

“Let’s take a walk. There’s a spot up above the training grounds. It’s quiet, private, pretty.” When she looked up at him, he bent and rubbed his nose against hers in a way that was not common for humans, but definitely sexy.

“What are we going to do there?” She hoped she didn’t sound as breathless, and eager, as she felt.

“I’m going to get to know everything there is to know about you, my little sex demon.”

“I’m not a sex demon, Carnal. I’m just part sex demon.”

“Okay.” He smiled. “If you say so. I just know that I’ve never felt this way about a female before. I figure something supernatural must be at work.”

Rosie didn’t know whether to be more thrilled about the proclamation that she was special to him or about the fact that his feelings were unusual enough for him to suspect that she’d bewitched him. She was thinking that she needed to tell Charming to keep the witchcraft book a secret when Carnal said, “So tell the truth. You’re part witch, right? Did you put a spell on me?”

He stopped, turned to face her, and looked down at her. She knew the drill at that point. He was fishing for lies.

She met his eyes. “No, Carnal. I have not used magic on you or altered the natural course of things in any way. Other than fixing your motorbike.”

“Motorcycle,” he corrected. “Would you like me to be under your spell?”

She laughed and pulled away. “I don’t have to answer that.”

He caught up with her quickly and fell into step beside her. “Free thinks you’ll be leaving soon.”

“Does he?”

“Is he right?”

“Honestly, Carnal, I guess I don’t know from one day to the next. Every day I wake up and think, ‘I’ll stay one more day’.”