Taivon: Book Three of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Twenty

Alix felt Taivon shift from behind her. The hand on her hip tightened, burning right through her clothes. Reaching back, she took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together just as he leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on her neck.

“Hey,” he murmured, voice sounding deep and relaxed.

She smiled and turned her chin to give him better access. “Hey.”

“C-C-Can we guh-guh-go to b-bed?”

One day, Alix promised herself, she'd figure out why he stuttered. Today, however, was not that day, because with the way he was kissing her neck and running his hand up and down her leg, it was distracting. Not to mention incredible.

“Sure,” she said and stood up from the couch.

He stood up with her, first taking time to shove his hand in his pocket and then a few more seconds to recapture hers. She led them to her room, the last room down the hall, right next to her writing room.

“Where's your cat?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Probably hiding.”

“I don't understand why he doesn't like me. I'm basically an animal whisperer.”

“Animal whisperer?”

“Yeah,” he said into her ear, making her shiver a little bit. “But it's not just animals, though. I do whisper to...other species.”

“And what other species would that be?”

Taivon kissed her neck and stopped with her at her bedroom door. “Women.”

“So we're a whole 'nother species now?”

“Sorta.” He lifted her hand to his chest and placed it right over his heart. “But it depends on the type of women. If they're as half as beautiful as you, then I kinda lose my whispering skills, if you haven't noticed already.”

Alix placed a kiss on his lips and stepped back down. She was anxious to get into her bedroom, excited even. With all that chest and legs and arms and chest bared out to her, in her bed...she honestly didn't know if she'd survive the night. And just thinking about waking up to that timid face, even with the morning breath, made Alix almost scared.

Scared because she'd never felt like this about a man before. And with the way this was going, she'd be about as head over heels as the characters in her books.

“I haven't noticed,” she said.

“Bullshit.”

“Seriously, it's no big deal.”

He put his head down and looked down at something by their feet. “It is...kinda.”

“Why?” Alix asked. “'Cause I'll tell ya, I like the way you talk. Stuttering or not. And you know why I like the way you talk?”

He looked up at her, with those wide brown eyes. “Why?”

“For one, you always tell me all these facts about stuff I really don't care about, but I like it, ya know? You're smart, even though you're kinda quiet. And second,” she said, standing up on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his, “you've got that whole Texas cowboy thing going on, and it sounds sexy as hell.”

His lips quirked up, and he looked into her eyes, saying in the most sinfully Southern accent, “I do try my best, ma'am.”

Closing her eyes, Alix just let that voice wash over her. She'd learned so much about his brothers and his growing up on the ranch that it was almost like she'd been with him at the time. Picturing him wearing a stetson and cowboy boots, while riding a horse, did unspeakable things to her libido.