Immortal Becoming (The Enlightened Species Book One)

ChapterFive

There was nothing in the world Shane wanted more than to sink into Jess’s warm, silken flesh. Her innocent siren song in the bath had called to him as no other had ever called to him. The unexplained dentes punching into his mouth had tied his hands as well as his tongue. That moment represented the closest Shane had ever come to losing control. She was breathtaking. Perfect.

All it would have taken for her to break his tenuous control in that moment would have been a word or a touch. He wouldn’t have been unable to restrain the beast he’d barely held at bay. He knew that if he had not stepped out of that room when he did, if he had lost control and taken her then and there, he would have terrified her. That was the best outcome he could have hoped for. Seeing her pain at his assumed rejection had torn him apart inside. He had been unable to even offer her a word of comfort with his dentes fully erupted.

Using his last ounce of common sense he’d, stiffly left the room, shutting the door behind him. Full of self-recrimination, he sat down on the couch with his head in his hands, using every ounce of his not insignificant will to refrain from returning to her and carrying her into the bedroom. Slowly dying inside at the sound of her quietly crying behind the door.

It was there he still sat with his head in his hands as she strode out of the bathroom wearing one of his robes. Jess snatched up the remote from the chess table as she plopped into his recliner and turned on the TV, which she quickly muted. Nonchalantly flipping through the stations, her actions reflected carefree defiance. The red-rimmed eyes in her beautiful face showed the truth; he had hurt her.

“Jess, this is not what you think,” Shane began, still holding his face in his hands. His dentes had retracted while he’d been waiting, but now that she was in the room they were on the cusp of erupting again. “There is much we don’t know about each other.”

Jess rolled her eyes at him. “Save the ‘we don’t know each other well enough’ speech. I’m sorry about what happened in there. You interrupted a great dream I was having about Matthew McConaughey. I must have thought I was still dreaming for a minute.”

WTF? “Who is Matthew McConaughey?” His eyes clashed with hers. She was lying, he knew it, but that didn’t stop him from feeling the sharp stab of jealously. How could she pull the thought of another man into her mind after what had just nearly happened between them?

Jess waved the remote at him like he was dense. “I know you watch TV.”

Ah. He got it. She wanted him to think he had interrupted some fantasy with an actor. His relief was palatable. He would not have to kill this Matthew McConaughey after all. Her nonchalance was her way of pleading with him to let her keep her pride. Making a great effort to keep a serious expression and not show her his amusement, he conceded. “I will try to be more careful and make sure you are awake from now on.” He was unable to contain his chuckle when Jess rolled her eyes at him again.

“What where you really dreaming about?” It had occurred to Shane while he was waiting for her to come out of the bath that she may not realize that she was traveling through space; porting might not be something she was doing consciously. Like her probing him for his intent earlier in the Jeep, she was oblivious to what her mind was doing, what it was capable of.