Part 8 (1/2)

”Your thing ... your erection. You were joking about not being ... you know ... hard.” She felt a little fl.u.s.tered as well as a little out of breath. She felt hot and if she was totally honest with herself, a little bothered as well.

He shook his head. There were two frown lines on his forehead. ”A male should never joke about his c.o.c.k.”

She swallowed hard.

”I do not have an erection. Maybe a semi at best.”

Her eyes darted back to the bulge. Couldn't be. It got much bigger than that? No way! Her eyes narrowed.

”Would you like to see it again? Examine it? I wouldn't mind.”

”What?” she might have yelled the word. Couldn't be sure because she was panicking. ”No way. No!” She huffed out a breath. ”Keep that thing covered please,” she nodded, pointing at his d.i.c.k.

Several moments later, she was still pointing at his d.i.c.k but couldn't seem to stop herself from doing it.

”Sure thing, but let me know if you change your mind,” he winked at her. It somehow managed to break the spell and she snapped her hand back.

”Stop that.”

”What?”

”Winking at me. I don't like it.” She didn't. Although Chris never winked, it was just the kind of thing a charmer would do. One of the many tricks in his a.r.s.enal. Then again, it was better if he did wink. It would remind her that he was not her type. The polar opposite to be exact. ”On second thought, wink all you want.”

He frowned. ”You are a strange female, Tammy.”

Good! He wasn't interested in her. He found her strange. This was good.

”Good thing I like 'strange',” he added, turning to his side, grimacing as he did.

Argh! She couldn't win. She definitely could not win with this guy. He was just looking for action. It was what charmers did. They told a woman what she wanted to hear so that they could get into their panties. Chris was a typical example. Thunder was another. They were all the same. Once a player got into your panties, he'd move on to the next one. Or worse, the charmer would actually start a relations.h.i.+p with you. One he couldn't possibly commit to, and then what?

She'd be left with a broken heart at the end of it all, or worse. Tammy knew firsthand how much worse it could be. Oh, so much worse like 'ruin your life' bad.

Chapter 10.

Hours later ...

He couldn't believe she was still holding out. Was getting naked in the same s.p.a.ce as him so bad? It wasn't like he'd actually look ... much. No, he wouldn't look. Since when did he need to sneak glances at a female?

Tammy was attracted to him. She was just as attracted to him as he was to her. She was also skittish. The only thing on his side right now was that there was nowhere for her to run or he had no doubt that she would've taken off for the hills.

If there was one thing he had learned over the years, it was patience. Especially where females were concerned. He only got to be around them twice a year. That was it. Although he'd never had to learn how to apply patience when winning one before, he figured it couldn't be that hard.

Thunder watched as Tammy tried to smooth the sweater she was wearing. How she readjusted her undergarment through her clothes. The one that wrapped around her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She looked distinctly uncomfortable. He noticed that she'd brushed her teeth twice since waking up. She was trying to get clean and it wasn't working. He'd meant what he said, he didn't mind either way, but she clearly did. ”Hey, take the blanket and go and bathe.”

Tammy had just been throwing some logs onto the fire. She looked his way and shook her head. ”Maybe later.”

”What difference does it make? Now, in an hour from now, tomorrow? It'll be cold but you'll feel a lot better.”

”So you do think I have BO then?” she pulled a face.

”I didn't say that. You smell fine to me. You look even better. I would lick you from your head to your toes maybe concentrating on somewhere in the middle if I had a bit more strength.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. ”Not happening, mister!” She looked fl.u.s.tered and her scent of arousal wafted over to him. He had to fight to keep from sniffing the air. Oh, so d.a.m.ned sweet.

”Go and do what you need to do. I'm about to take a nap anyway.”

Interest sparked in her eye. ”You are?”

”Yep,” he yawned. It wasn't a real yawn but it ended up being real in the end. He was pretty tired come to think of it. ”Go bathe. Hang your clothes in front of the fire and they'll be dry in no time.”

”You won't look?” She sounded like a total innocent. For a second he was inclined to believe that she might even be a virgin but that was impossible. She'd talked earlier about a broken heart and virgins weren't included in the program. So she'd been with at least one male then.

”I won't look,” he half growled.

She looked at him like maybe she didn't believe him or something.

It got his scales up. ”I've seen plenty of naked females. They all willingly took their clothes off for me. I'm not about to start peeping through holes in the wall anytime soon. I don't have to.”

”I'll bet,” she mumbled under her breath. ”Fine,” she said the word like she was angry. Then she gave a small sigh and paused for a beat. ”It would be great if you could lend me your blanket.”

Thunder smiled to himself.

”Just make sure that you cover up please.” He noticed that she had averted her gaze, as if the sight of his d.i.c.k might make her turn to stone or something.

”You've already seen me naked.” He decided to toy with her because it was so much fun and she made it so easy.

”Just ...”

Completely fl.u.s.tered. He had to suppress a smile. f.u.c.k it! He smiled anyway.

”No ... it's ... keep it covered.” She wagged a finger. ”Just keep it covered, okay?”

He laughed. ”I'm just s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with you. I won't look and I'll keep it,” he paused, ”covered.” He winked at her.

She blushed a whole lot more, so adorable that it almost hurt to look at her. Thunder grabbed a pillow and used it to cover his d.i.c.k. ”It's safe, you can come and fetch your blanket now.”

”Thank you.” She tried to take the blanket without really looking down. Her cheeks were redder than an overripe tomato in the sun. ”Wait just a ...” She looked down at him over her nose, her eyes narrowed, her embarra.s.sment forgotten. ”That's my pillow!” She pointed the object covering his d.i.c.k.

He gave a single-shouldered shrug. ”You can have it if you want.” He pretended to lift the pillow.

Tammy took to looking outraged. She put her hand on the pillow in question. It was clearly a reaction. She hadn't given the action much thought though it seemed. ”Don't you dare!”