Page 21 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck
The minute he was done with dinner tonight, he’d head back to the city, grab his little black book full of the names and numbers of women he slept with on a regular basis, and he’d handle the scorching need racing through him.
As Drest thought harder about using a random woman to handle the desire he felt for Rachael, his erection, which he’d been starting to think of as permanent since meeting her, died. The term “tucking and running” came to mind.
Calling random names from his little black book to see to his sexual needs was a common practice for him. Never before had the idea of doing as much turned him off.
What changed?
His gaze snapped back to Rachael.
Her, he thought.She’s what has changed. I want her. Just her.
The thought was sobering and very wrong. She was off-limits. Why in the hell wasn’t his libido getting the message?
“So, Nile isn’t feeling well tonight?” he asked, in hopes of getting his mind and his dick off sleeping with Rachael.
Her dark brows met. Then she let out an annoyed breath, her gaze sliding to the kitchen door. “Is that what Henry told you?”
Drest nodded.
Rachael cringed. “I don’t want to lie to you, but…”
“Nile isn’t upstairs with a headache, is he?” asked Drest, far less annoyed than he should be.
Nile was required to be at each check-in. So was Henry. Nile’s absence counted as a major infraction. One Drest should technically write him up for. But that would mean cutting his evening short and leaving to head back to the office. He didn’t want to walk away from Rachael.
To hell with Nile and to hell with infractions. At least for tonight.
Rachael shook her head and bit at her lower lip. “No. Nile isn’t upstairs with a headache. He’s not upstairs at all.”
Kiss her.
Drest jerked at the thought as it slammed through him.
“Is he working downstairs?” asked Drest, doing his best to downplay his reaction to Rachael in hopes she wouldn’t notice the power she seemed to have over him. “I know he’s fond of the basement.”
Nile had taken to using the basement as his personal workspace and enjoyed his quiet time. It stood to reason the man was down there, avoiding dealing with a Hunter. Drest had done a walk-through of the area when he’d first been assigned as their Hunter but hadn’t bothered again.
Rachael eased closer to Drest and averted her gaze as she shook her head again. “No. He’s not down there. Not unless he came in through the downstairs entrance that goes straight to it. Normally, the bell in the kitchen goes off when that door is opened or closed. I haven’t heard the bell.”
Drest stared at her, trying to get his brain and his erection to get on the same page. As it stood, they were thinking independently of one another, and both were going to get him into nothing but hot water. “Any idea where Nile might be?” he asked, hoping talk of Nile would kill his desire for sex.
Rachael tapped her chin lightly and shook her head before lifting her finger. “Maybe. I mean, no, but there were men here earlier when I got in. Never mind, I shouldn’t be telling you all this.”
Drest was a little more worried about trying to jump her bones than Nile. He was just using talk of Nile to distract himself from kissing Rachael. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me. I won’t push for details.”
Rachael mulled it over a moment before glancing toward the kitchen door and then back at Drest. “Like I mentioned, he was with two men when I got here tonight. I’d never seen them before, and he was quick to try to hurry them away before Henry came in. Plus, they were kind of odd.”
“Odd how?” Unable to stop himself, Drest reached up and pushed a stray lock of hair from her face. As his fingers skimmed Rachael’s cheek, his ring reacted once again. First, it warmed. Then it glowed, causing a reflection to appear in her gorgeous eyes. “Your eyes are so dark they almost look black.”
She blinked slowly as if at a loss for words.
“Sorry. I was just making an observation,” he said with a shrug like it was no big deal and he did that kind of thing all the time.
“Oh, okay,” she responded, her hand sliding up and over his, which was still on her cheek.
“They’re beautiful,” he said fast, worried she thought he might not like her eyes. He did. He liked everything about her.
Cringing, he expelled an annoyed breath with himself.Stop talking, man. She’s got to think you’re crazy.
