Still, she couldn't help but feel him all the way to her bones, to her very soul. The warmth of his chest invaded her back as he surrounded her with his marvelous arms.
He had his legs bent on each side of her. And as he leaned forward, she felt his erection against the back of her hip. For once it didn't shock her. Oddly enough, she was growing accustomed to it.
As his lithe, toned body moved around her, she felt his power, his strength. It left her breathless and unsure.
Unfamiliar feelings washed over her with an intensity she had never known before. What was it about Julian that made her feel so happy and safe?
If this was the curse, then it should be renamed, because there was nothing malevolent about the sensations spiraling through her.
"Okay," he breathed in her ear, sending electric waves through her. He picked her hands up in his and, together, they held her silverware.
Julian closed his eyes as he inhaled the sweet, pleasant floral scent of her hair. It took every ounce of his willpower to focus on the task and not on how badly he wanted to make love to her.
Her fingers slid provocatively between his, heightening his awareness of her warm, soft skin. A new kind of desperation seized him. One he couldn't name. He knew what he wanted from her, and it wasn't just her body.
But he dared not think those thoughts.
Dared not hope.
She was beyond his grasp. He knew it in his heart, and in his soul. And all the longing in the world would never change the one basic fact that he wasn't worthy of a woman like this.
He had never been worthy...
Opening his eyes, Julian showed her how to use the spoon as a bowl for the fork to tuck the noodles together.
"See," he whispered, bringing the fork to her lips. "It's simple."
She opened her mouth and he gently placed the noodles on her tongue. As they slid the fork slowly back out, between her lips, he felt as though he had been spread out on a torture rack.
His heart pounded in a wild, frenzied rhythm as his common sense told him to move away from her.
But he couldn't. He'd been so long without a companion. So long without a friend...
He couldn't let go right now. He didn't know how.
So, he continued to feed her.
Grace leaned back into the shelter of his arms. She dropped her hands from his and just let him take control. As she swallowed the next bite, she reached for the bread and fed a piece of it to Julian. He nipped her fingers with his teeth as she placed it in his mouth.
Smiling, she ran her hand down the line of his jaw as he chewed. Oh, the way that muscle flexed beneath her hand. She just loved the way his body moved, the way it rippled with every activity no matter how large or small.
A woman would never get tired of watching this man.
While she took a drink of wine, Julian snuck a bite of her spaghetti.
"Hey, now," she said teasingly. "That's mine."
His celestial blue eyes glowed as he smiled, then fed her another bite.
While she chewed, she gave him a drink of her wine.
Unfortunately, she misjudged her timing and pulled back too soon, spilling a bit down his chin and the front of his shirt. "I'm sorry!" she said, wiping his chin with her fingers. His whiskers scraped gently against her flesh. "Jeez, I stink at this."
He didn't seem to mind. Taking her hand in his, he sucked the wine from her fingertips.
Grace moaned low in her throat. A million ribbons of pleasure spread through her body as his tongue slid the entire length of her fingers while his teeth gently nipped her flesh.
One by one, he slowly cleaned them all. And when he was done, he tilted her chin up and captured her lips with his.
But this wasn't the fiercely demanding kiss she was used to from him. The one he used to seduce and devour her.
This one was gentle, quiet. Soft. His lips were feather-light and questing.
He pulled back. "Still hungry?" he asked.
"Yes," she breathed, not really talking about the food, but more about the aching of her body for his.
He fed her another bite of spaghetti.
And the next time she sought to quench his thirst, he covered her hand with his while his eyes teased her.
They stayed like that, gently feeding each other and just reveling in one another's company, until the end of the movie, when Julian became suddenly interested in the final fight scenes.
"Your guns are fascinating," he said as he watched it.
"I guess a general would think so."
He glanced at her, then back to the movie. "What do you like most about this play?"
"The allegories."
He nodded. "I see a lot of Plato in it."
"You know of Plato?" she asked in surprise.
"I studied him when I was young."
"Really?"
He looked less than amused. "They did manage to teach us a few things while they were knocking us around."
"You're being flippant."
"Somewhat."
After the movie ended, Julian helped her clean up.
While she was loading the dishwasher, the phone rang. "I'll be back in a sec," she said, dashing to the living room to pick up the phone.
"Grace, is that you?"
Grace froze at the sound of Rodney Carmichael's voice. "Hello, Mr. Carmichael," she said coldly.
At that moment, she could have killed Luanne for going out of town.
She'd only had the one session with Rodney that past Wednesday, but it had been enough to make her want to hire an investigator to find Luanne and bring her home.
The man gave her the creeps.
"Where were you today, Grace? You're not sick, are you? I could bring you some-"
"Didn't Lisa reschedule your appointment?"
"She did, but I was thinking we could-"
"Look, Mr. Carmichael, I don't see patients in my home. I'll see you at your appointment time. Okay?"
The line went dead.
"Grace?"
She jumped and screamed at Julian's voice behind her.
He stared at her with a curious look that would have been funny had she not been terrified.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." She set the phone down. "It was just that patient I told you about. Rodney Carmichael. He weirds me out."
"Weirds?"
"Makes me nervous." For the first time, she was more than grateful for Julian's presence. Otherwise, she'd be headed over to Selena and Bill's to impose herself on their hospitality for the rest of the weekend.
"C'mon," she said, turning off the kitchen light. "Why don't we go upstairs, and I can start teaching you to read English?"
He shook his head. "You don't give up, do you?"
"Nope."
"All right," he said, falling in behind her. "I'll let you teach me, but only if you put on your red night-"
"No, no, no." She paused on the stairs and turned around to look at him. "I don't think so."
He reached up and brushed her hair from her shoulder. "Don't you know I need a Muse to inspire me to learn? And what better Muse than you in-"
She stopped his words by placing her fingers over his lips. "If I put that on, I seriously doubt you'll learn anything you don't already know."
He nipped her fingers with his teeth. "I promise to behave."
Knowing it was a very bad idea, she let him talk her into it.
"You better behave," she said over her shoulder as she continued up the stairs and to her bedroom.
Grace entered her large, walk-in closet that her father had turned into a small library years ago, and dug around the bookshelves until she found her ancient copy of Peter Pan.
Julian dug in her dresser until he found that wretched outfit.
They exchanged items in the center of the room. Grace ran to the bathroom and changed clothes, but as soon as she saw herself in the gauzy red nightie, she froze. Ugh! If Julian caught sight of her in this, he'd run screaming from the room.
Unable to bear the humiliation of seeing his disappointment in her body, she changed out of the nightie and into her modest pink dorm shirt, then wrapped herself in her thick, terry-cloth robe before returning to her room.
Julian shook his head at her. "Why are you wearing that?"
"Look, I'm not an idiot. I don't have the kind of body that makes men drool."
"What are you trying to tell me? You're a man?"
She frowned at his logic. "No."