Free High Energy by Dara Joy Page A

dangerous. Positively lethal. Who knew what responses he could coax
    from her when she least expected it? She had absolutely no intentions of
    becoming involved again. At least not for the next millennium.
    Tyber rolled off her, reaching down for his jeans. Suddenly shy, Zanita wrapped
    the blanket around her as she searched for her clothes. As soon as she had
    dressed, she tried to think of a graceful way to make a quick getaway. She
    needed some time to dwell on her wanton behavior. Looking and drooling was one
    thing. Touching and groping quite another.
    "Look, Tyber, I'd better be going now. Thank you for inviting me, and good luck
    in your research—"
    Tyber watched her knowingly as he pulled his jeans over his lean hips and zipped
    them up. She wasn't even looking at him when she spoke! He placed himself
    directly in front of her, removing that option.
    "Oh, no you don't, Ms. Masterson. How many times do I have to tell you I won't
    let you run away? We just shared something, and I'm not just talking about the
    sex." He ran a hand through his hair as a vision of them entwined in a
    passionate embrace played in his mind. "Though it was incredible, wasn't it?"
    Her chin came up defiantly. "I'm not running away. I'm leaving. There is a
    difference."
    "No. You're not."
    She sighed. "Tyber, I don't know what—this was." Her hand indicated the now
    vacant chaise with its rumpled blanket. "I don't know how I'm supposed to act in
    a situation like this—stop right where you are!" He had started to move closer
    to her. The last thing she needed right now was him befuddling her with his
    touch.
    "Zanita…"
    She would have to elaborate, so he would get the picture. For a genius, he could
    be awfully thick-headed. Surely he should have been able to figure out that a
    woman of her advanced years would have had enough encounters with his sex to
    swear off men entirely!
    "I've had one and a half relationships in my life and—"
    Tyber didn't hear the rest of her words; he was still stuck on the first part of
    her statement. "A half of a relationship? What the hell is that?"
    She flushed. "I don't wish to discuss it."
    He was looking at her as if she were some odd specimen he had just discovered
    under his microscope. Make that telescope, she amended. "And you can take that
    look off your face right now!"
    "What look?" He still was viewing her strangely.
    "You know what look! I am no different than anybody else—there is no need for
    you to peer at me like that."
    He took a deep breath. "Zanita, you are so far removed from any other person I
    have ever met that the comparison defies description. Believe me, sweetheart,
    putting your name and the norm together is a contradiction in terms."
    "And who are you to judge?" She tapped her foot, swinging her arm in an arc to
    encompass his bizarre home. "Need I say more?"
    He narrowed his eyes. "So I'm eccentric."
    "Eccentric!" She scoffed. "You, Tyberius Augustus Evans"—her index finger poked
    his chest—"are a kook!"
    Tyber's mouth lifted at the corners. "A kook?" He placed his hands over his
    heart. "Zany, you wound me."
    "That's Zani with an i."
    A dimple popped into his cheek, and she was locked into a spontaneous embrace.
    "However can you tell?" he whispered laughingly while nuzzling her hair.
    She looked up at him with a wounded expression. "It's the way you say it. I just
    know." His fingers idly toyed with the tiny curls at the base of her neck while
    he observed her earnest little face. He felt his heart jump.
    "Zanita, I adore you." His lips pressed warmly against her forehead. "Stay with
    me tonight."
    Stay with him? He adored her? She gazed at him in shock. Did that mean he wanted
    them to have a relationship or… Another horrible thought occurred to her.
    "Tyber, you—did you use protection? You have to be so careful these days and—"
    Her hands covered her face. "Oh, God, what have I done?"
    "Don't worry about it, baby; I took care of it."
    Before she could think of an