Free Scent of Darkness by Christina Dodd

it himself. He'd ravished her and any self-respecting modern maiden would get herself to a police station and file charges.
    But she was glad to be rid of her virginity. Had come here for this exact purpose. She just wanted him to be what she had thought he was before—the perfect man. And a completely human man, too.
    She stole a glance at him.
    He squatted on his heels, his hands dangling on his knees, and watched her with amusement. "You should have let me button that for you."
    "Why?"
    "Because you buttoned it crooked."
    In exasperation, she started again.
    "You're feeling better."
    "I'm a little less—" She hesitated.
    "In pain?"
    "Petrified."
    But was that good? That she was accepting the impossible?
    "It's all right. Next time we make love, I promise I won't hurt you." His golden eyes warmed to a sizzle. "In fact, I promise I will make you a very happy woman."
    "That is not why I—" He knew that, she realized. He wanted to avoid that conversation.
    She looked around at the dripping wet woods. The branches rustled as animals moved through the brush. She remembered the howling of the pack and realized—he might have a point.
    He folded her collar down. "I'm always naked when I turn, and if the FedEx man shows up and needs a signature, he's less likely to think I'm crazy if I'm wearing something."
    Jasha talked about it so casually. Turning. As if he were a leaf. Or a door handle. And he looked directly at her, challenging her to accept him without question.
    She shook back the long sleeves that drooped over her hands, took one of the cuffs, and folded it back. Anything was better than meeting his eyes.
    "Of course, this is Washington. There are nudists all over the place, so the FedEx man probably would simply lecture me on the dangers of sunburn." Jasha took the task away from her, unrolling the slapdash job she'd done and neatly refolding the cuff.
    "I can do it." Because she didn't know how to let him work while she did nothing.
    But he brushed her hands aside. "I think you've never had anyone help you do anything."
    "What do you mean?" She was feeling a little hostile.
    "When you were a kid, was there ever a time when someone helped you dress yourself?"
    "No. Why?" She didn't understand his point.
    "You do everything with a frightening efficiency, and I always wonder—were you ever a child?"
    She suffered an odd combination of hurt—for he seemed to be criticizing her—and surprise—for she never thought he noticed her. "My efficiency is the reason I'm your administrative assistant."
    "One of the reasons. So"—he finished with the cuffs and adjusted her collar— "were you ever a child?"
    "I thought you were asking a rhetorical question."
    "And I'm fascinated that you don't want to answer it. Who taught you to be so self-sufficient, Ann Smith?"
    Was he sorry for what he'd done? Was he trying to make conversation, to make amends before telling her the whole experience had been equal parts rage and foolishness? "The nuns-'
    "You went to a Catholic school?"
    "Yes." That was true—as far as it went.
    "Hm." His eyes were skeptical.
    She shivered. She remembered how often she'd seen him look at an employee or a business rival and know the person was withholding information. She'd always been pleased and impressed, thinking he showed an almost supernatural insight into human behavior.
    Well . . . yeah.
    "Let me see your feet." He lifted first one, then the other, and fsfced. "We need to get you back and put some antiseptic on these cuts. Are they painful?"
    "They're too cold to be painful."
    He chafed her toes. "They're ice cubes."
    "They always are."
    'Til have to carry you." He slipped his arms behind her back and under her knees. He pulled her against him and stood. "You can put them on my back in bed."
    "Put what on your back?" She grabbed at his shoulders. He was warm. He was so warm.
    "Your ice-cold toes." As if the prospect delighted him, he smiled down at her.
    He intended to sleep with her.
    "So you're not