Choosing Theo: The Clecanian Series Book 1 Victoria Aveline (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📖

stone island she hadn’t noticed before. As she drew closer, he straightened and picked up a thick glass filled with amber liquid. When she was within arm’s reach, she stopped. He downed the glass then turned to face her.

His eyes widened when he saw her exposed legs. The glass he was holding shattered.

Shards fell all around her bare feet. Without moving from his spot, Theo threw his thick arm around Jade’s waist and lifted her until she was crushed against his chest. He spun on the spot and deposited her onto the island. Jade’s hands shot forward, trying to pull her shirt down over her thighs.

Why did he just do that? For a moment she thought his motives in picking her up had been more passionate in nature.

Now, as she watched him examine her feet, she felt he was merely trying to make sure she didn’t get hurt by the glass. A small part of her had been thrilled by his sudden show of attraction, but now as she watched him carefully lift and turn her feet in his big hand, a warm, fuzzy feeling overwhelmed her.

He may look like a hulking angry tattoo enthusiast most of the time, but he was showing a caring side she hadn’t expected.

Why had he broken the glass in the first place? Was he angry at seeing her in his shirt? Unlikely, since he’d tried to protect her from the shards almost as soon as they’d fallen. It may be that he was too strong for his own good. For all she knew, he could go through hundreds of glasses a month.

Seeming satisfied that her feet weren’t hurt, he dug in his back pocket for a slim black rectangle. Silently, he pressed a few silver buttons and then put it back in his pocket.

A low humming sounded from behind her. Peering over her shoulder, she saw a small vacuum-like appliance had appeared out of nowhere and was working its way toward them.

“That’s really handy. You know, I…” Jade trailed off as she twisted back toward Theo and found his eyes riveted to her legs.

He was very close to her now. A balled fist rested on the counter on either side of her. Sitting at this height, with him bent as he was, put her nearly at eye level with him.

Jade cleared her throat. Theo lifted his eyes to hers slowly, unapologetically. He tried to scrub his hand over his face and winced. Tracks of red blood ran down his wrist from his palm.

Jade gasped as she reached for his hand to examine it. Jagged shards of glass jutted out of his palm. Blood had pooled on the counter where he’d rested his fist.

“Why didn’t you tend to this? It must hurt like hell,” she said, picking a small piece of glass out of his finger and dropping it on the ground for the small machine to clean up.

Theo watched while she attempted to remove the glass from his hand without causing too much pain. She winced in sympathy as she pulled a deeply embedded shard from his palm.

Theo didn’t wince or flinch once. In fact, she thought he looked…calm. His eyes had lowered to half mast, his shoulders relaxed, and his breathing was slow and even.

She shot him a puzzled look. “Do you enjoy pain or something? Are you a masochist?” When he didn’t answer, she continued, “Because I do not. I’d be crying like a baby if I were you.

“Why did you break that glass, huh? Don’t know your own strength?” Knowing he couldn’t understand her, Jade had started speaking more to herself than him.

“How did I get myself into this?” she said absently. “One day I’m at home watching movies and the next I’m sitting, half naked, on a countertop within inches of the sexiest man I’ve ever seen.”

The last piece of glass was out, so Jade grabbed a cloth from nearby and started wiping away the blood. “I don’t understand why everyone is so scared of you,” she babbled. “I mean, sure, you glare at everyone like you’d like to rip their heads off, but you’ve been looking at me like that for hours now and you haven’t done anything cruel.”

Jade set the towel away and examined one of the black marks curving around his wrist. “Those markings…” She sighed, tracing the mark with her finger. “I’d like to lick every one of them,” she said with a wicked smile.

Theo leaned in close and said in a low, rumbling voice, “Is that so?”

Chapter 16

Jade’s eyes widened in shock, and color flooded her cheeks. “W-what— Y-you—”

“I’m curious to know what a ‘ma-so-kist’ is. That word didn’t translate.”

“You can understand me?” she squeaked.

“I updated my translator while you were changing.” Theo eyed her long, pale legs again.

The whole ride to his house had been torturous. Her scent had overwhelmed his senses in the small space. In order to keep himself from pouncing on her and burying himself deep within her soft body, he’d had to concentrate on his anger.

She had to be a spy. Sent to him for some nefarious reason. He wasn’t going to let this female get the best of him. But then…she’d given him a heated look.

He hadn’t understood anything she’d said and yet she’d kept talking, taunting him. Her voice had become sultry when she’d stared at him. If the cruiser hadn’t arrived at his home and if she hadn’t dashed out of the cab so quickly…Well he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done.

He vowed that as soon as he had a moment alone, he’d update his translator, without her knowledge, and learn everything he could from her.

Theo didn’t enjoy failing, and yet he’d failed himself. Not even ten minutes after updating his translator had he revealed himself. He’d found it odd when she’d requested his clothing, but hadn’t seen the harm in placating her.

Glancing down at his bloodied hand, he noted he needed to remember not to underestimate her again. The minute she’d walked out wearing