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enjoy her creations, but there was something different about watching Erik sink his teeth into the rare meat, something almost primal she felt deep within her. His eyes drifted shut as he chewed, and a low moan rumbled up from his throat. He licked the juices from his lips and sighed happily as he took another bite.
    She was a much better baker than she was a chef, and if he enjoyed the taste of imperfectly prepared meat that much after going centuries without food, she wondered what his reaction to finally being with a woman after so long would be. Watching him savor the steak with such intense fervor, she wanted to find out more than she considered safe, and excused herself to the kitchen, where she stuck her face in the freezer to cool off.
    Resting her forehead against the frosty ledge, she determined to stop looking at him for a while. He was too attractive, that was the problem. She couldn’t look at his face at all, she’d just look at his chest. No, that wasn’t going to work, because looking at his chest made her want to touch him. She would only look at his hands. She sighed, recalling what those hands had made her feel. Not looking at him at all seemed safest. He’d think that she was weird, but she was going to keep her eyes firmly averted from now on.
    Feeling better, she took one last deep breath of icy air and backed away from the freezer. Straight into a hard wall of Viking. Damn it. She wasn’t looking at him at all right now and her nerve endings started dancing feverishly anyway. How much frustration could a woman take without actually bursting? She felt very close to bursting.
    He slid his arms around her and pulled her close to him, moving his hands up to rest below her breasts, his thumbs brushing tantalizingly close. She wanted to turn around and scream how unfair he was being before wrapping her legs around him and dragging him to the kitchen floor. Instead, she stood frozen, barely breathing, waiting to see what new, delicious torments he would inflict on her.
    “Are you going to finish your steak, Audrey?” he asked, turning her around to look sweetly down at her.
    She laughed, certain she was coming unhinged. “No, go ahead and eat it. We have to wake up early in the morning to get ready for the grand opening, so I’m going to go to bed.” She pulled away from him and looked resolutely past his shoulder. “Don’t worry about your dishes, but be sure to get some sleep, okay? I’m going to need a lot of help tomorrow.”
    “Never fear,” he said, full of good humor now that he’d had his red meat. “I’m a morning person. Whatever you ask of me, I’ll do.”
    He smiled so charmingly, she didn’t think he was making a sarcastic jab at the fact that she essentially owned his ass. It obviously caused him rancor, but he was being remarkably good-natured about it.
    “Well, thanks,” she said, thrown off kilter once again. “Um, goodnight, then.”
    “Sweet dreams.” He leaned down as if to kiss her, but remembered he couldn’t, and gave her a disappointed look before heading back to devour what was left of her meal.
    She touched her lips and frowned, buzzing with frustration that not even climbing completely into the freezer would erase. She’d definitely have some dreams tonight, but she was certain they’d be anything but sweet.

Chapter 4

    Erik sat down and pulled Audrey’s plate over to him, smiling to himself. The steaks were exactly what he wanted, and it was kind of her to make them for him. It was kind of her to be so accommodating at all, now that she knew her power over him. She certainly didn’t have to be. He was as good as still locked up in the painting for all the control he had over his life, and it was only her kindness that kept him from falling into a deep despair.
    The moment she first directed him to eat one of those sweet cakes and he’d felt the shimmer of helplessness wash over him, he knew his curse wasn’t ended. As much as he didn’t want one, he