“But you’re twenty-three. I was living on my own in Melbourne at that age.”
“Ah, you forget. I’m the baby of the family. There’s a big gap between me and Aaron. I’ve had to fight for every scrap of freedom.”
“I’m not going to come between you and your parents. I won’t fight wars for you.”
“Heck,” she said in disgust, fighting to straighten.
He released her, and she turned on her scowl. Full force with nothing held back.
“Not you too. You’re not listening. I want to fight my own battles, live my own life, and if I make mistakes, that’s my problem. I’ll cope with the consequences. I’m not a stupid blonde bimbo. I have a brain. I’m capable and determined. I intend to live my life and live it well.”
Her breasts heaved with the force of her conviction, and his interest in her deepened. Deep, still waters and all that crap. “And my desire to boss you around doesn’t worry you?”
“I signed your agreement. I want to bump against your ugly naked parts, hopefully for the entire month. But what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom. You don’t get to boss me around the rest of the time.”
Fair enough. Things that happened in the privacy of a bedroom didn’t need to continue outside the home. But an urge to tug her tail in the same way she’d tweaked him from the moment he’d offered his aid grabbed, twisted, provoked. “What would you say if I expected submission outside the bedroom?”
“You’d have to earn the right,” she said, her tone fierce. “You’d need to prove to me that deep down it was something I wanted. Hell, I’ve readFifty Shades. Most people have, but I know myself well enough to say a controlling man in my life wouldn’t work. Too many years of fighting to exert my independence.”
And yet she hadn’t put up much of a fight when it came to their agreement. Interesting. “I’m going to explore you, touch your face and body. I want you to stand in front of me and let me grope you.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
She drank the last of her toddy and handed her empty glass to him. “All right, but if you intend to check my teeth, you should watch your fingers. I’m not broken, and I might bite.”
There was a long pause—startled on his part, his smile of delight struggling for freedom. He wanted to test her… His grin slipped his grasp and spread across his lips, tugging his facial muscles and reverberating to his cock. “I’ll keep your warning in mind. Are you warm enough?”
“Yes.”
“Warm enough to take off your sweats?”
She shivered, her pupils dilating. She stared at him, yet he didn’t glimpse a shred of doubt. “I’m warm enough.”
“All right then.”
She stood and started to tug up her sweat top.
“No. Let me do it.” His breath caught while he waited for her assent. She was a surprise gift, one he couldn’t wait to unwrap.
After scanning his expression, she gave a swift nod.
Unable to resist, he leaned down and kissed her—a gentle kiss with no hint of sexual undercurrent. Her lips were petal-soft, and her entire body trembled at the contact. He drew back to brush the pad of his thumb over her mouth. He caressed her cheeks, pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. Gradually, tension faded from her shoulders. Her breathing slowed, and she didn’t flinch at each new touch. Her eyes fluttered closed, and he, too, relaxed.
No matter that his family would feel as horrified as hers. This—being with Laura—felt right on so many levels.
“Lift your arms for me.”
She obeyed instantly, her features relaxed. He whisked the fleecy top over her head and tossed it aside.
She wore a figure-hugging shirt beneath. It clung to her breasts—large breasts—and showed an hourglass figure. She was sturdy, yet only an ungenerous person would claim she was fat. Instinct told him her mother, her sisters, might have committed the sin, yet Laura hadn’t flinched at his scrutiny.
“What’s your verdict?”
Her soft question confirmed his thoughts.
“You have the body of a Hollywood glamour girl. I can see you in a tight red dress, your hair in a fancy up-do and your lips painted crimson. High heels.”
