“The lack of light in remote places.”
“I’m not scared. I’ve never been afraid of the dark.”
He waited.
“If you can’t get them off, just leave them.”
“What?”
“Your boots. Just leave them. You should’ve removed them before the light was gone.”
“They’re off.”
“Then what are you doing now?”
“Trying to decide if I’m sleeping up here or down below.”
“Stop it.”
“What?”
“Trying to tease me.”
“There’s a place down there to sleep. I’ve done it before.” He waited.
She was stubbornly silent, which made him smile.
“Or I can sleep up here with you. Is that what you want?”
“I don’t care what you do.”
He smirked. Time passed. He had no idea how much. Complete darkness could be disorienting, even for him.
“Larsinc?”
“Yes?”
“Are you waiting for me to tell you to come to bed?”
“Yes.”
“It’s your bed! Don’t wait for that. It’s ridiculous.”
He joined her on the bunk, lying on his back, drawing in a deep breath of the warm air. The scent of her skin drifted to him, and his cock hardened. He wanted her, but he would not take possession of her body yet. “If you want to lie against me, take off those boy’s clothes.”
“I don’t,” she said. “I’m fine.”
He yawned and closed his eyes.
“Is that what you want?” she added. “For my body to be pressed against yours?”
“That and more.”
“It’s not as if I could stop you,” she whispered.
“No, you couldn’t,” he agreed.
“But you won’t force me?”
He thought he heard the hint of an invitation in that statement. Or maybe he just heard what he wanted to hear. His body’s craving for hers burned through him like an uncontrollable blaze. But waiting was part of his strategy with her. He wanted her to put herself in his hands completely. To do that, she must be able to trust him to only force things on her that she deserved.
“No, I won’t force you.”
“Good,” she said.
“At least not tonight,” he said to tease her.
