I set the gauze over her sutures and make sure nothing is catching on the weave.I grab the paper tape.“Stop laughing, Phoebe.”
It takes her a minute to still.“No, Evander.I don’t want you to lecture me.But the intensepassionin your voice when you laid it out for me—thatwas really freaking hot.You said, and I quote, ‘I need you to move when I say and trust me like your life depends on it, because it does.”
“I said that shit?”My heart is pounding behind my sternum.My dick is as long and hard as the bar exam.
This girl is…actually, I don’t know what she is.
But I plan to find out.
“You said that, yes.”
“What else did I say?”
“You told me there was a chain of command.That you were in charge, and it wasn’t up for debate.Holy crap, Evander.It was really intense.Overtly sexual.I could barely breathe listening to that.”
I swallow.
“So, I need you to find a way to say those things to me with your body.Through sex.Show me.Teach me.That’s what I demand.”
I struggle to breathe.I takes me a few seconds to regroup.“Uh, so, have you ever demanded this from a man before?”My question escapes my throat in a jagged whisper.
“No.”
Phoebe carefully flips to her other side, so she’s facing me, the blanket still bunched up around her middle.She props herself up on an elbow and meets my gaze—direct, calm, no-nonsense.
“There was no point.The men I’ve been with wouldn’t have understood what I was asking for.I think you do.”
Holy fuck.
Phoebe’s long brown hair cascades onto her upper arm.The wool blankets part, revealing the creamy swell of her full breasts and the flat of her belly.She’s magnificent.
I remain perfectly still, sitting back on my heels, my hands resting on my thighs.First aid supplies are scattered around me.
I feel like I’m deep in prayer.Praying at the altar of Phoebe Fuck-me Travis, Blizzard Enchantress.
I think she expects me to say something, but I’m so stunned that all I can do is nod.
“So that’s my demand—that you show me what it feels like to be claimed so completely, so desperately, and with so much passion, that it’s like both of our lives depend on it.”
My mouth falls open, but I manage to snap it shut.Eventually, I say, “I can work with that.”
CHAPTER 32
Phoebe
Evander takes a moment.He isn’t moving.He just sits back on his heels and considers me.
I worry I may have caused him to short-circuit.
But he rallies.
His left eyebrow slowly rises onto his forehead.He blinks a few times.And then he unfurls a crooked grin.
Evander rises up and drops to all fours.His violet eyes are alive with firelight and humor.His gaze locks with mine.
I remain stretched out on my side, just leaning back and enjoying the visuals.This huge panther of a man is stalking me.Dark and brooding and unshaven.He’s the most sexual creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.
I never imagined I’d ever think that way about a man in thermal underwear.
