“What are you—” She didn’t finish her question. She raised a hand and dragged her fingertips through Call’s hair. Whether she intended to keep him close or push him away was unclear even to her, and Call, if he noticed, was not troubled by motive. He breathed in the musky scent of her and separated her slick and swollen lips with his tongue, flicking the tip of it along the kernel of flesh between them.
Laurel’s breath caught. It wasn’t possible to fill her lungs; she sipped the air instead. Pleasure unwound in tiny increments, slipping under her skin until all of her was flush with it. She thought she wouldn’t be able to tolerate it. She wanted it to be over and she wanted it to go on forever.
Clearly, Call knew her mind better than she did because he kept going, licking, laving, and loving her in this most intimate way. Laurel’s fingernails pressed white crescents into her palms before she grasped the sheet andbunched it in her hands. She arched her neck and her heels dug deep. She closed her eyes, squeezed them shut really. A small keening cry rose from her throat before she could call it back, and almost immediately the long muscles of her arms and legs contracted.
Laurel felt as if her body had shattered and she was flung in so many directions, she would never recover the pieces. Of course that wasn’t the case. Not at all. Not only was she all of a piece when her breathing slowed and her heart resumed its normal rhythm, she was whole.
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “That was... that was... there are no words.”
Call levered himself over her. “There are, but you probably shouldn’t strain yourself to come up with them.”
Laurel put a hand to the side of his face and gently pushed him away. He flopped on his back beside her.
“Are you smiling?” she asked.
“You can’t see?”
“I’d have to turn my head. Right now that seems like too much work.” It wasn’t much of an exaggeration. She couldn’t recall another instance when she’d known such lethargy or felt so replete.
“Then I’m not smiling,” he said, smiling.
“Liar.” She said it not unkindly. “What you did to me... someone taught you that.”
“Uh-huh. And a few other things besides.”
“Not now,” she said, though she wondered about those things. “Maybe another time.”
Call’s chest shook when he laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you sound so damn determined. Do you have a list you’re checking off?”
“Now how could I have a list when I’m just learning about these things?” she asked in practical tones. “I’mcreatinga list that I can refer to at some later date.”
“Later date?”
“After you’re gone.”
Call couldn’t tell if she was being deliberatelyprovocative or perfectly serious. “Who said I’m going anywhere? We talked about this. I told you then that you’re surer about me moving on than I am. I like it here, and not just because I like you.” Call paused, expecting her to say something. “What? You’re getting used to the idea?”
“Hmm. Getting used to itandcomforted by it. Surprises me some, but then I like you, too.”
“There’s a relief.”
Laurel poked him with her elbow. “That’s no reason to mock me. You know very well I wouldn’t have propositioned or invited you into this bed if I didn’t like you.”
Call turned on his side. She appeared serene in profile, not at all like a women who had just poked him in the arm. She hid the impish side of her quite well. “Laurel. You told me in no uncertain terms that if I didn’t do what you wanted, you would find someone who would. As I recall, liking the gentleman of your choosing wasn’t a consideration.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yes,” he said. “That.”
“I meant it when I said it,” she said quietly, sparing him a guilty glance. “Sort of. It was mostly a threat, though I can’t very well swallow the words now, can I?”
Call said nothing, waited for her to continue.
“And as it turned out, I couldn’t act on it. I reckon that liking the fella had something to do with it after all. I narrowed the field in my mind, gave it consideration as an exercise in examining the possibilities, but I pretty much knew that only you would do.”
