No, show her,shrieked another monster.
The monsters all seemed to like that idea. They began chanting, screaming, hissing, bellowing, and snarling,Show her! Show her! Show her!
[eager electric blue]
Carter’s head felt like it was about to explode. He clutched at it involuntarily, then saw Fen staring and dropped his hands.
“Uh…” He fished for something, anything to say. Nothing presented itself.
Trapped in a swamp and hunted like an animal with a gorgeous, brilliant, funny woman who wants to have sex with me, and I can’t either say yes or tell her why not,he thought.A gorgeous, brilliant, funny woman who will never want to have sex with me again, because I responded to her incredibly hot invitation by backing off and grabbing my hair like a lunatic.
“I have a headache,” he said at last. It was true, but it made him feel like a liar. “I know that sounds like a bored housewife in a movie from the fifties, but…”
“No, no. You have a head injury. Why don’t you lie down?”
Before he could protest, she’d pulled him down to the slightly squishy ground. Her sympathy and belief made him hate himself. “I’m fine. I was making a fuss over nothing,”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said crisply. “You got knocked unconscious twice in a single day. Now put your head in my lap. I promise not to hit on you.”
Seeing no alternative, he lay down with his head in her lap. She began to stroke his hair, her slim fingers combing through every tangle. He relaxed as she gently rubbed his forehead and temples, avoiding the injured area. It felt incredibly good, tender and sensual without any performance pressure.
A deep sigh escaped him as he melted into her caress. He’d been too distracted by things like being kidnapped and trying to shoo away a dragonette to pay attention to it before, but his head did ache, and not only because of the monsters. His whole body felt, unsurprisingly, like he’d been punched repeatedly and thrown around an airplane.
“Thanks, Fen. You ever thought you’d stroke the forehead of your chief business rival?”
“Only if I was trying to plant a surveillance chip in his hair.”
He laughed. “Well, now’s the time. I’d probably assume it was a leaf.”
“I didn’t bring one. What a missed opportunity.”
He gazed up at her as she rubbed his neck, taking out the stiffness. A truly incredible number of dangling swords of impending doom hung over him, but whenever he started to worry, her fingers would move and he’d be drawn back into a warm bubble of contentment.
“I’m sorry I tried to take over your company,” he said. “I used to be a real jerk.”
“Used to be?” She tapped his nose, taking any sting out of her words.
“I’ve gotten much better,” he protested.
“Well, I’m not sorry I tried to take over yours. You deserved it. But I’ll drop it as soon as we get out of here.”
“Thanks. You weren’t going to get it anyway, but it’ll save us both a lot of money in lawyers’ fees.”
“Was too,” she said.
“Were not.”
“Was too.”
“Were not.” He rolled over and pulled her down so she lay beside him. She laid her head on his shoulder, and he tugged on his coat to cover them both. “Comfy?”
“Mm-hmm.”
She snuggled in closer. He held her tight, marveling at the chance that had brought them together. It would never go any further than this. Eventually he’d have to end it before it got serious enough to hurt her, and break his own heart. But for now, for this one precious moment, he’d enjoy what he had and not think about the future.
“The stars are so bright,” she said.
With no artificial light and their fire dying down to coals, the stars shone brilliant against the absolute blackness of the night sky. He could even see the glitter-dust sweep of the Milky Way.
