“Maybe I’m good with my hands too,” she said.
He swallowed, his voice coming out thick and husky. “Oh, you are. You already are.”
As she slid her hand up and down, feeling the soft skin roll over the hardness underneath, he touched her with clever fingers. Her slick folds parted for him and she moved to give him better access, tilting her hips as she felt her heart pound. He rubbed her swollen, throbbing clitoris, making her gasp, finding a rhythm that suited her even as she found one that suited him.
“Slow down,” she gasped, just as he said, “Wait, wait!”
They laughed, slowing, as she said, “I don’t want to go off like a rocket.”
“You can,” he said. “You’ve got multiple chances, right? Unlike me.”
“Not now. I’m too tired. I’ll fall asleep. And I want this to last a bit longer.”
“Me too. Let’s go a bit slower.”
They tried, but soon they were both caught up in an urgent rhythm, unable to recall why they’d wanted to slow down.
“Come on,” she heard herself muttering. “Harder, harder, yes, like that, like that!”
Her climax hit her like a freight train. For a moment she forgot where she was, almost forgot who she was, lost in a tide of ecstasy. When she remembered what she was doing, she found that he was also gasping, on the edge. His hazel eyes were open wide, and he was looking straight at her. There was passion in his gaze, and desire, and excitement, and tenderness, and…
Love? Could it be?
His body tensed and his eyes closed as he came, crying out her name.
They kissed again and cleaned up as best they could with leaves, then rolled over and lay down again on a slightly less damp patch of grass. She snuggled in closer to him, trying to fit every part of her body into every part of his. After that fantastic sex, she was utterly relaxed, ready to fall into what she suspected would be the best swamp sleep ever. But she wanted to enjoy every moment of cuddling with Carter, who was as good at that as he was with his hands.
Dreamily, she said, “That was better than the best vibrator I’ve ever had.”
“I should hope so,” he said, sounding indignant. Then he added, “I could make you a vibrator that’s better than your best. For when either of us is gone on a business trip, you know.”
“Gonna base it on your dick?” she teased.
“Maybe,” he shot back. “I’ll wait to see if you actually like mine, though.”
“You want me to do some product testing before you design the prototype, huh?”
“Exactly.”
She dropped her hand lower. “I feel very confident about the original model.”
Chapter 10
Carter awokewith a sense of happiness, peace, and well-being that he hadn’t had in years. Fen was nestled in his arms, fast asleep. He didn’t dare move for fear of waking her, so he stayed completely still.
She was warm and breathing gently, her eyes closed. The pearly dawn light touched her skin with a lovely luminescence. The fringed half-moons of her eyelashes were echoed in the fine arches of her eyebrows. Her mouth was slightly open, making him remember what it had felt like to touch those sweet lips with his own. One of her hands was curled around his forearm, with those fingers that had driven him wild the night before now relaxed in sleep.
I’m crazy about her,he thought.If we weren’t being chased, I could lie here and hold her all day. Everything about her is a marvel.
He couldn’t believe he’d spent years disliking and periodically sending hostile emails to her without ever actually meeting and realizing how wonderful she actually was. And all that time, the people who deserved the emails were her awful parents. How dare they convince her she was lazy and careless! How dare they assume her struggles with attention were some character flaw and blame her for it!
He must have made some indignant noise, because her eyes opened. She blinked up at him and smiled. “Morning. How’s your head?”
“It’s absolutely fine.”
And it was. There wasn’t a peep from his monsters, other than a faint background rumble that might have been purring.
Carter did feel guilty for letting her assume his headaches were due to sadistic experimentation rather than a horde of inner monsters screaming at him. But then again, the monsters were the result of sadistic experimentation, so it wasn’t really a lie.
