When the contractions took her this time, she wailed. Still held tight. Still not able to move, except that her head was banging. Over and over again against the mattress, while she cried out.
Too hard. Too much. Too deep.
He lost it all.
Skylar was in Zane’s arms now, his weight, as before, a comfort. They were under the duvet, the light turned out, and she was so warm and contented, she just wanted to go to sleep.
He said, “That OK, then? A better time? Not too much?”
She hummed, then realized she’d actually have to rouse herself to speak. “Too much, yeh. But so good.” She rolled enough that she could kiss his chest, stroke her hand over the muscle there. “And a bettertime?”She had to laugh a little, sleepy as she was. “Well, yeh. I’ve never done any of that before. You were careful, though. You asked.”
He sighed. It seemed to come from all the way down deep. “Seemed wise, if I wanted to do it again.”
“Again? Boy, I’m usedup.You wore me out.”
They were both laughing now. “Nah,” he said. “If you want a marathon, it’ll have to be on a night when I haven’t just played a match.” He rolled so he was on his side, but kept an arm across her chest. “Sleeping with you works too.”
He said it, and then he didn’t say anything more. His breathing deepened, and he was asleep. And she thought,Jess, I’m never going to tell you about this. But bloody hell, would part of me like to.And fell asleep with a smile on her lips.
40
FULL ATTENTION
She woke at seven-fifteen. Another day she’d overslept. The same disorientation at not being in her bedroom, and then the realization that it wasn’t Snowball curled against the backs of her knees. The warmth was from Zane, because he seemed to like to cuddle at night the same way Snowball did, at least to the extent of having a leg touching hers.
Which was probably just body size vs. bed size, not the desire to be close in your sleep.
Keep it together,she told herself.You’re a cautious person. Stay cautious.She got out of bed that way—cautiously—and Zane groped with a hand for her pillow, and then was still.
When she got into the bathroom, after a peek outside—sun not quite risen yet, which always made her feel virtuous, for some reason—she gasped. She very nearly screamed.
It was a good thing she’d woken up first.
The patches of foundation on her face made it look like she had a skin disease, and the smeared mascara, eyeliner, and shadow made it look like she’d been in a fight. Her hair was wild, too, because she hadn’t put it in its silk bonnetovernight. If Peter Jackson was looking to cast a zombie movie, she was all set. Otherwise, though …
She hadn’t even brushed her teeth after the wine!
When she was in the shower again after some intensive cleansing, her hair up in a topknot, things began feeling more like normal.Betterthan normal, actually, because her body was … buzzing. That was the word. Or humming, possibly. Something with bees. Something with stimulation.
Like from a vibrator.
She poured body wash onto a facecloth and sniffed at it. That was some very posh stuff.Matakana Botanicals Macadamia & Wild Fig, the label said, and it smelled?—
The water suddenly turned hot, and she screamed and jumped back, twisting at the tap.
“Oh.” The voice came from behind her. “Sorry. Flushed without thinking.”
She whirled. And screamed again, because now, the water from the tap wascold.
“What?” Zane looked alarmed. He also looked around, as if there were something more fearsome than an enormous, naked rugby hooker with a black eye that could possibly be coming through her bathroom door.
“C-cold,” she said.
“Oh.” He stepped inside, straight under the spray. “Feels good,” he said, and grinned. “And you look good.”
“Ha. You should’ve seen me fifteen minutes ago. I didn’t wash off that makeup last night, and the result wasn’t pretty.”
“Mm.” He wasn’t listening, she could tell. He was taking the facecloth from her and pouring some more of the body wash onto it.
