She was saying all kinds of things—naughty things, things she would normally not say. She might be ashamed of herself later, but she wasn’t now. She had never been this outspoken in the bedroom. And tonight, she wasn’t just outspoken, she was outright demanding and greedy as hell. Not that he seemed to mind. He was giving her everything she was begging him for. He was bringing it on and doing his thing, and she was taking it in and doing hers.
The combination was the most powerful lovemaking she’d ever experienced. And she couldn’t imagine being with anyone else but Parker.
“Sebrina?”
She forced her eyes to open and glanced over at Parker. It had to be past eight in the morning. Swallowing, she said, “Yes?”
“We need to get the hell out of this bed and out of this house. You’ve become an addiction.”
He had become awfully addictive as well. “Okay,” she said, slowly easing up in bed. She’d lost count of the number of times they’d made love.
“Spend the day with me away from here,” he suggested.
“Doing what?”
“Let’s go on an outing to the zoo.”
She loved the zoo but hadn’t been in years. It was supposed to be a nice day outside, with no snow and not too cold. Besides, walking would help ease her soreness, though she didn’t regret one moment of it. “I’d love that,” she said, sliding out of bed and glancing around the room for her clothes. He spotted them first. Easing out of bed he walked over to pick them up, then handed them to her. “Thanks.”
“You want to shower with me?”
What he was offering was tempting, but she knew better. She smiled over at him as she slid into her nightie and robe. “Then we’ll never leave, Parker,” she said, nodding over to the bed. “It’s calling our names again, but we need to ignore it. Give me half an hour and I’ll be ready, okay?”
He smiled back at her. “Okay.”
She was about to leave when she felt Parker take hold of her hand. The touch was electrifying, and she drew in a sharp breath. “Yes?”
He leaned in and kissed her, and she felt her body melt into his. When he released her mouth, he whispered, “I can’t wait to spend the day with you.”
She nodded and quickly headed for the door. Well, that experiment had been a colossal failure. Because after acting on it, the chemistry between them was more explosive than ever.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“AREN’T THEY THE CUTEST things?” Sebrina said to Parker as they stopped at the huge cage that held an arctic fox with her pups.
Holding her hand, Parker stopped beside her and glanced at the fox. Since foxes were fairly common in Maine, he had seen quite a few of them on his parents’ property, but he had never seen one with white fur. “They are definitely cute. It’s a shame they’re in a cage, though.” He glanced at his watch then asked, “Ready for lunch?”
“Yes.”
They had eaten breakfast before leaving the house. She had shown him that although she didn’t spend a lot of time at a stove, she knew how to use one. Together they had whipped up pancakes, eggs and bacon. It was nice having her in the kitchen with him. He couldn’t help suggesting they do it more often.
A short while later, they were being shown to a table at one of the zoo’s cafes. A couple they’d run into had suggested they try the place, saying the hamburgers and fries were delicious.
As they sat, waiting for their order, he thought about the fact that Sebrina hadn’t brought up the subject of their relationship…and how it had changed. It seemed she was determined to avoid any discussion of what they’d shared. He’d let it go for a while, but sooner or later, they’d have to talk about it. She had to have realized that acting on their attraction had only made it that much stronger.
She smiled over at him. “So, what exhibit did you like most?”
He leaned back in his chair. “I’ve always had a thing for zebras, and the habitat the zoo has put together for them is impressive.”
She lifted a brow. “You’ve always had a thing for zebras?”
He grinned. “Yes, ever since my grandparents gave me a huge stuffed one as a kid. I had it for a long time and then one day, it was gone.”
“Gone?”
“Yes. Mom figured I was too old for it, so she donated it to a charity that was collecting toys for Christmas.”
He could vividly remember that day, coming home from school to find Zeke gone and then being told why. He had become upset—really upset. His parents had plenty of money. They could have bought those kids lots of toys for Christmas. But instead, they’d taken away the only one that had meant anything to him.
“Gladys the giraffe was my favorite toy,” Sebrina said. “As I got older, Monica replaced Gladys. In fact, Gladys later became a hand-me-down to my younger cousins. She got passed around so much, she eventually fell apart. Just think about it, Parker. My Gladys and your Zeke made other kids happy.”
He met her gaze. “You think so?”
“I’m sure of it.”
He felt more love for Sebrina at that moment than she could possibly know. In fact, she didn’t have a clue. And making love to her, being inside of her, intimately tasting her the way he had, had only boosted his emotions a hundred times. He had always thought he’d put his career before everything, including love. But he now realized that even if he reached his dream of one day becoming a chief-of-staff at a hospital in Tampa, he would never truly be happy unless she was there with him. There was no other woman on this earth who he could ever love more than he loved her.
He refused to settle for the kind of marriage his parents had. He needed more than a loveless partnership. He wanted a wife who’d be his life-partner, but more importantly, a wife who forever would have his heart.
And that woman was sitting here with him right now.
Sebrina was glad when the waitress chose that moment to return. For the past five minutes or so, all conversation between her and Parker had ceased, and they had merely sat there, staring at each other and stirring up the chemistry that still raged between them.
She now knew what it felt like to be cherished, and she doubted certain parts of her body would ever be the same. Even now, while the waitress placed their meal in front of them, heat flared in her core, and her mouth watered, just thinking of the many times he had kissed it.
She had to admit, her sister and cousins had been right. She had loved Wade. He had been the only guy she had ever given herself to, heart, body and soul. And she’d never found a reason to move on.
Until Parker...
Last night, he had touched something inside her that no other man had touched since Wade. It was more than just the physical, although she would admit the physical had meant a lot. Wade had made love to the girl she had been at seventeen. Parker had made love to the woman she was now, and he had done so in a way no other man ever had. Just watching the way that he was eating his hamburger reminded her of the way he’d feasted on her. Even now, she could recall how his tongue had...
“Are you okay, Sebrina?”
She blinked. Had she been sitting there staring at his mouth, watching him eat his food without touching hers this whole time? “I’m fine,” she said, reaching for the ketchup at the same moment he did. Their hands touched and immediately a charge of desire ripped through her entire body. She met his gaze and knew he felt it as well.