“Why would it upset me to finally get to touch your beautiful body?” Stone looked genuinely confused.
“Well, I mean…the way you ran off when I asked if you were going to bite me. I just thought—”
“Cassandra, you think too much sometimes,” he murmured. “Forgive me for making you worry. I just had to leave before I did something we would both regret—before I bit you.”
“But why?” Cassie shook her head, not understanding. “Why would we both regret it if you bit me, Stone?”
“Because…” He sighed and ran a hand through his thick hair. “Because biting is an act of possession among my kind. If I bit you and injected you with my essence, it would be extremely difficult for us to go back to being just friends after this mission is over.”
“I see…” Cassie nodded. “So you feel about biting the same way I feel about kissing—it’s too intimate. Is that right?”
Stone nodded thoughtfully.
“Yes, I think that is a good analogy. Although biting is more extreme. If I bit you, I would then have a biological need to Claim you as well—to bond you to me. And that would be wrong if we want to maintain our friendship.”
“Yes, I guess it would.” Cassie looked away.
She wished, in a way, that Stone wanted to Claim her and bond her—which was the ultimate step for a Kindred warrior. But she understood that her partner just wanted to remain friends.
“Well…” She cleared her throat and pulled her hand away from his broad, bare chest reluctantly. “I was about to go to bed. Are, uh, you coming?” She nodded to the floating gold beanbag, which was certainly big enough for the two of them.
Stone frowned.
“Do you want me to come to bed with you, Cassandra?”
“Well, I mean, not to, uh, practice anymore or anything like that…” Cassie could feel her cheeks heating. “But this is a strange place—hell, a strange planet— and I’ve never been off Earth before. So, it might be nice to have someone I trust close by.”
One side of Stone’s mouth rose in a rare smile.
“And that someone could be me, I take it?”
“Of course. But, I mean, only if you want to sleep together. Not that we’d be actually sleeping together,” Cassie said quickly. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean,” Stone interrupted—which was a good thing because she’d been starting to babble, Cassie thought. “I know what you mean,” he repeated, reaching out to sweep a strand of hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear. “And I would love to sleep with you tonight, Cassandra.”
“Oh, well good.” She smiled up at him. God, he was so tall. Now that she had taken off the high heeled boots, she had to tilt her chin back just to look into his eyes. “Just as long as I get to be the big spoon,” she added, joking.
Stone frowned.
“The big spoon?”
“You know—when you sleep with someone else and you lay on your sides together—like spoons in a drawer?” Cassie asked. “The person in back is the big spoon and the person in front is the little spoon.”
“Ah.” Her partner nodded. “If you wish, you can be the big spoon.” He walked to the foot of the bed and held it steady. “Now you can get in.”
Cassie climbed the little 3-foot staircase again and crawled carefully into the floating beanbag. The gold material it was covered with was warm and soft and the bed itself was much firmer than a beanbag. In fact, it felt like a really expensive memory-foam mattress to Cassie, though it did sink down in the middle a bit when she laid down on it.
“Come on in,” she told Stone, once she was settled. “It’s really nice.”
Stone didn’t need the staircase. He was so tall he was able to easily get into the bed without it. When he settled beside Cassie, the bed sank in the middle some more, pushing the two of them together.
“Well, this certainly isn’t a good bed for people who want personal space,” Cassie remarked, trying not to elbow her partner as they attempted to sort themselves out and get comfortable.
“Do you want personal space? I can sleep on the couch,” Stone offered.
“No, no!” Cassie assured him hastily. “I was just saying, that’s all. Look,” she added, wiggling around. “I was joking about the spooning before, but now I think it might be the only way we can sleep on this bed without squishing each other.”
“All right. I will be the ‘little spoon’ as you requested to be the ‘big spoon.’” Stone turned on his side, putting his broad, bare back to her.
Cassie turned on her side as well and tried to get comfortable, but to be honest, it wasn’t working. Stone was way too big for her to spoon him comfortably and the position just felt wrong.
“This isn’t working, Stone,” she said at last, after shifting restlessly to try and get to a better position. “You’re too big—I feel like a flea on a dog’s back!”
“It does not work for me, either. Let’s try it the other way.” And Stone turned over to face her.
Cassie gave a little gasp as his hard, muscular chest brushed against her breasts and their bodies connected front-to-front. She was naked under her thin nightgown and she felt the heat of her partner’s big, muscular body like a brand against her own.
For a long moment, they looked into each other’s eyes and Cassie thought he was going to kiss her. In that moment, she knew she would have let him—in fact, she wanted him to. But finally, Stone spoke, breaking the breathless silence between them.
“Turn over, Cassandra,” he murmured, his voice hoarse and low. “Let us see if it works for me to be the ‘big spoon’.”
Biting her lip, Cassie did as he said. At once, Stone pulled her close, cradling her body with his own, surrounding her completely. His size and strength made her feel like a child again but in a good way. She felt protected…cared for…loved.
No, don’t be stupid, Cassie. Don’t make this into something it’s not, she lectured herself. Stone is just spooning with you because it’s your first night on a weird new planet and he’s trying to make you feel safe and comfortable. He’s being a gentleman, like always. So don’t start catching feelings—remember what happened with Gil when you let yourself love him.
But she couldn’t help liking the way her partner’s big body surrounded hers. His warm, dark scent filled her senses and his muscular arms held her close, making her feel safe and secure as she never had while sleeping with any other man.
“Mmm, this is better,” Stone murmured in her ear. “I think I should always be the ‘big spoon’.”
“I think you’re right,” Cassie murmured. “I mean, as long as we’re here, anyway.”
“Yes…” He sighed softly in her ear. “After this mission, we will never have a reason to be spoons together again.”
His awkward phrasing made Cassie smile but his words made her sad. He was right—they were going back to plain friendship once they got back to Earth. What excuse would they ever have to sleep together entwined again?
Well, then you’d better make the most of it now, whispered a little voice in her head. Enjoy it while you can, Cassie.