“You don’t have to do that.”
“Someone has to. You can’t do it all.”
“Damn, but I love your fight. I’ll be quick.”
I swallow thickly, knowing pretty much that he’s not just going to be cleaning out that wound. “You don’t have to hurry if you don’t want to.”
“Normally, I’d take you up on that offer, but who knows how much hot water there is. You deserve to get some of the road grime and jungle slime off your body. We’ll sleep in clean sheets tonight.”
This is true, only there’s one thing we won’t have.
Clothing.
I plan on scrubbing our clothes until they’re as clean as I can get them. If it wasn’t so late, I’d duck out and find a pharmacist. There has to be some kind of store around here that sells antibacterial ointment and bandages. Until then, that third scarf will have to do the job.
While Max showers, I fidget on the bed. Every sound outside makes me jump. True to his word, Max takes a short shower. It’s my turn.
Unlike him, I’m not bold enough to strip in front of him. I gather all his clothes and toss them in the shower with me to soak. My clothes go in there as well. My shower takes longer than his, but then I have a lot more hair than he does.
There’s only bar soap, but I make due. Then I get to scrubbing our clothes. By the time I emerge from the bathroom, Max is already in bed, dead asleep.
He looks so peaceful in sleep. I crawl into the small bed beside him, acutely aware of my nakedness, and wonder if maybe I shouldn’t stay awake and keep watch. Before I can decide, sleep finds me.
I wake with Max curled around me. His breathing is slow, even, and at peace. My smaller frame fits perfectly within his. My back presses against his front, which means his erection pokes the small of my back.
My bare back.
Our clothes hang in the bathroom, drying after our jungle and chicken bus ordeal. At some point, he threw his arm around me, locking me in place. It’s heavy. Safe.
Wonderfully safe.
This, this is what I’ve been wanting since the day we met. Sexual chemistry, and the ensuing tension aside, a quiet moment like this is worth ten-thousand kisses.
His chest rises and falls, calm, gentle, soothing, while my heart speeds up. I could lift his arm and ease out of his embrace, but I don’t want to ruin the moment.
With his hard body holding me, I feel soft, feminine, fragile, yet also tough, resilient, and most importantly, loved.
I survived months at The Retreat, the prisoner of a madman, then I found Max.
Or rather, he found me.
Breathing in his dark, masculine scent, I dose contentedly in his arms. Then I realize something important. His skin is warm.
Not hot.
Max’s fever broke sometime during the night. With that thought, I dose contentedly, safe in the arms of the man I love. At least until he presses his hard length against me. Then I’m wide awake and thinking of only one thing.
Thirty-Seven
Max
By necessity, we went to bed without clothing. Eve stayed in the bathroom long after I was done, cleaning and scraping two days’ worth of hard travel off our clothes.
Which means, my body wakes eager and hungry.
For her.
My arm drapes over the curve of her hips. My hand rests flat against her belly. I can’t help my fingers as they trace out tiny circles across the expanse of her belly.
Eve wakes and her entire body tenses.
“Shh, go back to sleep.” The desire to hold her in my arms wars with my need to fuck. Passion burns in my veins, penetrating all my senses, until my entire being demands release.
There’s one huge problem with that.
No protection.
Not that there aren’t other things we can try. I can’t wait to kiss her creamy thighs and lick her clit until she screams. If I must wait to take her the way I like, I have no problem doing other things.
“How can I sleep when you’re…”
“When I’m, what?”
“You know.”
“Yeah, but I want to hear you say it.”
Eve rolls over, and I almost complain until her tiny hand wraps around my extremely engorged cock.
“I can’t sleep with this poking me in the back.”
A low groan of desire stirs in the back of my throat. The feel of her hand on my shaft is enough to make me go insane. My balls tighten, and my cock feels like it’s going to explode as blood surges into it with a vengeance.
I barely hold onto my restraint as the need to take her rips through me, violently, aggressively, and with the entirety of my being.
“Don’t tease me.” My teeth grate together as I struggle not to turn her over and fuck her like a dog. I’m barely holding on to the most base desire a man can have.
“Or what?” Her hand slides down my shaft, twisting and squeezing.
“Turn about is fair play.” I clamp my hand on her wrist, keeping her from stimulating me more.
With the way I’m amped up, I’m more likely to be a one-pump-and-done kind of guy. That is not how our first time is going to be.
I’ll have her screaming my name, multiple times, before I take my pleasure. My grip tightens until I force her fingers to release me. Once that’s accomplished, I roll her to her back and move until I’m on top of her.
My very naked, uncovered, and unprotected cock stabs at her opening. It would only take one thrust. I could fuck her with all the passion swirling within me, heat her blood until she begged for release, and penetrate her body until our bodies meld as one, but where would the fun be in that?
Not when I have all the time in the world to savor the delights her body will yield. And I have no doubt Eve will yield to me. Already, the heady scent of her arousal floods my senses. Her wide eyes stare at me with passion and desire.
“Do you have any idea what you mean to me?” I stare down at her, dumbstruck this is happening. That this is going to happen.
Eve loops her arms over my shoulders. Her legs spread as I wedge myself between them. No doubt in my mind, she won’t stop me if I angle just a little and slide on home. It’s where I belong, deep inside of her, joined as one, but I’m not so far gone to ignore the consequences such a decision would bring.
I stare at her for the longest time, losing myself in her sea-green gaze as I debate my next move.
“You’re killing me,” she says.
“I am?” I arch a brow, knowing exactly what she means.
What’s wrong with a little tease? Eve doesn’t know it, or maybe she does, but I’m going to do everything I can to blow her mind. This isn’t going to be an in and out, rut and fuck until you’re done, kind of thing.
I’m taking my own sweet time.
“Just kiss me already.”
“Just a kiss?” I bend my head and brush my lips across her mouth. “Or do you want more?”
Eve grabs the back of my neck and forces my head down. “I want it all.”
“All?” I arch my brow again. “I need something more specific.”
With that, I shift my hand from the mattress to her side. My fingertips graze the swell of her breast, and I’m aching to finally get those in my hands.
With our gazes interlocked and simmering with the latent heat between us, I move my hand up, going as slow as I can stand, until I cup her breast. Her body arches, greedy and wanting, but I’m in no rush. The urge to shift my thumb just a bit and feel the puckering of her nipple is nearly overwhelming, but I force myself to take things slow. I never want to forget this moment.