She lifted a hand and covered his heart, letting it thunder under her palm.
“That was a surprise.” She licked her lips. “I didn’t ever imagine it would be like that.”
His chuckle was thick. “Baby. It’s never like that.”
“What do you mean?” She raised her head. “I didn’t do something wrong, did I? I wasn’t sure what to—”
“It was extraordinary.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her forehead. “What I’m saying is it’s never that good—that was next level.”
“What’s the level after that?” She propped herself up, hand on chin.
“I’m not following.”
“If you say there is a next level, there must be a level after that and one after that, correct? And if this was our first timetogether, I presume we should be able to go even higher, would we not? Should we try again and see?”
“Right now?”
“I don’t have any other pressing engagements on my social calendar today, do you?”
He sputtered a moment before chuckling, warm and lazy. “Beautiful monster, you might honestly kill me.”
“All part of my grand widow’s plan,” she murmured.
“Evil woman.” He threw a forearm over his eyes and yawned.
She took the opportunity to admire this big naked male, sprawled out for her discovery. His shaft was still half hard, and she had to admit it looked far more appealing in person than in the sketches from her book. Perhaps because it was Tuck and every part of him felt precious to her. His stomach was smooth but for a trail of hair extending from his navel. A few ridges of muscles rippling. There was a wicked ancient scar on his knuckle, nearly white against his tanned skin.
“What’s this from?” she asked, tracing her finger over it. “I’ve been curious.”
He grunted. “When I was a kid, my dad used to make a rink for me in our backyard. He’d build a border and then set in a liner. After that it was just a matter of using a hose to fill it with water—that’s like a long, flexible tube that carries water from one location to another, for gardens, to water plants and stuff like that.”
“Much more convenient than buckets.”
“Very.” His lips quirked. “So, he’d fill the rink with water once it was cold enough and it would freeze. Then he’d smooth it all out. It was funny, though, he never wanted my help even though it was for me. He’d say I’d mess it up. He’s like that—we call itbeing a control freak. But once it was ready, he ordered me out there to practice all the time. And if he wasn’t at work he’d come out and shoot with me. He used to play hockey too, back in the day—never professionally, but it was a thing for him. But eventually, I don’t know, I got better, I surpassed his abilities. I could block all of his shots.
“One time there was a big storm. He told me to get on my gear and go outside and I didn’t want to. I was playing a game or something. I just didn’t want to freeze my ass off. But he made me, and this isn’t a guy you say no to easily.
“We were out there. The wind was howling. It’s cold as hell. And he’s shooting at me, and I can catch whatever he dishes out; it wasn’t a challenge anymore. And finally, I yelled, ‘What’s the point? You’re not that good, so can we go in now?’
“I shouldn’t have spoken to him like that, but I was freezing. I threw off my gloves and I announced he could stay but I wasn’t. I wasn’t ready when he shot—the puck flew at me and I didn’t want to break my hand, so I hit the deck and it missed me. He skated up and skidded to a halt, his blade sliced my hand, and then he told me to put away the equipment before going inside. That’s the last time we played together.” He paused. “I remember how much blood was on the ice.”
She had half a mind to crawl through time and find this horrible man. “If I ever saw your father, I’d not be held responsible for my actions.”
“If it was just me, I could have taken it. But he and my mom—what they did to my sister. Well, we don’t talk much these days. But you don’t want all my sad stories.”
“Untrue.” She lightly pinched one of his nipples and he jerked. “I want to know all the parts of you.”
“My sister likes women. They don’t approve.”
Lizzy frowned. “They’d prefer she be a woman who doesn’t like women? That makes no sense.”
“I mean she likes them romantically—and exclusively.”
“Oh. I see.” Awareness dawned. “Like Georgie.”
Tuck raised his brows. “Yeah. Like that, I guess. My parents believe it’s morally wrong, and so they don’t talk to her now unless it’s strictly necessary. It’s hard on Nora. She used to be close to my mom—and now there’s just this gulf. But she can’t change who she is to make them happy. That’s not love. So she decided to study far away.”
“I hope your sister finds her happiness.”
