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Lydia wasn’t a prude by any measure; she’d had plenty of good sex over the years—had thought she’d had some really great sex, even—but last night…

God, she didn’t know it could be like that.

She fisted her hands against the urge to reach out and caress the length of Zann’s back, to feel the warmth of her skin and the strength that lay beneath it. Just because she was awake unforgivably early didn’t mean Zann needed to be, but that knowledge did precious little to abate her awakening need to have her again.

As if sensing her thoughts, Zann grumbled incoherently and rolled onto her back.

Lydia whimpered as her gaze dipped to appreciate Zann’s pert breasts, and all of her good intentions of letting Zann sleep crumbled as she watched Zann’s nipples stiffen against the cooler air.

Because, honestly, it was just rude to tease her with so much perfection.

And, well, if they were both awake, they’d have a couple of hours to themselves before they had to meet the rest of the wedding party at the restaurant.

Feeling a little guilty but not nearly enough to stop herself, she pushed up onto her elbow and tucked her hair behind her ear as she ducked her head to suck Zann’s right nipple between her lips. Emboldened by the way Zann groaned throatily and arched off the bed, she cupped the breast in her hand and lifted it toward her mouth as she teased the bud with the tip of her tongue.

Zann’s nipples weren’t quite as sensitive as hers, but they were still incredibly responsive, and she smiled as long fingers slipped through her hair to scratch encouragingly at her scalp.

Lydia pulled back with a contented hum to survey her handiwork. Lovely. She looked up to study Zann’s face as she teased the stiff, straining bud with her breath, and her breath caught as she watched Zann’s tongue peek out to slowly wet her lips.

Oh yeah. This is definitely better than sleep.

She smiled and dipped her head to press a gentle kiss to Zann’s breast. “Good morning.”

“Mm, good morning,” Zann murmured, her voice rough with sleep. She groaned when Lydia licked her nipple, and used her hold on Lydia’s hair to gently tug her higher. “Later, beautiful,” she protested. “Sleep now.”

Lydia pouted but didn’t resist as Zann guided her head onto her shoulder and, as she settled against her side, she had to begrudgingly admit that this was really nice, too. Not as nice as an orgasm or three would’ve been, but it was undeniably nice to just be held without any sort of expectation.

She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d just laid in bed with a woman.

She pressed a kiss to Zann’s throat as she snuggled into the warmth of her embrace, and closed her eyes as Zann’s chest rumbled with a happy purr beneath her cheek. “You’re adorable.”

“Shh,” Zann hushed. Lydia smiled as Zann dragged her hand from her hair to sleepily pat her face before pressing a thumb to her lips.

It was adorable.

Lydia kissed her thumb. “Wha—” she mumbled.

“Is too early,” Zann mumbled. She caressed Lydia’s lower lip with her thumb before letting her hand drop to rest against Lydia’s throat. “You are the fucking sexiest woman I’ve ever seen, and I have every intention of ravaging you as many times as I can later, but give a girl a chance to recover.”

Lydia huffed a laugh even as her heart squeezed at the unmistakable absence of guile in Zann’s tone. “Okay. We can sleep a little more.”

“Thank you.”

Lydia hummed a wordless you’re welcome. The ravaging Zann promised sounded fantastic, but this was pretty incredible, too.

She closed her eyes as she let herself enjoy the strength of Zann’s arm around her waist and the sound of her heartbeat. She had no illusions of falling back asleep—she was unfortunately wired in a way that once she was up, she was up—but the warmth of Zann’s body beneath hers and the steady rise and fall of Zann’s chest combined to lull her into a light doze.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, she was startled back to wakefulness by the alarm clock on the nightstand roaring to life with an unrelenting string of ear-splitting beeps that sounded like they were heralding the hounds of hell. It was an entirely brutal way to wake up, and though she hadn’t been completely asleep, the cacophony still managed to startle her enough to steal a year of her life.

Judging by the way Zann damn near levitated off the bed in a panic, it took two or three years from hers.

Lydia smiled as Zann swore and swung blindly at the alarm to silence it. Zann’s first swing didn’t land, nor did the second, and she bit her lip against the laughter bubbling in her chest when Zann swore louder and twisted beneath her to get a visual on her target before swinging again. Silence had never been so golden as it was in those few seconds after she managed to turn it off.

Lydia patted Zann’s side when she flopped back onto the bed with a groan. “Thank you.”

“Welcome,” Zann muttered. She tightened her hold on Lydia’s waist and scrubbed her other hand over her face. “I think that just gave me a heart attack.”

Lydia rubbed her cheek against Zann’s chest. “Nope, it’s still ticking just fine.”