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CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Saturday, June 12
He’s in a reflective,contemplative mood the next morning, trying to push past all he told me last night. I’m at a loss to help him, so I don’t try. I pretend to sleep as the sun rises slowly, illuminating our tiny sleeping space in the Minnow Bucket. I keep still and listen to him inhale and exhale. I hear him text on his phone for a while, then lay it aside. He curls his body next to mine and spoons against me tight and close.
“Are you sleeping, or are you playing possum over there?” he whispers so tentatively, I can barely hear him.
“Possum,” I reply.
“You’re so quiet. It’s starting to scare me a little. Look, Raven, if you want to go home, I can get you a plane ticket today.”
I roll over quickly and silence him with a long, wet kiss. “Connor, I don’t want to leave. What you said last night doesn’t change anything except that I feel … I feel more connected to you.” We are connected in a way I can’t even describe to him — not yet. We’re both bound in our pain, working to try to find normalcy in a life that has given us anything but for a long time. I suddenly don’t feel alone anymore. I don’t feel scared.
“I’m honored, not upset.” I close my eyes, let out a long breath, then open them again. Staring into his dark blue pools, I whisper, “Do you want to end this — our trip, I mean?”
“No. But I need to know you feel safe. That you are here because it’s what you want, Lainey Bird. I need to know what you really want.”
I swallow. For the first time in my life, I know exactly what it is I want. And it is staring at me with two of the most hopeful navy-blue eyes I’ve ever seen. The deepest depths of my lovely lion.
“I want you,” I whisper, barely audible. His mouth closes over mine and we fall into a thrashing mass of limbs and kisses and strokes and deafening heartbeats. He strips me naked and then tugs down his shorts, freeing himself.
“Roll over,” he commands. I twist onto my stomach. He lifts my hips slightly and arranges two fluffy pillows under them. I feel his hand slip between my legs, parting them and spreading warm lube, which we’ve taken to calling our joy juice, over my already slicked entrance. The sensation is instantly overwhelming and I arch upward into his caress.
“You want this?” he asks, already knowing the answer and nudging the rounded tip of his erection against my entrance.
“Yes.” My Inner Sex Goddess is on her knees begging.
“You know the rules, Lainey. I need to give, not take. What do you want me to give you?”
I twist my head around and kiss him as he inches inside me. “Give me all of you, Connor. Everything you are right now. Whatever it is, I want it.”
Connor’s body presses down over me. His hands cover mine and our fingers fold together curling into lovers’ fists. His hips begin a slow tap against me until he’s filling me completely. From behind me, he feels even larger than he did before and it’s nearly overwhelming. I moan and he stills.
“Talk to me, Little Bird. Am I hurting you like this?” His voice is strained as he works to steady his control.
“No. I want more, Connor. More, please,” I gasp.
I can hear the smile in his voice as he promises he’ll give me everything I want. His body resumes its thrusting. It escalates quickly, growing harder and faster. I lift and lower my hips in time with his movements and we crest together in mere moments. The feel of him inside me is an explosion of sound and sensation.
Connor growls and then rolls off of me to curl my sweat-slicked body back against him like two spoons again. His softening manhood stays tucked inside me. He swipes the hair off the back of my neck and begins to feast on my flesh there, nibbling and sucking. His stubble has turned into a soft, short beard. I love the feel of it against my skin.
“Raven,” he says, and kisses my shoulder. I wait to hear him say more, but he doesn’t. He just holds me quietly holding next to him. He doesn’t have to say anything else. He doesn’t know it yet, but we are born of the same fire.
“I know,” I answer. Because I do.
* * *
“Are you coming or what?” I squeal like a child. Connor has just handed me two tickets to King’s Mountain theme park. How I missed seeing the snaking roller coasters and waterslides on the way to our camp spot last night, I can’t imagine. I guess it really was quite late and rather dark. But they’re here before me now, twisting and curling in ribbons of steel. They look like smiles curved in a promise of thrills and adventure.
“And here I was thinking you’d be scared of riding a roller coaster,” Conner says. He’s got that amused little smirk on his face again. I’m so happy to see it. It spreads into a wider smile that threatens to morph into a full-blown laugh at any minute. I love it.
“Oh, I totally am,” I admit, my voice overflows with childlike enthusiasm. “Isn’t that the fun? Being scared to death, but knowing you won’t actually die from it?”
“I suppose so.” Connor hikes his backpack up onto his shoulders. We have our swimsuits, sunscreen and flip-flops inside it along with a few candy bars for Connor. Seriously, this man and his candy addiction!
We enter the park to the sounds of the whoosh of a roller coaster swinging overhead. The smell of cotton candy and deep-fried corn dogs permeates the air even though it’s barely past ten. We are among the first to arrive. The sun is already scorching and I’m thankful our passes grant access to the attached water park. We’ll be ready for that later.
“Where to first?” I practically bounce on my toes as Connor studies the cartoon-looking map of the park we received at the entrance gate with our colored wristbands.
