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“You’ve only just realized?”
She meets my eyes. “Thank you.”
I smile. “You’re welcome.”
“I don’t just mean for the orgasm. I mean for everything. I don’t think you’ll ever truly understand what you’ve just done for me.”
I’m not quite sure what she means. “It was hardly an onerous task. And anyway, I enjoy a challenge.”
She doesn’t smile, though. “Just talking to me like that, about sex… I feel… empowered. Is that crazy?”
I shake my head, secretly touched. “Happy to oblige.”
“God, you’re so fucking casual about it. How did you get to be so laid back about sex?”
“I dunno. Practice?”
“Are your brothers the same?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
A car goes past, the lights sweeping over us, then leaving again so we descend into semi-darkness once more. I think about my family, and how different it might have been if we hadn’t been able to talk.
“My folks were always open about everything,” I tell her. “We were all in the living room one evening watching TV. You know that Saxon and Kip are twins, and they’re a couple of years older than me? They’d just started high school, and they thought they were all grown up and cocky. Well, a character on the TV made a joke about a condom. So I said, ‘What’s a condom?’ Saxon said, ‘No glove, no love,’ and Kip said, ‘Wrap it before you tap it,’ and they both laughed. Dad glared at them and said, ‘Guys, you’re not helping,’ and Mum said, ‘Answer your brother, please, when he asks questions like that. You weren’t born knowing either.’ So they both apologized, and then Saxon said, ‘You know the gloves the doctor wore when he stitched up your knee? A condom’s like one of the fingers cut off.’ And Kip said, ‘You put it on your knob, so you don’t make a girl pregnant when you have sex.’ And I was like, oh, okay, and we all went back to watching the movie.”
Her jaw drops for a moment. “Oh wow. I can’t imagine being like that with my family.”
“I’ve always thought Alex seemed pretty open.”
“Yeah, well, he’s always taken it upon himself to protect me. He’d never talk about anything like that in front of me.”
I frown. “Why? I mean, I get that guys are protective of their little sisters, but he seems a bit over the top.”
She shrugs, playing with a button on her jacket.
“Can’t you talk to me?” I ask gently. “You can trust me.”
“I know.”
“Is it to do with your parents?”
“I don’t really want to talk about it, Damon.”
I’m disappointed, because I thought we forged a bond this evening, but I can’t force her to talk. “That’s okay. Well, you know where I am if you ever want to discuss it with anyone.”
She nods and clears her throat. “I suppose we should get going.”
“Belle,” I say gently. “Come here.” I hold up my arms. Her lips curve up a little, and she moves into them.
I hug her, smiling as she nestles against me, nuzzling my neck. She sighs, and the whisper of her breath over my skin stirs something deep inside me. I look down, seeing the cute curve of her Cupid’s bow, and remembering the softness of her mouth. The way she parted her lips and let me slide my tongue against hers. I want to kiss her again.
I go to lower my head, but at the same time she sighs again and moves back. “Come on then,” she says. “It’s getting late, and I don’t want you to get too tired on the road.”
Reluctantly, I get out, and we move the boxes from the front seats to the back. We scoot the chairs back, and then we get in, and I start the car. Soon we’re back on the state highway, heading south toward Christchurch.
We don’t say anything for a while. I concentrate on the road, lost in thought.
When I finally glance across at her, I find her curled up in the seat, head pillowed on her bent arm as she rests it against the window. She’s asleep.
