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He waved his hand. “You,” he said. “You still seem too good to be true. You’re too gorgeous, too brave, too smart. You’re just… too much to be real. But you are real.”
I pondered that for a moment, bewildered. “Ah, gosh. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a compliment to have one’s existence on this mortal plane duly acknowledged, but whatever. Thanks. What was it that persuaded you?”
“Mostly, the way you are with your little sister,” he said. “You can’t fake that.”
“That’s true.” My voice caught.
“It went all right today,” he said. “Reuniting with Holly, I mean. I was shit-scared of that. But I didn’t smash or break anything. It was okay. Better than okay.”
“It certainly was,” I said. “You were fine with Holly. Great, even.”
“I’m grateful. And that gave me the nerve to try this again. Being a real person, I mean. Doing risky things like reaching out to an amazing woman. Touching her. Wooing her. Begging for her to forgive me for being such a fucking coward last night.”
“Ah,” I said, cautiously. “I see. Well, um. Consider yourself… forgiven. I guess.”
“Thank you,” he said. “So? May I get into your bed?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You should think about it long and hard. The Red Queen’s bed is a dangerous place. Are you sure you have the nerve?”
He was grinning. I saw his teeth flash in the dimness. “Will you chop off my head if I disappoint you?”
“You’ll never disappoint me in bed,” I told him. “It’s after that’s risky.”
“I won’t do that to you again,” he said. “If the lava pits open up, I’ll just try not to freak out on you. I’ll do everything I can. I’m so afraid of fucking this up.”
I harrumphed. “Well. That would imply there was a thing between us to fuck up. We’ve never discussed it, ever. And just sex, no matter how scorching hot it might be, does not count as ‘a thing.’”
“We could discuss it in bed,” he suggested.
I laughed at him. “Nice one, Masters. You already had your wicked way with me tonight. It’s a bad precedent. Make you think everything is yours for the taking.”
“I’ll take nothing for granted, I promise. And yes, there is something between us, apart from the spectacular sex. There has been since you sneaked down into my dungeon to see me.”
“You think so?”
“I know so,” he said. “I was ready to die, Red. I was actually looking forward to it. Then you came tiptoeing in, and you fucked that all up. And suddenly, I didn’t want to die anymore. Which was kind of a huge fucking problem for me.”
“Aw,” I said, shakily. “That’s sweet.”
“Please, don’t jerk me around. I’m trying really hard. I’m sorry about last night. And I’m sorry if I was too aggressive with the sex. It just… comes over me.”
“You weren’t,” I said. “I liked it. Besides, I’m pretty aggressive myself.”
I thought I saw a brief smile flash over his face in the dimness. “Off with their heads,” he murmured.
“Exactly,” I said. “So. You solemnly promise to be good?”
“Good as gold,” he said.
“Well, then. In that case, you may get into my bed,” I said primly.
It felt comically awkward and shy, after all his hot moves on the couch. We went to opposite sides of the bed in silence, lifted the covers, and got in, like a couple of virginal noobs. Then we scooted closer, and closer still, until we met in the middle of the huge king-sized bed. And ahhhh. Yes.
As always, touching his hard, hot, naked body was a fresh, delicious shock to my senses. He was so dense and solid. A sweet rush of emotion and sensation flashed through me. He slid his arm under my neck, gathering me into his warmth. It was a wonderful and terrifying sensation. No one had ever done that for me. I’d cuddled my darling Reggie, of course, but she was my precious little honey to curl around and protect from the big bad world. Not that I’d had so much luck with that.
Touching Shane… that was a new type of cuddling. A very different vibe.
“So,” I said. “You said before that you had decided that I was for real.”
