Chapter 12

Reece drew the horse to a halt when they reached a small stream. He helped Lara slide to the ground before dismounting. Pulling the banner with his family’s crest from the horse’s rump, he spread it on the ground before reaching into the saddlebag and drawing out a flask of wine. Lara sat on the banner and waited for Reece to join her. Had he always been this irresistibly handsome, or did it have something to do with the valor he’d displayed during the tournament? Just looking at him made her mouth water. Maybe it was because he was all sweaty. As he became when he made love to her.

Reece stretched out next to her on his side and propped his head up on the hand of his bent arm. He took a swig from the flask before passing it to her. She pressed it to her lips, strangely aware that his had just touched it. Very middle school of her to think of it as an indirect kiss, but she couldn’t help it. The wine was warm, but sweet. She savored it on her tongue before swallowing.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

She was hungry. For Reece. And not indirect kisses.

“Not for food,” she murmured.

She shifted closer to him, bent her head, and brushed her lips against his tenderly. When she drew away, his eyes were closed. He seemed to savor her kiss as she had the wine.

“How’s your shoulder?” she asked. “Asshat hit you really hard with that lance.”

“I’m sure it will be bruised,” he said, fingering the area, “but the armor absorbed the blunt of the blow.”

“That’s good,” she murmured. She leaned forward again and, anticipating her kiss, his eyes drifted closed. She loved him like this—all calm and dreamy. Yeah, loved him. She smiled before she kissed him again, prolonging the gentle brush of her lips against his. When her tongue tentatively stroked his upper lip, he groaned and reached for her, drawing her against him. Her hair curtained them to any creature who happened to witness the sweet kisses they shared.

She drew away again and they stared into each other’s eyes. After a moment, he lifted a hand to touch her cheek. “Have I told you how beautiful you are today?”

“Something about ravishing.” She lifted her hand and rested it against his breastbone, loving the feel of his heartbeat beneath her fingertips. She flattened her hand and stroked her way up to his neck, her fingers finding the strands of his hair, still sweat-damp from his exertions in the arena. She wondered why she found his musky scent enticing. Shouldn’t a sweaty male be offensive? But he wasn’t. She wanted to lick him from head to toe.

He grinned at her. “Are you surprised?”

“About what?”

“That you really can fall for someone like me?”

“First of all, what makes you think I’m falling for you?”

“I remember the first time you looked at me like that,” he whispered, and ran the tip of his nose along the side of her neck. “I’ll never tire of it.”

“What look?”

“The one where you’re the predator and I’m the prey.”

“Shouldn’t prey be a little more afraid of his predator?”

“I like it,” he whispered into her ear before planting a suckling kiss on her neck just beneath her earlobe.

She tensed, a spasm of desire catching her off guard.

“And why is it so hard to believe I could fall for someone like you?” she pressed. “Is there something you aren’t telling me? Are you married with three kids or something?”

His lips paused in their delectable exploration of her throat. He seemed about to tell her something. “Nothing like that,” he said. His hand moved to her side where he stroked up and down with slow, gentle motions.

“Then what?”

“We’re different, that’s all. Reserved intellectual meets impulsive troublemaker.”

“I wouldn’t call you reserved,” she murmured.

He chuckled, his breath teasing her throat. “I’m going to make love to your ear now.”

He traced the edge of her ear with his nose from lobe to apex, while blowing a gentle, warm breath up the skin just behind. Lara shuddered, urging him closer with the hand she had tangled in his hair. His tongue followed the reverse path his nose had taken. When he reached her earlobe, he drew it into his mouth, sucking vigorously before raking his teeth over the sensitive flesh. A moan rose to the back of her throat. He nibbled his way up the edge of her ear again, and tested her responsiveness by moving his hand to her breast. While she was distracted by that new sensation, he plunged his tongue into her ear. She cried out, surprised by how good he could make her feel just by being attentive to her ear.

He drew away and looked down at her. “If you keep making those sort of sounds, you’re going to give me the wrong idea.”

“What kind of idea did you have in mind?”

“I’m going to think you want me to make love to you.”

“What’s wrong with that idea?”

His stunned look made her chuckle.

“Well, perhaps not the whole enchilada,” she conceded. “Reg and Eleanor should probably save something for the honeymoon.”

“Half the enchilada?” He grinned, raising his eyebrows.

“I was thinking more like second base,” she teased.

“Second base I can do.”

“Aren’t you already on second base?”

He glanced down at his hand resting gently on her clothed breast. “I think I can do better than this.”

She chuckled. “I hope so.”

“Will you allow me free access to everything from the waist up?”

She bit her lip as if considering his proposal. “I suppose. What do I get access to?”

“You have an all access pass to every inch of me, baby.”

Her sly grin drew a look of concern from him. “Every inch?”

“Why do I think you’re going to make me regret that statement?” he said.

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll regret it,” she murmured, shifting to cover his mouth with hers.

He moved to his back and she tumbled on top of him. His hands shifted to her lower back, pressing her closer as she kissed him heatedly. When his hands drifted further south and covered her over-clothed buttocks, she drew away to look down at him.

“Last time I checked, that was below my waist,” she teased. “Have you already forgotten your access is limited?”

“Sorry, I have a terrible sense of direction,” he murmured but trailed his hands up her back to her shoulders. His wince of pain had her instantly concerned.

“Are you really okay?” she asked.

“Shoulder’s a little stiff,” he admitted. “It hurts when I raise my arm too high. Nothing that won’t heal.”

She sat up, straddling his hips. Unfortunately, there was a minimum of fifteen yards of cloth separating their flesh. Her fingers moved to the buttons of his shirt, releasing them one by one, exposing his skin an inch at a time. Once she had the buttons unfastened, she brushed the fabric aside, loving the feel of his hard muscles and crisp, chest hair beneath her palms. She cringed at the ugly bruise she found on his left shoulder.

“Reece, this is horrible.”

“It’s just a bruise. You could kiss it and make it better.”

She touched the area gingerly. “I wish my kiss would make it better.”

“Your kiss makes everything better.”

She looked at him and then laughed. “You really are a sap, Reece Jericho.”

He tumbled her onto her back, fingers digging into her sides as he tickled her. “Say that to my face.”

Laughing hard, she gasped, “I did say it to your face.”

His tickling intensified. “Then say it again.”

“Reece is a sap,” she said, finding it hard to catch her breath.

“Damn,” he muttered, “she’s on to me.” He stopped tickling her, his expression turning serious. “You know I’m not like this with anyone but you.”

Her grin vanished. She didn’t know how to respond to something like that, so she changed the subject. “Did you know you’re really sexy when you’re all covered in sweat and concentrating on a target with a bow and arrow?”

He grinned, sappy Reece going back into hiding and smart-assed Reece coming out to play. “You know, I seduce more women that way.”

“How many would you say?”

He seemed to think it over for a moment. “One that I know of.”

She grinned. “And who was that?”

“I think her name was Jennifer.”

Her mouth fell open in feigned outrage. “Did you forget about me?”

“Oh, were you seduced?”

“No,” she denied, knowing it was a lie. She wanted him, desperately, but this little game between them was too exciting to submit to her desire just yet. Maybe in ten minutes. But not yet.

“Well, there you go,” he said. “There was just the one.”

She took the sides of his open shirt in her hands, and tugged him towards her. “Less talking, more kissing,” she demanded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

He stretched out beside her and leaned closer to kiss her. Her hands explored the hard contours of his chest and stomach as if they had a mind of their own. She found a round spot of skin with a smoother texture than the rest of his belly, and fingered it, perplexed. He drew away and looked down at her, as if knowing what she was going to ask.

“Bullet wound,” he told her. “There’s a matching scar on my back.”

Her hand slid around and found a slightly larger area of puckered scar tissue on his back.

“You were shot!”

“Just a little,” he murmured.

“What happened?”

“Wrong place at the wrong time,” he said. “No big deal.”

She thought it was a big deal. “Did you almost die?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I’m too tough to die. Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. It’s all in the past.”

“That’s funny coming from someone who thinks the best way to escape the future is to hide in the past.”

He chuckled. “Point taken.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” she persisted. “Who shot you?”

Reece sat up and stared out across the creek to the forest on the opposite bank. “Someday I’ll tell you, but not today.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

He squeezed her hand. “That’s not it. I just don’t want to talk about it. It happened over ten years ago. I’ve put that part of my life behind me.”

She sat up and cuddled up against his back. “Okay,” she said. “I want you to confide in me, but I won’t press the issue.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. “You can tell me anything, Reece. I mean that.”

“I’ll tell you some day.”

“Did you tell future-me?”

He shook his head. “It never came up.”

“I never asked you about your past?”

“I don’t think you wanted to know,” he said. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Besides, you were too busy trying to get in my pants.” He grinned impishly.

“I find that very hard to believe, Jericho.” She had a strange feeling settling in her chest. She wanted something special with this man. Something that a future Lara, who didn’t yet exist, never got to experience with him. It was as if she were jealous of some other woman for being with him first. And that other woman was herself. She knew it was strange to feel this way, but her tongue decided it was worth voicing. “Tell me one secret about yourself that future-me never knew.”

“Just one?”

“Anything. You chose.”

His ear was temptingly close to her nose, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from nuzzling it. Nibbling on its lobe. Sucking it into her mouth.

“My parents were gunned down when I was nine. The people you met as my family in the future took me in and raised me, but they were not my biological family.”

Lara felt as all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She released his ear and leaned around his body so she could look him in the eye. “Your parents were gunned down?”

He nodded and lowered his gaze, but not before she saw the raw ache in his soul.

“How awful.” She rose up on her knees before him and hugged him against her chest. Wrapping both arms around his head, she pressed his ear to her heart. It thudded so hard, she feared it might burst out of her chest. She brushed her lips against his hair, her desire to take his pain away an absolute necessity. “Is that how you got shot?”

“No. An attempt at revenge got me shot, but I don’t want to talk about this. It’s in the past.” He chuckled. “Actually, it’s a few hundred years in the future, but... Can we start celebrating now?”

She had a feeling that it had taken a lot for him to trust her enough to confide what little he had. She understood his need to change the subject. “Thank you for telling me,” she said. She released her hold on his head and dropped a kiss on his brow. She could tell bringing those memories to the forefront of his mind caused him pain. She almost wished she hadn’t asked. She also wished the tender kisses she trailed along his forehead could erase those terrible memories. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen.”

“Okay, one more secret,” he said.

She bit her lip, anticipating something profound to escape his lips.

He lifted his gaze to hers. The sincerity in his eyes stole her breath. “That dress makes your tits look fantastic.”

She slapped at him, unintentionally hitting his bruise.

“Ouch,” he cried. “Okay. I’m sorry, sadist.”

“Did I hurt you? I didn’t mean to.”

“Honestly, that ache is a lot more tolerable than the one below my belt.”

“How can you possibly be turned on at a time like this?”

“Everything about you do turns me on, sweetheart. I thought you had figured that out.”

“I’m starting to feel the same way,” she admitted. She leaned forward and kissed the horrible bruise on his shoulder. Her hands ran down his washboard abs and around his sides to his back, while her lips traveled from his shoulder, down his hard chest. She flicked her tongue over the tiny pebble of his nipple.

Reece drew a shaky breath through his teeth.

“Did I hurt you again?” she asked, immediately concerned.

“I’m hurtin’ all right,” he breathed. “Are you sure you don’t want to get into my pants? There’s quite a lot going on down there.”

“Poor baby,” she crooned. She dipped her fingertips into the waistband of his trousers and slowly drew her hands from his back around his sides to his belly.

He tensed, and pulled away. “Okay, I can’t take any more of that. Cold shower time.”

He was sitting waist deep in the stream before she could voice a protest.

“Damn, this is cold,” he shouted.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Jericho, you keep tempting me to get into your pants and when I try, you run away.”

“I know better. You’re just teasing me to the limit of my tolerance, woman. It’s Lara Kensington’s favorite game.”

She shrugged. It was unnerving how he knew her so well. “Maybe. Or maybe you took flight before I could offer you some relief.”

He stared at her. “What are you saying?”

She held up her hand. “Something to do with my hand.”

“What?”

“Use your imagination.”

“I suppose it’s too late to find out now.”

“You missed your chance.”

“Of course.”

He continued to sit in the stream for several minutes. She could hear his teeth chattering from her position on the bank.

“Are you coming out of there?” she asked. “You must be cold.”

“Oh no you don’t, woman. I can actually think when I’m in here. You’re trying to lure me back to that state of incoherent thoughts and a one track mind.”

“I’ll behave,” she promised. “I just don’t want you to freeze.”

“Whatever gave you the impression that I wanted you to behave? I’m the one who is trying to behave.”

“Well, if I’m not behaving, how can I expect you to behave?”

He grinned at her and stood up in the stream. Water poured from his lower body in torrents. “I always did like your brand of logic.” He waded back to the stream bank and rung water out of his pant legs.

When he sat next to her, she couldn’t help but notice the goose flesh covering his entire body.

She made a sound of impatience. “Look at you. You’re freezing.”

“True,” he said, “but the perpetual hard-on is gone.”

Her eyes went to his crotch automatically. There was a stirring of movement there and he swore under his breath.

“God, woman, don’t look at him,” he muttered. “Then he thinks he has something to prove.”

She laughed, gaze moving back to his handsome face. “Reece, I can honestly say I’ve never laughed more in my life than I have the last few days. Thank you for stirring up my ho-hum life.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Now hurry up and fall in love with me. I have an agenda here.”

She grinned at him. “I can’t promise anything.” But these feelings she experienced, they were more than friendship, more than lust. This was something bigger than both of them. She wasn’t sure she could keep it inside for much longer.

He took the amulet in his hand, staring at it with a perplexed expression on his face. “Carl should be along tomorrow,” he said.

“I wonder where we’ll leap next.”

Reece removed the amulet from around his neck and put it in Lara’s hand.

“You wear this in case we aren’t together when he arrives. It’s more important for you to get away.”

Panic filled Lara’s chest.“What do you mean in case we aren’t together? I can’t leave without you.”

“I’ll teach you the hieroglyphics on the pendant, so you can recite them,” he said.

She pushed the amulet back into his hand. “No,” she said, “I won’t go without you. You keep it.”

“Lara, this is for your own safety. You can’t worry about me. I want you to have the amulet. Now, repeat the chant after me until you know it by heart.”

“I won’t.”

Lara scurried to her feet and moved away from him so he couldn’t force her to take the amulet.

“I’ll do everything I can to be with you when you leap, sweetheart, but my objective is to keep you safe. Do you understand? Take the amulet.” He climbed to his feet and moved to stand behind her. He dropped his forehead to her shoulder, holding the amulet out in front of her. “Please, Lara. Wear it for me.”

“Fine,” she said, taking it and putting it on over her head, “but I won’t learn the chant. Then I know I can’t leave without you. We’re in this together.”

“That’s what I want too, but—”

“There is no but,” she said.

She turned to face him. She could see the worry in his intense hazel eyes.

Reece stroked her hair from her face. “If he catches you, he’ll take you back to make sure you are killed.”

“Why does he care so much?”

“He’s afraid of what changing the past will do to the future.”

Lara hesitated, wondering if she and Reece were messing up things that were meant to be. “He has a point.”

“Not as far as I’m concerned. You are the future. My future. Without you...” His voice cracked. “Please, baby, promise you’ll do whatever it takes to stay away from him. I can’t... I don’t ever want... Lara, you were dead.”

She wasn’t sure why tears were springing to her eyes, but she seriously needed to change the subject. Thinking about her own death. Knowing that if she went back to her own time, she had less than a year to live. It was too much for her to handle. She kind of regretted not knowing what that year she was missing entailed. In that year, she’d apparently fallen in love with Reece and they’d gotten engaged. Must have been one hell of good time. Well, except the murdered in a parking garage part. “You said you’d tell me about your marriage proposal sometime.”

He grinned, blushing. “We’ll save that for the day you admit you love me.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She could admit it right now, but the thought terrified her. She rolled her eyes at him. “Like that will ever happen.”

“I think you’ll say it next time I make love to you.”

It never took them long to get back to this topic. “All we ever had in our relationship was sex. Is that about right?”

“No, we had other things. We share a love for history and adventure. I give a great massage. You make a fabulous Denver omelet. We have fun together.”

Well, that was true. Just being next to him was fun.

Currently, he was looking at her like a stud sniffing out a mare in heat, however. “I’m sorry I seem to be fixated with sex. I’ve had a very lonely, very horny eight months. I’ve been faithful to you, Lara, even when I leaped into a man with marital duties, I didn’t take advantage. I left behind a few angry wives and mistresses through the ages.”

“You should have given in. It wouldn’t have mattered to me one way or the other.”

He scowled. She’d hurt him. She could tell by the look on his face.

“It would have mattered to me,” he said. “I don’t fall in love easily and I fall out of love, not at all.”

Maybe he really did love her. Why else would he risk so much to try to save her? This wasn’t your regular save the damsel in distress situation. They were toying with the fabric of time here.

“I’m sure my future self is very happy you were faithful,” she admitted.

“I’m sure your future self thinks your current self needs to kiss me.”

She grinned. “I never listen to that crazy broad.”

“You should. She was pretty terrific.”

He bit his lip. It was strange to hear him speak of her in the past tense. A breeze picked up and Reece shivered.

“I think we should head home,” she said. “You need to get warmed up.”

“I guess I can’t convince you to warm me up.”

“Isn’t that how you got wet in the first place?”

“Come to think of it, it was. But I don’t want to leave just yet. We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. I just like being here with you. Just the two of us.”

“I like it, too,” she said. She was surprised by how easy it was to admit it.

“Can we stay a while longer then? I’ll try to control my involuntary shivering and get these goose bumps under control.”

He gave her a puppy dog look and though she knew he was manipulating her, she couldn’t resist.

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” she said. “And gave me jewelry.”

She lifted the amulet from her chest and looked down at it. She could feel the strangeness of it. It gave off the weirdest aura. Not malicious…just strange. Like something was tugging on it and it was tugging on her.

“Would you like some more wine?” he asked.

He took her hand and led her back to their little blanket.

“Sure.”

He handed her the wine flask and she took a sip before handing it back to him. He took a swig too, watching her examine the amulet as he drank.

“So what places and times has this amulet taken you?” she asked.

“I think I’ve been in every human war,” he told her. “Did you notice how this thing seems to transplant us in the most dangerous of situations?”

“I thought it was coincidence.”

“I don’t think so. It seems attracted to the most intense occurrences in people’s lives.”

“Did it always land you in a situation with a woman?” She denied the feeling in her chest was jealousy, though the feeling was becoming all too familiar.

He took her by the chin and she looked up from the amulet to his eyes. “Only when you’ve been with me.”

“But you said there were other women on your adventures.”

“They just happened to know the guy I leapt into.”

She lowered her eyes.

“You do care that I was faithful,” he teased.

She glanced up, her temper ignited. “Why would I care?”

He shrugged. “You tell me.”

“I...” She had a retort on the tip of her tongue, but when she met his eyes, she couldn’t say it. “I don’t know.”

His mouth brushed hers, surprising her into instant submission. He broke away, looking down into her eyes.

“Admit it. You wouldn’t want me to do that to any other woman.”

God, did she have a reader board on her forehead or something? Red letters moving across the marquee, displaying her deepest thoughts. How did he know how she felt before she could identify it?

“Maybe,” she murmured.

He drew her closer. “You don’t need to worry, sweetheart. Nothing could ever change the way I feel about you. When I delivered my heart to you, there was no return address.”

Sappy Reece was back, but she was getting used to him. She hated to admit it, but she liked Sappy Reece almost as much as Smart-assed Reece, and maybe more than Sexy Reece. Well, probably not more than Sexy Reece.

“You’re not going to laugh at me this time?” he questioned.

“I only laugh because you make me nervous when you get all sappy-like.”

“I know,” he said. “If I didn’t know that, I’d probably cry.” He protruded his lower lip in a pout.

Now she did laugh. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the many sides of Reece Jericho.”

“That’s good,” he said. “You’re a complex woman. I have to keep you on your toes.”

“Are you sure you aren’t trying to keep me on my back?”

He grinned. “Of course not.” When she lifted a questioning eyebrow at him, he elucidated. “I like you on top.”

She slapped him in the shoulder and he winced. Her mouth fell open. “I’m so sorry. I keep forgetting,” she murmured. She pushed his unbuttoned shirt aside, revealing his severely bruised shoulder. She kissed the area with the slightest brush of her lips. “Is that better?”

“A little,” he breathed.

She kissed the bruise again, loving the salty taste of his skin. Her lips drifted along his collarbone and up his neck. Her tongue stroked his skin, seeking more of his delectable flavor. His hands moved to her back and began to unfasten the row of tiny buttons along her spine. When the confining bodice fell free, he pushed her sleeves down her arms. She pulled her hands free, and moved them to his hard-muscled chest. Her tongue dipped into his ear and he drew a breath between his teeth, his hands gripping the fabric of her chemise along her back. She could think of nothing but wanting his mouth on her breasts.

“Reece,” she pleaded in his ear, hoping he was still a mind reader and would know what she was thinking. His pulse was in a frenzy against her lips as she kissed his throat.

His fingers moved beneath the wide straps of her chemise, stroking the skin of her shoulders beneath. He pushed the fabric from one shoulder and kissed the newly exposed skin. He repeated the action on the other shoulder. When lifted his head to gaze into her eyes, he stroked the bodice of her undergarment down to pool around her waist. Slowly, watching her response, his fingertips brushed one aching nipple and then the other. Her head fell back, offering her throat, her breasts, as a sacrifice to this god who ruled her desire. He didn’t disappoint. His hands moved to cup her breasts, stroking the erect tips with his thumbs in a maddening circular pattern. His mouth descended upon her throat, kissing and suckling its way down her body. He moved his thumb aside to flick his tongue over her nipple and her entire body jerked. When he pulled her throbbing flesh into his mouth, she moaned. Her hand moved to the back of his head, holding him in place as he suckled and moved his tongue against the underside of her nipple, stimulating her into a delirium.

“Reece,” she cried.

He pulled away and blew a cool breath against her moist skin, drawing a shudder from her. He then lowered his head to her other breast and gave it the same treatment. She’d never been this excited by a man suckling her breasts. He was an expert at this. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had a doctorate degree in advanced nipple stimulation from the University of Oh My, Yes, That’s It.

She groaned in protest when he released her breast and lifted his head.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured. He kissed her skin where her collarbones met at the base of her throat. “I’ve missed you. I don’t think I can stand to be without you for a single moment of the rest of my life.”

He lifted his head to look down at her. She didn’t think she was imagining the unusual wetness in his eyes.

“Promise me you won’t ever leave me, Lara.”

She was rendered speechless. He stared at her for a moment and then dropped his forehead to her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I don’t have the right to ask that of you. Way to destroy the mood, Jericho.”

Apparently, he wasn’t aware that her mouth had opened to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear. She closed her mouth again. What was she thinking? She decided she wasn’t thinking at all. It was nice to just let herself feel for a change. She stroked the hair at the base of his skull.

“I think I should start keeping a sock in my mouth,” he said.

“You’re too hard on yourself,” she murmured. “I think you’re sweet.”

“You’re the only person who has ever accused me of that,” he said, lifting his head to look at her. He seemed as if he was about to tell her something, but dropped his head to her shoulder again.

“When I first met you, I thought you were a bad boy.”

He chuckled. “You have no idea how bad I can be.”

“So maybe you should tell me.”

He sighed, his body growing tense above her. “Will you please let me forget about my past?”

She decided not to press him. He’d tell her when he was ready. She urged him onto his back, wanting to return the pleasured he’d given her. Plus, she just really liked looking at him. Touching him. He had a question in his eyes as he looked up at her, but he didn’t say anything.

She stretched out beside him, propped up on one elbow so she could watch her hand as she gently stroked his chest and belly. As her hand moved closer to the waistband of his pants, he twitched.

“Wait,” he breathed.

She turned her head to look at him. “Shh,” she murmured. “You said I could have my way.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly.

“I won’t bite,” she promised. “Too hard.”

She bent to kiss his lower belly, drawing her tongue along the skin beneath his navel. She kissed a path to the waistband of his pants and placed a hand over the hard bulge threatening to pop the buttons off his fly. He drew a sharp breath between his teeth.

“Lara, I don’t think I can take this. I doubt even sitting in the stream will help.”

She smiled crookedly. She had no intension of making him sit in the stream, but she loved the amount of power she felt at the moment. He covered his eyes with his hands, both elbows pointing skyward. Lara squeezed the bulge in her hand gently, then moved her fingers to the buttons of his fly. She soon discovered he wasn’t wearing underwear. His cock sprang free of the confines of his pants, thick, long and hard as granite.

An ache between her legs demanded to be satisfied, but she denied it. This was for Reece. The poor man was hurting and she couldn’t help but think it was her fault. She ran a finger from the tip of his cock to its base, drawing a shudder from Reece’s taut body. She then bent her head and drew her tongue over the expanded head. She blew a breath across the moistened flesh, recalling how stimulating that action had been across her nipples.

He sat up, capturing her by the shoulders and drawing her away.

“I can’t take any more of your teasing,” he said hoarsely.

She grinned up at him wickedly. “Who’s teasing?”

He stared at her, assessing the truth behind her words. “I’m serious, Lara,” he said finally.

“So am I,” she assured him. She placed a hand on his chest and pressed him back down onto his back.

Before he could voice another protest, she captured his shaft in her hand and took its tip into her mouth. She did her best, knowing she was far from an expert at this kind of thing, but his sighs of bliss encouraged her to continue. She took his cock deep into the cavity of her mouth and then retreated, sucking and working her tongue against him. She slid her hand down to cradle his balls while she sucked him harder, bobbed her head faster, and wriggled her tongue in chaotic patterns over the head of his cock, before sucking him down her throat again. His raged breathing fueled her attempts to make him come.

“Lara…Lara,” he panted. “I’m about to…”

He warned her too late. His fluids spurt into her mouth and she swallowed, grinning in self-satisfaction. Lara continued to suckle the head of his cock until the spasms wracking through his body stilled. He fell limp for a moment, breathing hard, and then he sat up, gathering her in his arms.

“I’m so sorry, Lara,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I should have warned you sooner. Are you okay?”

She chuckled. “Am I okay? I wanted you to come in my mouth.”

“You did?” he hugged her tightly. “But usually, you won’t let me... Not in your mouth. You always make me warn you in advance.”

“I guess future me wasn’t all that great after all.”

“I can’t believe you swallowed.” He reached for the bottle of wine. “Here, take a drink of this.”

“Honestly, Reece. I liked it.” She shifted in his arms so she was facing him. “Have a taste.”

She grabbed him and kissed him deeply thrusting her tongue in his mouth to share his taste with him. She expected him to pull away, but he kissed her back, stroking her tongue with his. He drew away after a long moment, staring down at her with half-closed eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier in my life.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I can kiss you without getting a hard on,” he said, lowering his head to kiss her again.

She smiled against his persistent lips. Her smile faded when his hand found her breast. She groaned into his mouth and then twisted her head to the side. “We definitely need to remedy that situation. I’ve just upgraded your Lara pass to full access and I want you hard and inside me as quickly as possible.”