I paused on the way back to bed to look out the windows, squinting into the dark to catch the sparkle of stars above the dark shadows of the mountains. We'd have to try this again when the moon was full. I'd bet the view would be almost as gorgeous as it had been in daylight.
“Okay?” Royal's sleepy voice came from behind me. I turned to see him propped up on one elbow, his hair falling into one eye, a sleepy smile on that irresistible mouth.
I didn't answer with words. Turning, I crawled back into bed, sliding my body against his, and pressed my mouth to his lips. Our kisses earlier had been so desperate, so hungry, they'd almost been a fight, albeit a fight with both of us on the same side. This kiss was different. Lazy. Sweet. Possessive.
I wasn't giving this man back. He was mine now. And I was his.
I was seriously regretting the lack of just one more condom when Royal turned me on my side and started to inch down the bed. Hmmm, okay, not going to argue about that. But… Maybe I was.
I wanted his mouth on me again, no question, but the idea of it had me thinking about earlier and wishing he'd come when I’d had my mouth on him. I rolled back and managed to flip around without rolling off the bed or kicking Royal in the face.
Settling back on my side, his already hard cock exactly where I wanted it, I glanced down our bodies to find Royal grinning up at me. He slung my top leg over his shoulder, spreading me open, and licked. I smothered my gasp with his cock, taking him as deep as I could. We were lazy, slow, all our frantic need assuaged earlier in the night. I wanted to come, wanted to feel him come, but I wasn't in a hurry to get there.
What I really wanted was to take my time, to explore what made him feel good, what he liked. To absorb the way he tasted, the scent of him, the sounds he made, even while he was doing the same for me. We came together, drawing the pleasure from each other and sending it back. Royal pulled me close for a slow, deep kiss before we settled back under the blanket, arms and legs entwined.
I can't remember the last time I slept through dawn. It never happened. Even on my day off my eyes flicked open well before five am. Not that day. It must have been all the orgasms because I slept like the dead, waking with a jolt to blink furiously at the sting of bright sunlight, heart thudding so loud that at first I didn't understand that the pounding sound in my ears wasn't my heart.
Wood. It was a fist on wood. And a voice. “Royal! Royal! You guys in there?”
“Fuck.” Royal sat up, pulling the blanket to cover me. “Griffen? Is that you?”
A muffled, “Thank God.” Then, “You guys alright?”
Royal shot an amused glance at me. I grinned back. “We're alright, but could you give us a minute before you open the—”
Too late. The trapdoor flipped up and Griffen's head popped through, a smirk on his face. All at once, my amusement fled and heat burned in my cheeks. I was naked, probably reeked of sex, and all that stood between me and my friend's husband was a thin blanket. I dove beneath, my only thought to hide. Royal's hand came down on my back, holding the blanket in place.
“Can you give us a sec? We're not exactly decent.”
A female laugh drifted up from below along with what I thought was a faint, “Told you so.” Something thumped on the floor.
“We were hoping you were here. Hope put that together for Daisy. I'll let the others know you're okay.”
“The others?” I asked from beneath the blanket.
Royal relayed my question. “Uh, who else is there?”
“Just me, Hope, West, and Sterling.”
“Did you need to bring a crowd?” Royal rubbed my back, trying to soothe my sudden tension.
“West wouldn't take no for an answer. Apparently, Ms. Hutchins called him when Daisy didn't show up to open the bakery. Sterling and Hope are just nosy.”
“Worried! I was worried!” Hope. I thought about giving her a hard time. Then I remembered that thump on the floor and that Hope had brought me something. Please, let it be clean clothes. I peeled back the blanket and looked up at Royal, who was grinning down at me.
“I'll get rid of them,” he promised in a whisper. “Shut the door for a sec,” he called down to Griffen. The door thudded shut. “I'm going to hit the bathroom and pull on some clothes, go down there and send them all back to the house so you can get dressed in peace.”