The flame caught on some of the dried leaves, amplifying the light. His features were cast in a golden glow. She knew he couldn’t see the flames, but she had the impression from the way he positioned his face that he waited for the heat to strike his skin. He’d pulled up his jeans but only partially buttoned his shirt. She could see his chest in the opening and the dusting of dark hair. Her gaze dropped to his crotch. The details of his powerful possession and their frantic mating swamped her consciousness in a rush.
He looked up at her suddenly, and she would have sworn he saw her just as clearly as she saw him. Her fingers strayed to the soft skin of her breasts. Her fingertips traced the crown of her beading nipples. The wood snapped as the fire caught hold and flared. John wore an intent expression as he tilted his head.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Dressing,” she said in a tight voice. She pinched at her nipples lightly. His nostrils flared.
“What are you doing?” he repeated as he stood slowly, his eyelids narrowed. It was like he knew she hadn’t answered him . . . not really.
Excitement mounted in her as he took several steps toward her. The growing fire outlined his form from behind as he came to a halt. His shadow towered over her.
“I’m touching my breasts while I look at you.”
Her hoarse whisper seemed to echo around the cave, not diminishing. The sound of the trickling water throbbed in her ears. She saw the gleam in his eye.
“And does it feel good?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “The nipples feel especially sensitive after the way you sucked on them.”
“Are you touching them now?”
“Yes. I’m pinching them, very lightly.”
He grew so rigid, she paused in playing with her breasts. She couldn’t quite read his expression.
“Have you been with a blind man before?” he asked.
Her fingers paused. “No. Why did you ask that?”
He turned and walked toward the fire again. Disappointment flooded her. Had she offended him in some way with her impulsive dirty talk? He bent and picked up the dead rabbit.
“Because you’d be a smash hit at Porn for the Blind,” he muttered.
“Is that a bad thing?” she asked him uncertainly.
He paused and turned. “No, I’d say it’s a very, very good thing. I just want to get some food in you, and you were distracting me. But I guess you already knew that,” he said dryly.
She swallowed and began to button up her jacket.
“You’re not putting all your clothes on, are you?” he asked sharply.
“No . . . just the bare essentials.”
“Good. I’m going to be getting you out of them soon enough,” she thought she heard him mutter thickly under his breath. She smiled, warmed to know she hadn’t offended him.
“Do me a favor and reach into the inner zippered pocket of my coat and give me that little box you find in there,” he said.
Jennifer scrambled up from the ground, hopping when she stepped on a stick in her socked foot. She lifted his coat and shook off the soil.
“You mean the first aid kit?” she asked a few seconds later, lifting a small plastic box free of the pocket. She was glad she hadn’t flattened it during their lovemaking.
“Yeah. Just take out all the contents and zipper them back in the pocket. Be careful not to get things too dirty. Then bring me the plastic container.”
She did as he asked, then located her hiking boots, sliding them on without lacing them. She handed him the plastic box a few seconds later.
“Do you want some help?” she asked, looking doubtfully at the limp body of the rabbit dangling next to his knee.
“Do you really want to?”