kick as he came. Again and again, until the strain around his eyes and mouth relaxed. He dropped his forehead against hers, rubbing their noses together in an Eskimo kiss—she was starting to enjoy those—and then painstakingly extracted himself from her body.
Bodie grimaced, whimpered under her breath, but Braun bent and kissed her sweetly.
“Stay right here, gorgeous. I’m not leaving you.” He strode into the bathroom. When he emerged a few moments later, his impressive erection was at half-mast but unadorned by latex, and he held a washcloth in his hands.
Bodie was exactly where he’d left her, already half asleep. She didn’t have the energy or the modesty to try and move her legs, arms, or head. Still didn’t when her lover sat beside her and, with all the patience of a man tending to something he loved dearly, gently cleaned her sore pussy with the cloth.
She drifted in a post-orgasmic haze, listening to him tell her how proud he was. How much he loved her. Reassuring her she was safe, she could sleep.
In that haze, she lost sense of time and place. The only thing that mattered to her in those minutes was the strong body tucked up behind hers, the powerful arm banded around her waist. The sound of him breathing. The murmur of his voice. The scent that was no longer only him, but a combination of them.
In companionable silence, she snuggled into him without thinking about how vulnerable she was in these moments. Her trust in him was now absolute, given to him freely, and more than earned on his part. He’d stuck with her from day one, despite all the crap she’d thrown at him, regardless of the things she’d done out of stubbornness and fear.
She loved him, her patient Master, and she could only hope the curse of her family wouldn’t come close to touching him.
Chapter Twelve
It was a good morning when a man woke with a warm, sleeping woman curled on him. This particular woman brought sunshine into his life even though the glimpse of sky he could see through the crack in the curtains was gloomy. Right now, it could toss cats and dogs down from a sky the color of a fresh bruise, and he wouldn’t care.
He had more important plans today than worrying over what the damn weather was doing, and they all involved keeping Bodie in his bed for as long as humanly possible. He doubted it was going to be an easy task—being intimate with him was a huge step for her, and when it came to steps forward, his little subbie had a tendency to backpedal as fast and far as she could.
Unfortunately, whether she knew it or not, she’d met her match in him.
Braun stroked along the length of her spine, feeling her arch into the caress with a soft sigh. He distinctly remembered falling asleep as the big spoon sometime around dawn, yet somehow she’d reclaimed her place on top of him while they slept. Which was fine with him—anytime she wanted to crawl on him and cuddle, he was open to it.
If he had one wish come true this morning—ooops, strike that, make that this afternoon, he thought with a glance at the clock—it was that her inner bitch give them a break and just let them back in the beauty of what transpired in the hours before sunrise.
Events had gone further than he’d been prepared for, he had to admit. He’d acknowledged sex as a possibility, but hadn’t really braced himself for the impact of actuality. Strangely, although he recognized and accepted the responsibility of his actions, they didn’t weigh as heavily on his shoulders as he’d imagined.
Being her first was a privilege, one he hoped vehemently he’d done justice to, and he fully intended to become her first in so many other things. As far as he was concerned, there would be no others for Bodie. Not unless she chose to try a scene under his guidance, with his presence shadowing her every step of the way. And only with one of the other Avalon Masters; he knew them well, they were clean, they were respectful, and they understood the consequences of harming another Master’s sub.
Braun hadn’t lied when he told her he loved her. Love was nothing to joke about; it wasn’t a tool to use to lower a woman’s guard or play with her feelings. Falling in love with her had never been a choice, and he stood to lose