I felt heat creep up my face. Being that embarrassed made me feel silly for being embarrassed. "Oh, hell."
"What?" he asked. He stroked the side of my face.
"Cuddle with me, Richard. Sex is great, but when I thought of this moment, I thought of you holding me, spooning me."
His smile was gentle, pleased. He turned on his side and even spilled the sheets back over his waist. He raised his upper arm.
I rolled onto my side so my back faced him and snuggled against his warm body. He was a little tall for spooning, but we wiggled around with much giggling and stupid comments until we found a position that felt right. I wrapped his arm around me, sinking into the warm curve of his chest and all the rest, and let out a sigh. The feel of his na**d groin pressed against me wasn't so much exciting as it just felt right. I felt possessive of his body, of him. I wanted to hold him like this forever.
His skin was almost hot. "You feel like you've got a fever," I said.
"It's the full moon," he said. "By tomorrow night when the moon is completely full, my base temperature will be over a hundred and one."
He pushed my hair aside until he could nuzzle the back of my neck. It made me break out in gooseflesh. I squirmed. "That tickles."
"Yes," he said, "it does." I could feel him growing larger against my body.
I laughed and rolled over on my back. "Why, Mr. Zeeman, you seem happy to see me."
He leaned in for a kiss. "Always."
The kiss grew, becoming more. I moved my body against his and had one leg wrapped around his bu**ocks when he scooted back, going onto his knees.
"What's wrong?" I asked. We'd already established last night, after it would have been too late, that I was on the pill. He'd been nicely horrified when he thought of it. Since werewolves can't get or carry disease, once the pregnancy issue was addressed, you were safe. Which also explained why I wasn't worried about licking blood off of the lycanthropes last night. Gross, but not dangerous.
"I can't," Richard said.
I looked down the length of his body. "Oh, I'd say you're ready."
He blushed for me. "You saw me last night, Anita. One day closer to the full moon, my control will be worse, not better."
I lay back on the bed. "Oh." I was disappointed. Minutes before, I'd been worried that we'd given in to our lust, and now I was sad that we couldn't do it again. Trust me to be logical about my men.
"I'm glad you're disappointed, too," he said. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to get up out of bed, say it had all been a terrible mistake, and go back to Jean-Claude."
I covered my eyes with my hands, then made myself look at Richard while I said it. He sat there looking too scrumptious for words, but I couldn't let it slide. If he was thinking this meant I'd dump Jean-Claude, I couldn't let it slide. But I wanted to. "What do you think last night meant, Richard?"
The smile faded around the edges but didn't disappear completely. "It meant something to me, Anita. I thought it meant something to you."
"It did. It does. But ... "
"But what about Jean-Claude." Richard said it softly, but it had to be said by someone.
I nodded, hugging the sheet to my chest. "Yeah."
"Can you go back to just dating him after last night?"
I sat up and reached for his hand. He gave it to me. "I've missed you so much, Richard. The sex is nice, but ... "
He raised eyebrows. "Nice, just nice?"
I smiled. "It was wonderful and you know it. And you know that's not what I meant."
He nodded, hair swinging into his eyes. He brushed it back. "I know. I've missed you, too. I'm lost on weekends without you."
I pressed his hand to my cheek. "Me, too."
He sighed. "So you're going to be with us both?"