“I can’t guess. I’m asleep,” he finally grumped, a grin tugging at his lips as her slender fingers raced over his side in a retaliatory tickle.
“Come on, grouch.” The feminine amusement, softly voiced and filled with wonder, had him staring up at her, willing to guess whatever the hell she wanted. “Guess what’s happening right now?”
“Hmm.” His hand moved to tangle in the hair at the side of her face. “You’re pu**y’s getting wet?”
“No.” She rolled her eyes at him, but she was having fun. Strangely enough, so was he. It had to be the sleep deprivation. “Guess again.”
A smile tugged harder at his lips. “My dick’s getting hard.”
“That wasn’t a guess.” Her throaty laughter had a chuckle blooming in his chest. “That’s a continual state.”
“When I’m awake anyway,” he reminded her, a drowsy sensuality flowing around them. He could feel the hunger for it, but it wasn’t imperative, it wasn’t a driving need as it had been previously. It was just there, connecting them.
Intimacy.
It wasn’t sensuality, so much as intimacy.
The thought of that should have terrified him to the bottom of his bachelor’s soul. Instead, the lazy, drowsy atmosphere allowed it to seep into him, to fill him.
“Come on. I’ll give you a better hint,” she whispered, leaning close to feather her lips over his. “What’s it doing outside? Right now?”
He thought a minute.
“No…” His eyes closed on a groan, though the chuckle slipped free. “No way, you little minx. I am not going outside in the freezing cold at midnight.”
He was warm. The blankets were pulled over them, Courtney was snuggled close to his side, and he was not leaving his bed.
“But Ian…” He opened his eyes and groaned again at the wonder in her face. “It’s snowing, Ian. We could slip down to the hot tub and watch it snow while we cuddle in the hot water.”
Cuddle? In the water?
He shivered at the thought of it.
“Courtney, you have to drag your ass out of that hot water into the cold air eventually,” he reminded her, knowing he couldn’t refuse the playful pout shaping her lips.
“I’ll warm you back up.” She batted her eyes innocently at him. “Come on, Ian. Let’s go play in the snow. It will be like our own little world.”
“We have our own little world here,” he growled, snuggling closer to her as he pressed his face between her br**sts. “Stay with me and I’ll f**k you instead.”
“Go out to the hot tub with me. We could sneak out through the Club. No one would be there now, and that way, you won’t get cold,” she teased against his hair. “I’ll sit on the rim, surrounded by the snow and let you show me how much you like the new wax job I got yesterday.”
He perked up at that. He hadn’t taken the time to worship her soft pu**y, as he had wanted to earlier in the night. Somehow, there was never enough time to do all the things he wanted to once he got her responsive little body beneath him.
“You’re going to drag me out of my warm bed, aren’t you?” he muttered before licking at the stiff nipple to his side.
She laughed softly, moving back from him, her eyes and her smile, her very expression one of luminescence. She was like an angel, staring down at him with an air or wonder and soft light.
“Come play in the snow with me, Ian. Let’s make beautiful memories.”
And how could he resist?
He wasn’t entirely certain how he allowed her to draw him from the bed. He helped her put on one of this thick robes, satisfied it would keep her reasonably warm on the short distance from The Club’s door to the heated tub. Pulling one on himself, he halfway convinced himself that he must surely be dreaming now. Only in his dreams would he would be sneaking through his own house, into the deserted Club and onto the back deck with the little minx who had wormed her way into his life.
As they moved through the dark corridor leading to the Club’s inner door, he had his arm wrapped snug around her, holding her to his side as she seemed to shimmer with the joy that reflected in her soft voice.
“You live such a staid life for a Trojan,” she teased as he keyed in the security code to unlock the door that kept her barred from the inner rooms. “Really, Ian, locking me out isn’t kind.”
“Safer.” He chuckled at her tone. “You’re a menace, Court. I feel it’s my duty to protect my own kind.”