of hair off my face and tucked them behind my ear. “I promise you plenty of cavemen sex later, but let me make your first—”
“Second.”
“I believe it still counts as your first—”
“Technically not.”
He shot me a pointed look that shut me right up. “Lie down, woman. Unless you’d rather argue semantics.”
I smiled; he smiled back. And just like that, all the awkwardness was gone, and my heart finally discarded all the different emotions that had beat within it, settling on a single one—joy.
43
The Wake-Up Call
I woke up to Remo’s nails gliding up and down the arm I’d slung over him last night and hadn’t removed, afraid he might decide to leave while I slept. I’d never thought of myself as clingy but perhaps I’d be one of those girlfriends.
He must’ve heard my mind whirring, because his fingers stopped traipsing across my skin, and he turned to face me on our furred pallet. “Hey.” He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “How do you feel?”
“I’m guessing the same way I look.”
“Beautiful, then? Pleased to hear it.”
I rolled my eyes, the prickly violet fur digging into my raw cheek. “I was thinking more along the lines of giant bruise.”
Remo slid his arm under my neck and pulled me against him, pillowing my injured cheek on his bicep, which wasn’t much softer than the fur but a lot smoother.
The way his eyes sank into mine made me forget all about my throbbing face. He leaned in, pressed a feather-light kiss to my mouth. “We should get up.”
“We should.”
Neither of us moved.
In truth, I wasn’t sure I could. I really did feel like a massive hematoma. Although the main reason for my inaction was bliss. I flicked a lock of red hair out of his eyes, letting my fingers linger on his birthmark. “Can’t believe I broke all my rules.”
“What rules were those?” His words were so husky they sent a little thrill up my spine.
“Kissing redheads with the last name Farrow.”
“Oh. Those.”
I smiled at his evident contempt for my rules.
“You had too many standards to begin with.”
I popped an eyebrow up. “Too many? Or none that pleased you?”
“Well, I did feel a little singled out. Redheads with the last name Farrow? We aren’t many . . .” His mind must’ve wandered to the other redhead in his family, because his gaze turned somber.
“You’ll see them again,” I said, threading my fingers through the hand resting on his abdomen.
He didn’t say anything for a while, then, “I can’t believe Karsyn tried to kill you.”
Felt like a million years ago. “Make sure to tell him you like me when we get back, so that he doesn’t try to recoup his dust through murder.”
His bicep flexed, curling around me as though to protect me from an invisible source of danger.
To dissolve the sudden dark cloud dangling over us, I said, “For someone who told everyone my blood was poisonous, you didn’t seem too frightened by it last night.”
A grunt rumbled through his chest. “Because my heart’s thankfully nowhere near my cock.”
I played with his fingers.
“My very large cock.”
“You did not just say that.”
“I didn’t want you to forget.”
“Like I could. I think you might’ve destroyed me.”
“I tried my hardest.”
“Tell me that pun wasn’t planned.”
His answering brazen smile made me swat him.
“Ouch,” he whispered.
“Softie.”
He rolled over me, bracketing my head between both his forearms. “There is nothing soft about me.”
A grin threatened to cleave my cheeks in half.
“Amara!”
My smile warped off my face, and my eyelashes slammed against my browbone. I shoved Remo off and sat, and then I shot up to my feet, the pounding in my chest rivaling the one at the apex of my thighs.
I turned toward Remo. “You heard my mother’s voice too, right?”
“Remo!” This time, Faith.
Remo grabbed me around the waist and twirled me.
“We’re naked,” I whispered in horror.
“And saved.”
“But we’re naked, and our mothers are here,” I hissed, because . . . priorities. “Put me down.”
“Giya!” Nima called out.
I scrambled for our clothes, before remembering the state they were in.
“Amara!” Nima’s voice was so close I assumed she’d just entered the cave system.
My suit caught my eye, and although I’d sworn to never put it on without my Infinity, I grabbed it and yanked it up one leg.
Remo already had his tunic pants on, and since he was a guy, it wasn’t like he needed anything else to look decent. So. Unfair.
My foot got jammed inside one pantleg, and I fell. I whimpered from the ensuing series of aches