Those eyes. She often thought they could swallow her up. Now she was sure of it. His thumbs gently smoothed the last of her tear tracks away. “And don’t be embarrassed with me.”

She bit her lip, watching him watch her, wondering what he was looking for in her eyes. He should know if she had the answers to all the many mysteries of her soul, she would have damn sure given them to him for present and future reference.

“When we’re together, I want to take you places you’ve never been before,” he said. “That’s what I signed on for, remember? Don’t freak out on me when I do it, unless you’re ready to walk away from this whole thing.”

“I’m not walking away,” she whispered. He lowered his face to hers, and she leaned up to kiss him before he could make it. Echoes of pleasure rippled through her belly at the touch of his lips. He pulled her closer, and she realized how brutally hard he was against her. That couldn’t have happened in the past few minutes. “Wait, Seth…you didn’t?”

He shook his head, brushing noses with her. “No. You kind of collapsed on me. Thought I’d get you in bed and recovered first. Don’t worry about it.”

She grinned, reaching up to stroke his dark eyebrow. “You know, I do think I’m all recovered now.”

“Oh yeah? Well, then, in that case…” She squealed happily as he toppled her back on the bed.

Chapter Fourteen

It was three a.m. He was so exhausted he could barely move his arm, but the utterly relaxed and tranquil woman beside him made all the effort worth it. It would’ve been worth it regardless, but…damn.

She lay on her stomach with her arms tucked under her and a peaceful little smile on her face, her nude body long, lean and shimmering in the dim glow of the lamp. He traced light trails across her back with his fingertips.

Who the f**k was smiling down on him for this to have happened?

“Mmm,” she said, the first utterance either of them had managed since collapsing in a heap of tangled limbs, sweat and euphoria twenty minutes ago.

He echoed the sound, leaning over to kiss her shoulder and smell the dark, vanilla-scented hair spilling over it. No matter how tired he was, he couldn’t stop touching her.

He was so screwed. In the very best way.

“Are you thirsty?” he asked.

“Mm-hmm. But don’t get up yet. This feels good.” She sounded so drowsy and so f**kin’ cute. Her skin was a delight, smooth and soft and, except for the scar up her spine, otherwise unblemished. He moved until his head lay on her upper back so he could watch his fingers trace the line. A little tension crept into her muscles but flowed easily out as he kept caressing her.

Its presence obviously bothered her. And it wasn’t a keloid, which he was never inclined to f**k around with. If only she weren’t so damn anti-ink, he could create a masterpiece for her. Before he realized it, he was tracing outward from it, a design unfurling in his head that encompassed the straight line and extended outward into meandering patterns. Maybe something with vibrant green ivy, or…

“What are you doing?” she murmured.

He kept right on drawing. Damn, it would be gorgeous on her. “Designing the tattoo you would never let me give you.”

To his surprise, he wasn’t met with sudden, harsh rejection. She shifted under him, and he slid his head back to the pillow to look into her face. “Over my scar?”

“Check it.” He pulled his left arm up for her to see, pointing at one thick black swath of ink in his design. “Right here. Feel? That’s where a bone was sticking through my skin after the wreck. The scar is ugly as hell.”

She drew her fingers lightly across it. “Wow. I’d never thought of that before. Covering a scar with a tattoo, I mean.”

“It’s not for everyone. Some might take several sessions. Some might hurt worse, if that’s a factor. I think you’d be a good candidate, though. It’s thin, and even if I didn’t cover it, I could make it less noticeable. I mean,” he smirked, “people would only be looking at how awesome your ink is.”

She lay quietly for several seconds. “Something to think about, I guess. I don’t know if I could ever do it, though.”

“Well, you know,” he said, turning onto his back and tucking an arm behind his head. “Do it for the right reasons, or don’t do it.”

“It’s not about vanity, really. It’s the reminder. I don’t know if changing it or covering it would help.”

“It would at least be a reminder of something else. Turn it into something beautiful.”

Macy’s hand slid over his chest, and she rose over him, her br**sts and her long hair brushing him as she leaned down to give him a kiss. “Thank you.”

At that moment, the way her hazel eyes drank him in, he didn’t want to change one damn thing about her. “I think you’re beautiful the way you are. I just want you to feel better.”

Her lips curled upward. “It’s all a front, isn’t it?”

“What’s that?”

“You are nothing like the image you project.”

“So I’m a fake now?”

“No, not a fake. Jeez.”

He laughed, and she leaned down and bit him. “Naw, I get you. There is some show, I can’t lie. But it’s still who I am. It’s an outlet. My music and my job, it’s how I get out all the crazy shit that goes on in my head. Stuff I can’t let out in polite society, ya know. Only…I’m so rarely in polite society, I don’t know how to behave in it anyway, so there.”

Macy’s half-smile began to tremble, and then she broke into a full-fledged fit of laughter. It was infectious, and he couldn’t help but join in as he sat up to face her. “What’s so funny there, killjoy?”

“I’m just… I don’t know if I should even say this. Might freak you out or make you mad or something.”

“If it doesn’t involve you putting your clothes on right now, it won’t.”

She trailed her finger along one of his tats, not looking him in the eye. “I’m thinking of what it would be like to take you home to meet my parents.”

Mad, hell. He experienced a joy eruption that the thought had even crossed her mind. “Oh yeah? What would they think?”

“They’re good people, you understand, but you aren’t exactly what they would expect. They’re very outdoorsy, very down-to-earth. My dad can be really loud and funny, though, and he doesn’t care about pissing people off. I think it’d be hilarious to see you two go head-to-head, that’s all.”

“Your dad sounds like my kinda guy.”

“Then maybe we’ll get to see how that goes,” she said shyly. “I have to warn you, he’ll probably have you camping and fishing and hunting with him before you know it.”

He’d never had his own dad around to do that kind of stuff with. At least not that he could remember. “I’d be down for that. As long as I ain’t gotta get on no f**kin’ horse.”

The hand drawing tantalizing lines along his skin suddenly shoved at him. “Oh no! Tell me you don’t hate horses.”

He caught her wrist and shoved her down on the bed, rising over her. “No, no hate. I simply don’t feel the need to get on top of one. You, on the other hand…” God, would he ever inhale enough of her scent? She sighed as he trailed his lips down her neck.