Page 39 of Kind of a Bad Idea

“I never want to hurt you,” I whisper against her cheek as we catch our breath.

She reaches up, pressing her finger to my lips. “Don’t be silly. Your finger isn’t that big. That was incredible by the way.”

I pull back, gazing down into her face. She looks…determined. There’s little doubt in my mind that she’s deliberately misunderstanding me, but still, I feel obligated to say, “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” she says briskly. “But I’m fine, I promise. I’m fine now, and I’ll be fine in the future.” She exhales a soft laugh, a smile curving her lips as she adds, “I mean, I think I will. Assuming you feed me soon. I’m starving. I’m not used to this much cardio before breakfast.”

I grin, ignoring the regret trying to take root inside me. I refuse to regret this or spend a second of our time together worrying about what happens after. We made this decision together, with our eyes wide open. Thinking about the future is only going to ruin the here and now.

Which would be a damned shame, because the here and now is fucking incredible.

Binx joins me in the bathroom, washing up in the freezing cold shower, giggling and teasing me about the amount of shrinkage going on below my nonexistent belt. I tease her about her diamond-hard nipples before taking one into my mouth to “warm it up.”

Before I know it, we’re fucking against the bathroom wall, Binx clinging to my shoulders as I take her hard and deep. We come seconds apart and I sag against the plaster, letting it hold us up as I will strength back into my knees.

Binx laughs again and squeezes my butt. “We should do that again in here. The view of your ass in the mirror while you’re pumping inside me is…chef’s kiss.”

I pull back, gazing into her flushed face. “Yeah?”

She nods. “Oh yeah. You really put your back into it.”

I grin. “Thanks. I try.”

“You succeed,” she assures me, pressing a kiss to my cheek that I feel in every one of my sex-shaken cells. “Now, we really have to eat. No more fun and games. I think my stomach is eating itself.”

I pull an exaggerated frown. “A cannibalistic stomach. That sounds serious.”

She nods. “Very. Our only hope is to fill it with blueberries from the fridge ASAP.” She squeezes my ass again before adding in a playful voice, “And then to give it all the pancakes and bacon it can eat. But I can’t make them because I’m already too weak to cook.”

I laugh. “You’re always too weak to cook.”

She sighs. “I know. It’s a flaw, one of my very few flaws, I might add. But, as you know, I’m very appreciative of all food that’s cooked for me, and heap on the praise as I eat. So, I think it all balances it out.”

It more than balances out, and I love cooking for her. I love it at home, when I’m busy in the kitchen and she and Sprout are finishing up homework at the table, and I love it even more this morning, with Binx dancing around the kitchen to Van Morrison playing on the speaker as I flip pancakes. I can’t remember the last time I smiled this much, laughed this much, felt this free to relish how good it feels to be alive.

When she presses against me, distracting me with a kiss as she steals a piece of freshly fried bacon from the plate beside me, my chest bubbles over with something more than happiness.

Joy…that’s what this is.

It’s been a while since it filled me up like this, like a spring pumping from deep in the earth with no sign of stopping.

It’s going to be a good day, there’s no doubt about that.

Maybe one of my best days ever…

Chapter 15

BINX

I’ve been in love with Seven for a while, but now I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to his body, his touch, his kiss.

To the way he looks at me across the picnic table as we linger over the world’s longest breakfast beneath the autumn leaves…

Saying goodbye is going to be hell, but I refuse to think about that now, not while he’s grinning at me in the sunshine as he sneaks bacon from my plate.

“That’s mine, mister,” I say, narrowing my eyes in mock anger. “You should ask before you steal a girl’s bacon.”

“Then it wouldn’t be stealing,” he says, his eyes dancing as he pops my last bite into his mouth. “I promise, I’ll make it up to you.”

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