Page 57 of Lagoon

She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Fine. Definitely fine.”

He was kissing her again, and she pressed into him, liking their closeness in the wake of the intimacy, finding it reassuring. His hand stayed on the swell of her belly, caressing the eggs there. “Shit, knowing they’re in there…” He sighed. “Fuckingsexiest thing in the world.” He bent down and put his lips against her.

She shivered a little. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it, now. It had been really good while she was climbing for that orgasm, the edge of that pleasure tinged by the hint of danger, of the unknown, but she wasn’t sure now.

“It’s because…” He moved up to look into her eyes. “Sex is always kind of like that. You feel like you get permission to use this woman’s body for your pleasure, and she lets you, I don’t know, take advantage of her—”

“That seems fucked up,” she said. “But I know what you mean, and it’s hot for me, too.”

“I can’t believe you let me put this many in you,” he said, trailing his fingers over her.

“It felt good,” she said quietly.

“I should have stopped,” he said, rueful.

It was quiet.

He brushed her hair away from her forehead, an affectionate sort of gesture. “What do you want me to do now? If there’s a way I can make it up to you—”

“No, it’s my fault, too. You did stop when I said to.”

“You shouldn’t have to be the person who stops it,” he said. “You shouldn’t be the only person trying to keep her head, here. It’s only… I neverhadsex like that.”

“Me either,” she whispered.

“Let’s rest,” he said, kissing her between her eyebrows. “Yeah? Just sleep for a little bit. Maybe after we sleep, things will…”

“Yeah,” she said, as if that were reasonable, when she knew it wasn’t.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ANGELA AND LUTHERmade it halfway down the hallway before they stopped and started kissing. She kissed him like she was going to devour him, like she was frantic for it, like she couldn’t stop.

Then, she pushed him away, swearing, her throat tight.

He came after her, taking her by the arm, pulling her back into his arms. “Hey,” he said, “we both want it.”

“No, we don’t,” she said.

“Fine,” he said, “but you’ll feel better afterwards.”

“After I have my body full of your eggs, you mean?”

“Maybe.”

She got out the gun.

He held up both of his hands in surrender. “Sorry. Sorry, I don’t know…”

“I’m going outside,” she said. “You stay here.”

“This isn’t even like me,” he muttered, his voice gravelly.

She backed out, keeping the gun trained on him the entire time. Outside the lab, she headed back down to her cabin. But it was open, and Harris and Lee were in there. They’d gotten into her liquor. They looked like the other men, gills and scales and black, glittering eyes.

They lifted up their noses when she came in the door and they started for her.

They weren’t wearing clothes anymore, so she watched their cocks harden, their stingers lengthen.

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