Page 81 of Obsession Under the Southern Stars

I wait quietly, letting him process the information. I can see his brain working behind his eyes as he thinks through all the implications.

I take his hand and lower it beneath the T-shirt to my tummy, around the bikini line. I brush his fingers over the scar that remains there. It’s almost invisible to look at, but the skin feels slightly different.

“Who was the father?” he asks.

I think of the guy I met at the party who was just a kid really, and sigh. “Nobody. It was a one-night stand, and I never saw him again.”

His brow furrows. “What happened to the baby?” he asks eventually.

I press my fingers to my lips as tears well in my eyes.

He cups my face. “Ah, Jesus. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ve moved on.”

But pain and longing exist deep inside me, like a piece of grit buried in an oyster that’s never quite morphed into the beautiful pearl it was supposed to be.

“This is what you told Charles?” he confirms. “And he didn’t react well?”

I shake my head. “He wants a family of his own, and he wasn’t interested in adopting. And he’s religious, too, and quite prim, I discovered. He wasn’t quite the ‘wait until you’re married’ sort, but he wasn’t far from it, and the thought that I was the sort of person who’d have a one-night stand really shocked him. It changed how he looked at me.”

I gaze up at Joel, looking for some sign of the same disgust and accusation in his eyes that I saw in Charles’s, but the only thing I find is pity and affection. He wraps his arms around me,and, feeling such strong relief that it brings tears to my eyes, I cuddle up to him, nuzzling his neck.

“Does Elora know?” he asks.

“No.”

“I’m so sorry.” He strokes my hair and kisses the top of my head. “Honey, have you told me everything?”

I swallow hard. I haven’t, and I know he can sense that. But I can’t bring myself to admit the rest, not yet.

Instead, I say, “Of course. Isn’t that enough?”

He doesn’t reply.

I look up, entranced by the way the firelight plays across his features. He studies my mouth, then lowers his head and kisses me, his lips moving gently across mine.

I let him kiss me for a while, but my yearning is consuming me. I’m hot in the hoodie, and there are far too many layers between us. I push on his chest, and he moves back a little, letting me lift up onto an elbow. I tug the hoodie up, but there’s not a lot of room in the bunk, and I struggle to get the garment off. In the end, he helps me, peeling it up my body, and when it’s over my head, he tosses it over me onto the floor.

I’m just wearing the T-shirt, and I lift that up too, letting it drop behind me. I tug at his shorts, and he pushes them down and kicks them off.

Now we’re both naked, and we pull the thermal blanket over us, then move closer together, our legs tangled, arms wrapped around one another. I press against him from thigh to chest, enjoying the feel of his hard body against mine. I can feel his erection against my tummy, and my heart thunders in response at the thought of letting him penetrate me and slide inside me. But one step at a time, Zoe.

“You’re sure about this?” he says huskily. “I’ve never had sex without a condom, so I’m all good.”

“Me too.”

There’s no reason for this not to happen now. I want to share myself with him in this intimate way, and he obviously feels the same.

While we continue to kiss, he starts stroking his hand over me, from my shoulders down to my thighs, then back up my sides and around to cup my breasts. Mmm… his hands are warm, and he squeezes my breasts gently but firmly before teasing the nipples with his thumbs. I concentrate on kissing him, nibbling his bottom lip with my teeth, then sliding my tongue against his, while I move my hands over his skin. His muscles are well-defined, illustrating the hours he spends diving, and I explore them with my fingers, following the trapezius muscles from his neck, over his shoulder blades, and tracing down to the broader muscles of his back. He has a narrow waist, and the firm lines of his abs and obliques are tight under my touch.

I trail my fingers over his hips and down to his butt, and squeeze his firm glutes.

He lifts his head and gives me an amused look. “Are you enjoying yourself there?”

“Mmm.” I hook a leg over his and pull his hips toward me, rocking my pelvis. I know I’m going to be swollen and wet, and he exhales at the sensation of the root of his erection sliding through my folds.

Before I can prepare myself, he clamps an arm around my waist and lifts up, shifting me onto my back so he’s on top of me. He kisses me, hard, sending my heart hammering, then kisses down my neck to my breasts, where he fastens his mouth on one of my nipples. I gasp, heat blazing through me as if the door to the grate has swung open and exposed me to the full force of the fire.

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