Page 77 of Be Mine Forever

“And”—he moved his fingers in circles around her knees—“knee pads for the next time we go skating.”

He smoothed the cool blue paint onto her legs and up her thighs, painting long lines down the sides.

“Stilts for these long-as-forever legs. You never thought to model? You could have.”

Jo didn’t catch the grunt before it left her mouth.

“Nothing wrong with modeling. More power to them, but there’s too much to do for me to stand around and have my picture taken all day.” She smacked her own butt. “Besides, I’ve got too much junk in my trunk.”

“Ah, that ass.” He doled out a lascivious grin, turning her around until she faced away from him. She felt his fingers writing on both cheeks. He traced “M” and “I” on the left cheek, and “N” and “E” on the right.

“Yours, huh?” She laughed, but her heart squeezed around the possessive gesture. He usually marked her with bites and scratches and places tender from how fiercely he had gripped her, secret reminders she carried under her clothes all day of the tempest they were together. That word scrawled across her bottom was an erotic ownership she wished she could show the world.

Cam squeezed more paint onto her back, smoothing it across her shoulders. She felt his fingers playing down her spine.

“What are you drawing?”

“Your backbone.” Squatting behind her, he heated the small of her back with his laugh. “’Cause you’re the strongest person I know.”

“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes, but pleasure bloomed in the smile on her face.

“It’s true. I don’t even think you realize how much you’re like Ms. Kris.” Cam stood behind her, sketching over her shoulder blades.

“And what’s that?”

For a moment he didn’t answer. Not with words. Not with a laugh. Maybe he was so absorbed he hadn’t heard her question.

“Cam, what’s that you’re drawing on my back?”

“Wings.” Something deep and sweet lingered in his voice even after he cleared his throat. “You and Ms. Kris are my angels. She’s up there looking out for me. She left you on duty down here.”

Jo couldn’tnotface him then. She turned, reaching for him, but he stepped back, holding up his blue-covered hands.

“Let me finish. You’ll ruin my masterpiece.” He smiled, stepping close enough to touch her stomach. “And here, we’ll do something fun.”

Jo pressed her chin into her neck, trying to see what he was drawing across her stomach.

“Idiot,” she breathed, laughing at the six-pack of Heineken he sketched across the collection of subtle muscles in her stomach.

He squatted again, bringing himself level with her hips, and his eyes smoked up with heat and humor. He smoothed paint across the tops of her legs and drew lines in an up and down pattern, bracketing the juncture of her thighs.

The dark hair curling around his head drew her fingers in, but he only allowed the caress for a moment before pulling back to inspect his handiwork with a devilish grin.

“And what is that?” she asked, scared to hear his answer.

“That is a privacy fence for your lady garden so no one can see.” He singed her with a glance up her body until their eyes collided, want steaming up the room. “No one but me, of course.”

“Are we almost done with this?” Jo couldn’t hide how much she wanted him. He had to know this was a slow torture.

His face sobered and he reached for the tube of paint. Moments before, he’d met the passion in her eyes head-on, but now he seemed to be looking everywhere but at her.

“Almost done. Just hang in there.”

He grabbed her hands and drew a heart in each palm. His throat worked for a few seconds, like the words were stuck there. After a moment, he glanced up at her, the confession in his eyes before it left his lips.

“My heart is in your hands.”

Before she had time to respond to that, he spread the paint over her chest, his fingers being extra tender around her nipples. Her chest heaved waiting for him to touch her and take her, but he didn’t. He finally met her eyes, not even looking away while he wrote across her heart with his index finger. Jo closed her eyes, focusing through just her skin on the letters he engraved there.

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