Page 40 of Kiss of Fury

“You’re amazing. Thank you for this.”

“Well, I’m hoping there’s something in it for me, too.” He leered.

“We can work something out.” She straddled him. His erection thrust against her abdomen. Resting her forearms on the pool’s edge, she pressed her lips to his. He wrapped one arm around her back, and he cupped her breast with the other hand. She never imagined she could be so happy, that life could be so idyllic. She had more than she ever dreamed of.

* * * *

After making love, they relaxed in the pool, Verity sitting between his legs, her back to his chest. They talked a little, but words were unneeded, the silence imbued with contentment and post-coital bliss.

Finally, she sighed. “I’d better get out for a bit. I’m getting pruney.” She held up her hand to display wrinkled fingers and climbed out. The air felt chilly in contrast to the hot water, and her nipples beaded from the cold, but she knew she’d warm up.

He followed her out of the pool, and she handed him a towel. After blotting the wet ends of her hair, she spread her towel on the rock and sat down, hugging her knees. “Too bad we didn’t bring a picnic lunch.”

“Yeah, that would have been perfect, wouldn’t it?” He spread his towel beside hers, but instead of sitting, padded toward the conveyance.

Nice ass.He had tight, high buns. He epitomized streamlined, masculine perfection, muscular without being bulky, broad shoulders arrowing to slim hips in the classic V-shape. Nature rarely achieved such perfection, yet Mike had no physical flaws at all. His handsomeness was a little daunting because she had plenty of imperfections.

By her observation, people tended to hook up with mates of comparable attractiveness—money, of course, altering the paradigm. Ugly rich men would always attract and get beautiful women. Verity considered herself on the attractive side of average, but Mike was out of her league. He was gorgeous. In the real world, he wouldn’t have glanced at her twice, except circumstances and Cosmic Mates had put them on the same path.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Getting our picnic lunch.”

“You’re kidding! You brought us a lunch?”

He grinned and pulled a basket from the wagon bed. Returning, he tromped over the jagged rocks without so much as a wince.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

“It’s sharp, but I don’t pay any attention.” He settled on his towel, and, with a flourish, whipped a checkered cloth from the basket and spread it out.

“Flat bread.” He extracted a smaller basket of ground, baked grain squares. “Cheese substitute.” He set a yellowish round next to the bread. “Fruit.” There were two varieties of sweetish alien produce. “And…the pièce de resistance…” He pulled out a bottle.

“Wine? You got wine?” Her jaw dropped.

“It did not originate from grapes, but Maven assured me it is the fermented juice from some kind of fruit. She and Honoria helped me put together the picnic. I figured you’d enjoy a break from horniger or egger, something more akin to what you had on Earth.”

She fanned her face to stave off tears.He planned a romantic date.The most romantic, thoughtful date she’d ever been on. Never had a man gone to such trouble for her. “I can’t believe you did all this!”

He produced a couple of stemmed glasses and a cheese spreader. “Wine?”

“First, this.” She kissed him long and slow. “You are so amazing. I love you so much.” Her eyes widened. His widened, too. She hadn’t meant to say that yet but didn’t regret it. The love was new, fresh,exciting, not yet mature, but given time it would deepen. It felt right to express her feelings.

“Do you mean it?” he asked hoarsely.

“I do. And not just because you surprised me with a wonderful naked picnic.”

“I love you, too.” He dropped his gaze and clutched a wineglass so tightly she feared he might snap the stem. He swallowed and then met her eyes. “Have you heard of Solutions, Inc.?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“That’s the company I worked for. That I served. They made me—”

She blinked at the abrupt change of subject. “You want to talk about your former job…now?”

“It’s the last thing I want to talk about. I love you so much, but before you fall in love with me, you should know about my past, what I am, what I’ve done.”

“I know what you are.”

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