Page 72 of Finding Forever

He turned his head—seemingly with great effort—to look at her, and she shifted her eyes to meet his dark, hooded gaze.

“It’s a problem,” he said, his voice uncompromising. “I’ll have one made for you.”

“That’s not ne?—”

“Fern, don’t argue.”

She chewed the inside of her lip and stared at him for a moment before huffing an aggrieved sigh.

“That’s really annoying,” she told him. “You can’t simply command me not to argue and then expect obedience.”

“Why would you argue about something that is in your best interest?”

“It’s not the bracelet, it’s the demand that I not argue.”

His lips twitched. Another almost smile, which only served to irritate her further. Stubborn man and his pathological need for control. He was seriously harshing her post-sex mellow right now.

“Go on then,” he invited, his voice mild. “Say your piece. Tell me why I shouldn’t have a potentially lifesaving medic alert bracelet made for you?”

She was glaring at him now and he was still staring at her with that amused, non-smile lifting the corners of his lips.

“I don’t know, Cade, I might start to think youcare,” she told him with a smirk.

Sadly, it didn’t have the effect she’d hoped for, instead his eyes gleamed with amusement.

“Idocare, Fern. It wouldn’t be great PR to have my new, pregnant bride keel over and die from anaphylactic shock, would it? Now do you mind? I need a nap.”

She felt—for the first time in her memory—her lower lip protrude in a sulky pout.

“Has anybody ever told you that you’re really, really infuriating?” she asked him.

“Infuriating? Not really. Abrasive, frustrating, aggravating, fucking reprehensible, harsh, uncompromising, stubborn, dour, exacting, overbearing, domineering, tyrannical? To name a few… Yes. Often.”

“You don’t have to sound so proud of it,” she said, fighting to hide her amusement from him. Even though his voice and face remained completely expressionless, she was certain she caught a whiff of self-deprecating, acerbic wit in that response. And it surprised, charmed, and entertained her.

“It all translates toknows his own mindto me. You’re not going to let me sleep, are you?”

“I’m not sleepy,” she told him, instantly distracted by the erotic timber of his voice as it deepened meaningfully on the question.

“You’re being very selfish, Fern,” he chastised without heat, his eyes flashing as they fell to where she’d gone back to absently thumbing her nipple. “Thinking only of yourself and your own needs.”

“Well, it’s your fault, really. I didn’t know what I was missing before. I thought—after the first time—that I knew all about sex. And I admit to being somewhat underwhelmed by it all. I didn’t understand why people wrote books and songs andpoems about it. It was novel and a little confusing, but not at all earth-shattering.”

“And what do you think now?” he asked, his voice dropping to a strained whisper, as the hand on her stomach began to knead and caress the sensitive flesh of her abdomen.

“I told you… I get it now. I understand why you were so negative about that first time. It was nothing compared to what we just did. I felt none of those intense sensations, and definitely none of the heat… I burned, Cade. You made meburn. And I loved it. I want more.”

“Such a greedy little temptress,” he murmured, his voice almost affectionate.

He flipped over onto his back, the move so fast and unexpected it shocked her. Even more startling, he pulled her on top of him in the same movement with bold, confident hands until she was straddling his hips.

He was hard again, his erection arching up over his abdomen, throbbing gently in time with—she assumed—his heartbeat.

“I’m knackered,” he told her covering his eyes with his forearm, leaving only that wickedly curved mouth visible. “You want more? You’re going to have to take it. “

Take it?

“How?” she asked, wide eyes riveted on the fascinating thick length of his hard penis.

---