Page 54 of Something Real with the Sea Monster
“I’d like that. A real chance. Apart from Mia, you’re the realest person I know, Jack.
“Ah, is that a good thing?”
“It’s a very good thing.” She climbs into my lap and wraps her arms and legs around me, resting the end of her nose against mine. “I think sometimes I worry that I’m not worth keeping. That anyone I care about will eventually want to throw me away. That’s why the fated mates thing seemed like such a big deal.”
“And now?” I’m insanely conscious of the fact that there’s only a thin hotel towel between us, but I try to ignore it and concentrate on what she’s saying.
“Now I know I’m yours I realized it doesn’t take the fear away at all. It just makes me worry that you’ll want to throw me away, but you won’t be able to. That you’ll be stuck with me and not want it.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous. I can’t imagine ever not wanting you. Besides, that’s not how it works.”
“It’s not?”
“No. It still takes work. It’s not a guarantee we’ll stay together. It’s just an indication that we’re compatible.”
“Work! Are you calling me hard work, Jack?”
She giggles as I twist us to roll her onto the bed and position myself between her thighs. Her towel has completely unraveled, and the one around her hair is falling off too. I give her a little roll of my hips to press my erection against her thigh. “Mhm. Very hard work. I like hard work, remember?”
Her nails dig into my shoulders, and she opens her legs wider. “Mmm. You do. You’re the hardest-working person I know. Which is lucky I guess because Iamhard work. I think you’re up to the job.”
I pull back just enough to toss my own towel aside and then naked skin meets naked skin, and a bloom of pleasure builds tension low in my belly. I lower my lips to her neck, and she tilts her head to one side. “I know I’m up to it.”
Just to prove it, I take my time kissing along her neck, running my hands over her belly and thighs, not even getting close to her pussy.
I grin when she finally grabs my hand and brings it to her wet slit. “You fucking tease.”
“No shortcuts, Tegan. I thought you wanted me to work for it.”
That’s how we miss the first three calls from the NRMA. It’s only because I stand to bend her over the side of the bed that I catch her phone vibrating on the nightstand.
I stop her from getting up. “I’ll get it. Don’t get dressed. I’ll go. Just be naked when I get back.”
“Hey, I’m not done!” She tosses a pillow at me, which I dodge.
“Neither am I, but I thought you wanted your car fixed so we can go to Sydney.”
She groans. “Now I’m not so sure. You’d better hurry up getting my car fixed in the rain while I wait naked in bed. I’ll probably have forgiven you when you get back.”
Turns out all the car needs is a new battery. Thankfully the rain holds off and I’m able to oversee the mechanic install the battery and pick up takeout dinner without splitting another pair of jeans and a perfectly good pair of shoes.
And when I make it back to the dodgy little hotel room and Tegan is still naked and proceeds to treat me like her hero, I decide it was all worth it.
TWENTY SEVEN
Jack
In the end, we leave my beat-up old Holden parked at the gas station and take Tegan’s car for the last leg to Sydney. We don’t set off until ten thirty, after missing check out, and I have no one to blame but myself for that since it was me who was determined to spend two hours between Tegan’s thighs waking her up.
And despite how bad I feel for inconveniencing the hotel staff, I’d do the same again if I had the time over.
I offer to drive, and for the forty minutes it takes us to get to the city limits, my hand strays to her thigh and my mind strays to the gutter like I didn’t just spend hours making her come over and over.
My attention shifts, though, as the lanes start to narrow and I’m reminded about just how long it’s been since I’ve done any city driving.
“Take this exit,” Tegan says.
I nearly miss it, though, when a huge truck refuses to make room for me in the left lane. Then I miss the next turn off altogether and almost head the wrong way down a one-way street.
