Page 162 of Seven Oars
“Fucking is.”
“All of them together!”
The shock at catching a close-up of the orgy still made heat crawl up her neck, and she wouldn’t pretend she wasn’t scandalized by it.
He stood too close, crowding her, and she was fascinated anew by the play of light and shadow across his ruined face. Unbidden, thoughts about sitting onhislap invaded her head. Skin to skin, sliding…
Mortification and acute craving warred inside her chest.
But she wasn’t as worldly or as carefree as Fawn. She had no business desiring a male of his caliber.It was for the best that there was no hint of affection in his voice now, and no sign of desire when he looked at her. She was lucky to have endured a coupling with him the first time.
Only it didn’t feel like enduring.
“Don’t worry,” he said suddenly.“I won’t touch you again.”
She started.“No?”
The relief she should have experienced didn’t come. Instead, disappointment prickled her, laced with a sweet, wistful yearning.
“Our coupling hurt you,” he said.
“It was my first time,” she mumbled, biting her lip.
“You’re too small. You bled.”
“But I wasn’t… unwilling.”
Her hand let go of his shirt and gripped the ends of her hair.
She’d known it.Not a real woman.
“I don’t know how to… do it right,” she said very quietly.“With a man, I mean.”
His finely arched brows rose.“What’s there to know?”
She glanced again toward the Habitat.“The… mechanics. Of the… body parts.”
A slight twitch of his lips betrayed faint amusement.“Were you watching your friend to learn?”
“No!” She was sure her face was not just pink but crimson.“And I wasn’t watching.”
An awkward silence hung between them. Awkward on her part, at least.
“What do you want, Rosamma?” he murmured.
The air thickened.
A pivotal moment.
He was letting her go free, if she so chose. Go back to her uncomplicated, solitary existence.
Free…
A mercy.
She frowned, looking at the floor.
Free and alone.
