Page 71 of Love Bites Hard

“I don’t know. I’m not the one who started the war.”

I hissed as she ground against me harder. “Baby…”

“You finally started using my name right. Let’s not move backward.”

“Fine.” I wrestled the urge to slide my hand into her shorts and see if she was as wet as she smelled. “Izzy,” I corrected, “Tell me how to surrender.”

“I know you didn’t just give me another order.”

“Never,” I gritted out.

She pulled my arm off her waist, and I clenched my jaw when she slid away from me, leaving me hard and throbbing painfully. “Don’t take care of that yourself, or I’m redistributing the underwear.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Her lips curved upward—then she disappeared into the closet.

My jaw clenched tighter when she reemerged in what had to be her tiniest bikini.

I wanted her wrapped around me so bad, it hurt.

“Back to the lake?”

“After breakfast. I’ll probably have to stop here to drop off presents again afterward,” she said, striding toward the bathroom and disappearing behind the curtain.

I forced myself off the mattress and followed her in. My cock hurt, but I’d just have to deal with that for a few days. Or a few weeks. Until she decided I’d paid enough for being a dick.

I could handle it. I deserved it.

Izzy was braiding one section of her hair when I stepped up behind her. She wasn’t French-braiding, just tying it back. I’d heard enough about hair from my sisters to know that it wouldn’t last through a swim with how long she spent underwater.

I pulled the hairband off the braid she’d already finished, and earned a sound of protest. When I started a new one at the top of her head, her protests faded, her eyes wide and her lips round.

“You know how to braid?” she asked me.

“I told you I was close with my sisters. Their hair would get tangled with leaves every time we shifted if they didn’t braid it. Lana would braid Eve’s hair while I braided Lana’s. I always ended up with enough leaves in my hair for all three of us.”

Her mouth closed.

She watched me with new eyes as I made my way down her head, slowly enough that my sisters would’ve teased me. The memories hurt, but not as badly as I would’ve expected.

“It’s been a while, so it’s not the best,” I warned. “But no one else is putting their hands in your hair, so?—”

“It’s perfect,” she said, and there was no sarcasm behind the words.

I finished one braid, and started on the other. She reached back to touch the finished one, and her expression grew more surprised as she felt the smooth, tight strands.

“I’m going to breakfast with you,” I said. “Give me a minute to change.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll shift and carry you to the lake afterward.”

“Okay.”

Her short responses told me she didn’t entirely believe me, but that was to be expected. I’d caused it.

I tied the end of the second braid and set my hands on her bare shoulders. “If you really prefer swimming naked, you should do it. Just put your swimsuit under a rock or something and change before you get out. Please.”

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