Page 104 of The Floral Arrangement

“A while.” She grinned. “Good thing a very talented florist gave me a masterclass on floral arches a few weeks ago.”

I laughed, closing the gap between us and wrapping my arms around her. “It’s incredible. Thank you.”

Gazing up at her blue eyes, I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers.

A smile spread across my face and I gently pulled away. “You know, these candles remind me of a prototype I was working on yesterday.”

“Oh?” She looked down at me, her eyes soft. One of her hands began a gentle, rhythmic stroking over my hair.

I loved that I didn’t feel at all nervous about talking to Roz about sex, about proposing we try something I’d never done before. “Jenny is organizing a few bachelorette parties over the summer and asked if I could create some, um, X-rated candles. I showed her the prototypes I came up with this afternoon at Novel Gossip.”

Roz’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh really?”

My smile widened. “Yep! Lots of penises and vulvas, made out of soy wax. They can be used as candles or… for other erotic purposes. I have a prototype vulva in my bag, if you’re interested.” I raised an eyebrow.

The corner of Roz’s mouth curved. “You want to play with fire?”

I chuckled. “I mean, I think I should test that they work okay in an intimate setting before they’re handed out at bachelorette parties… But I can do it by myself if you’d prefer. I did drip some on my hand yesterday. I quite liked it. A little sting of heat and then a warm sensation. It doesn’t burn your skin because it has such a low melting point.”

“No, no. I’m happy to offer myself up as a human test subject. Or be the tester. Or both.” Roz grinned. “You know what else could be fun… I’ll be back in a second.”

I sat on Roz’s bed, gazing at the arch. She’d done an incredible job, weaving dozens of dahlias and ferns through the wire. This was, by far, the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me.

Roz returned a minute later, slightly out of breath, holding my bag and the ice bucket that had previously been full of dahlias. It was now full of ice, an elegant curved purple glass dildo sitting in the middle of it.

“Fire and ice.” She shot me a wicked grin from the doorway. “What do you think?”

I laughed. “I love it.” It was perfect. We’d played with fire and skated on ice over the past six weeks as Roz’s icy exterior slowly melted away. Now we were bringing some of that energy to the bedroom.

Roz placed the ice bucket on the side table and then sat next to me on the bed, handing me the bag.

I rummaged through it, pulling out the white vulva candle and placing the bag on the ground next to the bed. “Here we go. Let’s try a drop on your hand first, to make sure you’re comfortable with it.”

I reached out, dipping the wick in the flame of the large candle next to the ice bucket until it lit. Roz held out her hand. My eyes lingered on her delicate fingers. A delicious shiver spread over me.

A drop of wax melted near the flame.

“Are you ready?” I murmured.

“Yes.”

I tilted my hand, holding my breath. The bead of wax dripped off the candle and onto the back of Roz’s hand, forming a round opaque dot that quickly set back to white. I blew out the flame. I didn’t want it to melt away before we’d had a chance to properly use it and, unlike the other candles Roz had lit, it wasn’t safely ensconced in glass. The last thing we needed was for the farm to burn down just after it had been saved.

“Was that okay?” I ran my fingers over her skin where the wax had fallen.

Roz nodded. “Yes. You were right—a second of pain that transforms into heat.” She raised her hand to her nose and sniffed. “Mmm. This smells nice.”

I laughed, my face warm. “It’s eau de Roz.”

Roz blinked. “What?”

I shifted on the bed. “I may have also spent yesterday trying to recreate your scent because I missed you so much. Cedar and sandalwood, with some earthy notes.” For the bachelorette parties I’d make them rose-scented or something a bit more traditional—not everyone might be into cedar-scented vulvas as much as I was.

Roz’s eyes twinkled. “Eau de Roz. I love it.” She peeled off the dot of wax on her hand and put it on the table.

“The wax might be more intense on more sensitive parts of your body. If it’s too much, we should have a safe word.” I pressed my lips together for a moment, then the perfect safe word hit me. “I know, how aboutmoo”?

Roz’s eyebrows shot up. “Moo?”

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