Page 27 of Carnal Urges
“Higher than yours.”
“Sure. That’s what all the boys say. Wait, let me guess. One thirty.”
He says angrily, “I tested above that when I was a wee chiseler.”
“Whatever that is. One forty.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.”
“You keep calling for them, but I don’t think they’re listening. One fifty.”
When he only lies there, seething, I say smugly, “Ah. Under one fifty. No wonder you’re angry. I’mwaymore intelligent than—”
He rolls on top of me, clamps a hand over my mouth, and growls, “Introduce your top lip to your lower one for a change. And. Be.Quiet.”
The first thing that comes to mind is that he’s on top of me again. We’re setting records for the most amount of full-body contact between two people who aren’t having sex.
The next thing that comes to mind is… nothing.
I’m too busy feeling. My brain has become nonoperational. I’m nothing but skin, bone, and tingling nerves.
There’s something delicious about his weight. He’s so solid. I’ve always liked a big man, but Declan is more than simply big. He’s dense. Powerful. Hard.
Everywhere.
We make eye contact. I feel it in my guts.
After a moment, he says roughly, “You’re the most irritating person I’ve ever met.”
I smile. Because his hand is clamped over my mouth, he feels it.
He mutters something in Gaelic. It doesn’t sound like acompliment. “I’m going to remove my hand from your mouth. Will you be quiet?”
I nod, trying to appear serious.
“Do you promise?”
After a beat, I decide to be honest and shake my head.
“Then I won’t move my hand.”
I make big pleading eyes at him, blinking like a coy ingenue.
“No.”
We seem to be at an impasse. So I do the only thing I can think of that might work. I dig my fingers into his ribs and tickle him.
He jerks, curses, and rolls off me, hollering. “What the bloody hell?”
Propping myself up on my elbows, I smile at his fury. “So the king of the jungle has a soft spot. Good to know.”
Sitting on the other side of the bed, he stares at me like he’s trying to will my head to explode.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”
“This is karma, isn’t it? I’m being punished for something I did in a former life.”
“You believe in reincarnation? That’s interesting. I’ve always thought—”
