Page 28 of Daring in a Blue Dress
She wiggled down into the bed. He lay on his back, looking over at her dark shape, so tantalizingly close, and yet just beyond his (figurative) reach, and wondered if she was really here because of the note he’d slid under her door. “Will that happen before or after you accidentally roll onto me while we’re both asleep?”
She giggled. “Let’s hope it’s before. Good night, Alden.”
“Good night, Mercy.”
The scent of her, warm and soft and so near, seemed to cause little silken cords of desire and need to wrap tight around him. His penis grew even harder, something he thought would have been impossible. A joke about using it in lieu of a sledgehammer occurred to him, and he was on the verge of sharing it with her, but didn’t when he wasn’t sure how she’d take it.
Mercy shifted slightly, her foot brushing his leg. The contact sent fire skimming through his veins.
He sighed. It was going to be a very long night.
Chapter 7
Iwasn’t sure if I was happy or sad that I woke up to find myself on the mattress, and not lying on Alden as I had joked. I looked over at where he lay sprawled on his belly next to me, with one arm under his pillow, and the other on my stomach. Likewise, one of his legs rested on mine, causing little pins and needles in my foot.
I gently slid my foot out from under his, wiggling my toes and wincing at the sharp sensation as feeling came back to it.
Alden’s eyelashes lay thick and dark on his cheeks, his two eyebrows arched in a manner that made my straight brows green with envy. He had a faint russet brown stubble on his lower cheeks and chin, and lips that were neither thin nor plump, but pleasingly in between. And oh, how soft they were... and what fires they could stir.
His shoulders were definitely on the broad side, withnicely defined muscles that avoided being bodybuilder extreme, while still making my fingers want to stroke down his shoulders and biceps. He had a little scar on the back of one shoulder blade.
What was it about him that interested me so much? Was it just my need to help someone who was hurting? I shook my head even as that thought occurred. There was more to my interest in Alden than just that—I didn’t want to admit that I was physically attracted to a man I had just met, but the sad truth was that he really did turn my crank. And if that made me the sort of woman who jumps into bed at the drop of a hat, then so be it.
I couldn’t help but smile. I was, after all, in bed with him. And what was wrong with the idea of allowing myself to act on my desires? Oh, sure, the right thing, the reasonable thing, would be to give Alden the space he needed to see if he would hit it off with this blind date who was on her way.
But she wasn’t here, and I was. And more important, Alden was a big boy. He could turn down any offer I made. Surely I owed it to him to allow him to make his own decisions?
My gaze strayed to the lovely curves of his shoulders and back. It might be wrong, but I really did want to touch him. And kiss him. And lick him...
I wondered if his behind was really as nice as I remembered it from the night before. With a quick glance at his face (his eyes remained closed), and a moment to monitor his breathing (still steady and slow), I casually stretched and shifted my leg in a way that would cause the duvet to slide down.
Yes, it was just as nice as I remembered. Very nice. Worthy of admiration, even. Except... I moved a littleto better see the far side of his butt, where a dark mark caught my attention. He had a tattoo! An ass tattoo. I couldn’t quite make it out, though. And suddenly, I really wished to know what it was.
With another careful glance at his face, I sat up and leaned over his butt, careful not to touch it. The light in the room was too dim to see clearly. Carefully, I got onto my knees, and braced a hand to support myself, while holding my hair and nightgown back so they wouldn’t brush against him when I leaned down to examine the tattoo.
“It’s a hedgehog.”
“Eep!” I said, jumping a little, which, given my off-balance and awkward position, meant I tumbled down on top of him. “Gloriosky, Alden! You could have given me a heart attack.”
One eye opened to consider me. “I didn’t think my ass was that bad.”
“No, it has nothing to do with...” I pushed myself up, and only just kept myself from patting the body part in question. “It has nothing to do with your butt. You scared me. You could have warned me you were awake.”
“Why? You seemed to be enjoying staring at my ass.”
I sat back down, and pinched his arm. “I wasn’t staring at your ass. Not specifically. I was trying to figure out what the tat was. Why, if you don’t mind my asking, do you have a tattoo of a hedgehog on its back legs on your behind?”
“It’s a hedgehog rampant, actually. It’s part of my personal coat of arms that my brothers had created for my twenty-first birthday, the same birthday where they took me out and got me so drunk that I agreed to honor the hedgehog in the only way I could: with a tattoo on my ass.”
“I think it’s cute.”
“Thank you.” He flexed his butt cheeks. “I have no complaints.”
“Silly. I meant your tat, not your butt. Although...” I cleared my throat. His eyes were closed again, which made it a bit easier to ask what I wanted to ask. “Would you mind... I know this is seriously inappropriate, but since we are here in bed together, and you’re naked, and I’m in my good nightie, would you mind if I touched it?”
“My tattoo?”
“Yes. Well, that and your butt.”
