Page 31 of A Very Roguish Boxing Day
His fingers traced up and down the bare skin on Gwen’s upper arm.So bloody soft.“But they must have need ofsomemales.”
“They do.”Was it Tom’s imagination, or had her voice gone slightly breathless?“Each colony has a smaller number of males, which are called drones?—”
“Drones.Lovely.”
“—whose sole job it is to, um…”
She trailed off, and her cheeks turned pink.Tom couldn’t resist teasing her.“To service the queen?”He gave a low whistle.“Sounds like nice work if you can get it.”
“Well…” Gwen straightened her spectacles, shifting uncomfortably on the stone bench.“The queen only needs to mate infrequently.”
Tom arched an eyebrow.“Defineinfrequently.”
“Once every few years,” Gwen said in a rush.“In fact, some apiarians?—”
“Gwen, bun, you’re going to have to use smaller words.Apiari-whats?”
She shot him a rueful glance.“Apiarians.It means beekeepers.Some of them believe that a single mating is sufficient for a queen to remain fertile for her full lifespan.”
He gaped at her.“What?You mean these drones, whose whole purpose is to impregnate the queen, only get to swive her the one time?”
Gwen cringed.“If that.Although the number of drones is small compared to the number of worker bees, there can be hundreds of drones in a single colony.”
“So, most of them die without ever getting to make use of their wedding tackle.”Tom shook his head.“I take back what I said about it being nice work if you could get it.Poor drones.”
“Poor queen, too,” Gwen muttered.
An instant later, Tom felt her go stiff beneath his arm.
He couldn’t help it.He laughed.
“I-I mean,” she sputtered.“That is to say?—”
“’Course it’s sad for the queen.At least, if her drone knows what he’s about.”
She covered her eyes with one hand.“I didn’t mean to say that aloud.”
“But you did.”He gave her a squeeze.“I take it you enjoyed yoursingle mating.”
She couldn’t seem to bring herself to look at him.“You know I did.”
He brought his lips close to her ear.“Doesn’t have to be just the one time, bun.”
At least she was looking at him now.More specifically, she was gaping at him.
When the silence stretched on, he wondered if he had offended her.“Gwen?You all right?”He rubbed the back of his head.“Look, I’m sorry if I?—”
“I have a room,” she burst out.
The tightness in Tom’s chest relaxed, shifting lower, becoming a tightness in his groin.“You do, do you?”
Gwen’s eyes were wide and had a wild quality to them.“I—I do.”
He brought his hand up, sweeping his fingers behind her ear and tracing a path down her neck.“And you’re suggesting that we go there.Together.”
His hand had reached her collarbone.He could feel her breath coming in pants beneath his fingertips.“Y-yes.”
He lowered his lips to her ear as his hand stroked the swell of her breast.As huge as his hands were, she filled them, like she was fuckingmadefor him.He pressed a kiss against her ear, and she made a whimpering sound.His voice was deep as he said, “What the hell are we waiting for?”
