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She fractured, splintering apart with his name screaming through her thoughts and her sex crushing his digits. Bliss erupted from her core, consuming her from one heartbeat to the next.

“Ah fuck, little owl.”

She moaned, feeling his cock kick in the confines of her mouth. The shaft swelled, the cord throbbing in hard, rhythmic jerks, and hot streams of creamy fluid coated her tongue, the back of her throat. Distracted by her own orgasm tearing her apart, she swallowed reflexively, choking a little when she couldn’t keep up with the source.

There was a space of time she lost track of, focused on the rapid clench-release of her inner muscles, the awesome high of soaring and the few moments where she floated at the pinnacle. When she crashed with a jarring moan, she realized blearily that Merrick’s cock had softened and slipped from her mouth.

His hands were on her butt again, gently kneading the flesh. “Back with me, darlin’? The way you drifted off, thought you might not come back to earth for a while.”

All she could muster was a grunt.

“Did I hurt you?”

“Nmph.”

“Scare you?”

She sighed contentedly and rubbed her cheek against his damp erection, unconcerned about what was smearing over her skin. Right now, she was warm, safe, comfortable, and getting a lovely butt massage. A nap was the next thing on her agenda; maybe a drink and a snack if she got the energy to crawl off Merrick’s body to find them.

He laughed and gave her right flank a stinging smack. “I know that cheek rub, little owl, and it means you’re about to fall asleep on me. Come on, sit up and get your bearings.”

She had her bearings just right, thank you.

“Unless you want to go a second round, one where my finger takes a detour past this very pretty rosebud,” he said, swiping his tongue through her pussy—which stung more than she expected—and using the tip to trace a circle around herrosebud, “then sit up and roll over.”

Aw, now she wasn’t feeling comfortable. Not after he’d drawn attention to the fact her unmentionables were still all up in his face. Grumbling under her breath, which basically consisted of a series of grunts in different tones, she decided to simply roll over instead of pushing her sex closer to that devilish mouth by sitting on it.

Sprawling, limp and sated, on the bed beside him, Tamsyn smiled at the ceiling.

Merrick sat up, took one look at her face, and laughed. “Here am I, worried you’re traumatized after your first blowjob, and you’re grinning like the cat who ate all the cream and wants more.” He patted her thigh. “Although I don’t think you’re keen on this kind of cream.”

Her eyes rolled balefully in his direction, but the smile remained. She really didn’t like the taste, but she’d made him happy, so she could tolerate it. Besides, even if she hated what his cock produced—and wasn’t that a surprise—she found she enjoyed the shape of him in her mouth, the texture of his cock, how he reacted to stimulation of a different kind.

“Proud of you, darlin’,” he told her gruffly. “Keeping me on my toes, that’s for damn sure, but you’re not what I was expecting.”

Just as the barb was about to strike, the hook-tipped point ready to bury itself in her heart at the thought of not being what he wanted or needed, he gave her that half-smile she adored. “Be exactly who you are, Tamsyn. I love meeting all these sides of you, and the more you’re settling in, those sides are making themselves known.”

A giddy foolishness swam to the surface as he left the bed; she almost hugged herself and rolled around with happiness. Thankfully, she managed to contain her joy as he shrugged on a black dressing robe he picked up from a chair and glanced at the clock.

“I’ll get you a drink and something light to eat, then it’s time to get up and have a shower, little owl.” The belt tightened around his waist, shrouding that perfect body in dark fabric. “We’ll go for dinner at the restaurant again, then I need to meet someone in the club. Once I’m done, I think it’ll be good for you to take a look around, get a feel for the place. Meet some new people.”

No, that didn’t sound like a smart idea at all. Going for a meal was okay, but out into the club? What if people remembered the crazy woman with the broken wrist who almost got herself accidentally fucked in an orgy?

There would be stares and whispers, a whole lot of embarrassment, and then she’d ruin Merrick’s night by crying like a baby and running all the way back to the cabin to hide under the covers.

As much as she hated the thought of going, she couldn’t say no. One night of blushing and feeling awkward was nothing compared to what Merrick put up with when it came to her, was it? When she weighed everything up from the moment she met him until now, she figured she’d put him through ten kinds of hell, cramped his social life, and taken more than she’d given in return.

So instead of shaking her head, she just smiled as though it was something to enjoy.

*

Merrick

He settled into the booth at just past eight p.m. after a pleasant dinner with Tamsyn.

She’d never know how much she amused him, although she could probably guess given how often he laughed in her presence. As her character came out of the dark, so loud and vibrant despite being voiceless, he found that she brought out the lighter side of him at the same time.

He was different with her, changing in subtle ways he didn’t notice until they were suddenly, acutely obvious.