Page 85 of Carnal Urges

He peppers sweet kisses all over my forehead. “You’re the most amazing woman who ever lived.”

“I’m so glad you’re finally getting caught up with the program, gangster.”

He reaches down and smartly swats my ass.

“Excuse me.Sir.”

“That’s better.”

He’s trying to be stern, but I hear the pleasure in his voice. I hear the warmth and softness underneath. It makes something hard in the middle of my chest feel squishy.

“Aye, you can talk now. Try not to slice me up with that razor-blade tongue.”

“I’ll do my best.” Hiding my face in his neck, I close my eyes. “Are we still doing the honesty thing? Because I might have something to put out there.”

Hearing the emotion in my voice, he stills beneath me. He waits patiently until I gather enough courage to say, “I’m no virgin. I’m sure that’s obvious. There have been a lot of men.”

“There’s no need to confess a number. I’d never ask.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

He exhales in relief. “Thank god.”

“May I continue?”

“Aye. I think.”

“Don’t be so worried. I’m about to give you a compliment.”

“Ah. In that case, please proceed.”

My arms are draped over his head, and I’m still bound at the wrists by the handcuffs, so instead of giving him a sharp thump on the chest, the best I can do is tug on a lock of his hair.

“As I was saying.” I clear my throat. “I, um… Jesus. Okay, here’s the thing: have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?”

There’s a baffled pause. “Are you about to compare my manhood to a mule’s?”

“What the hell?”

“I understand they use mules to take tourists down the trails into the Grand Canyon. And, as everyone knows, mules are very well-endowed.”

“If you’d stop trying to pat yourself on the back over the size of your dick for a second, I’ll get to the point.”

He presses his lips to the top of my head and squeezes me. I know he’s trying not to laugh, the bastard.

“Again,as I was saying. The Grand Canyon. It’s vast. So big you can’t imagine it until you’re standing at the edge of one of the rocky red cliffs, looking down. It’s not only deep, though, it’s wide, so wide you can’t see the other side. And long, too, like three hundred miles or something. There’s a river that snakes through the bottom, and incredible rock formations everywhere, and in the canyon walls, individual sedimentary layers where nearly two billion years of Earth’s history are exposed. It’s been inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years, and many of the tribes consider it a holy site. Because it looks and feels holy. Sacred and awe-inspiring, like a natural temple cut right into the earth.

“And it sort of has its own atmosphere. Gusts of hot wind come up out of nowhere, blasting through your hair and blowing gritinto your eyes. But there can also be fog, and crazy thunderstorms, and below-freezing temperatures and even snow, all depending on if you’re near the rim or the canyon floor and what time of year you visit. There are about a hundred different animal species, and all these different ecological zones, and it’s all just sitting out there, self-contained, smack in the middle of this vast expanse of nothingness. It’s unexpected. Wild and strange. And so beautiful, it makes your chest ache.”

When I don’t go on, Declan says, “I’m afraid you’ve lost me.”

I exhale a hard breath and muster my courage. “That’s what this feels like to me. Standing stunned and overwhelmed at the edge of the Grand Canyon, staring at all the impossible beauty with my eyes nearly blinded and my mouth hanging open in awe.”

Silence.

Long, stony silence, unbroken only by the sound of my own crashing heartbeat in my ears.

Just as I’m about to try to cover that horrible mistake with a laugh and anOnly kidding!Declan rolls us back over, throws a heavy leg over both of mine, and kisses me so passionately, my mind goes blank for a moment.