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“What about after?” He snags his own muffin from the plate. “We should make a solid plan.”

“Well, there’s this one.” She pulls out a brochure for Moab, Utah, only a few hours from where they are now. “Look at those arches.”

“We should see it, and then this one? We could hit it first on the way up or coming back.”

The photos of Zion National Park glimmer red, and she smiles, her words low and sensual. “I want you to fuck me under the stars in this park.”

He raises a brow, blinking dramatically in mock shock. “You want me to do what now?”

“Fuck. Under. The. Stars,” she says slowly, daring him to look away.

“You make it sound so romantic.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Please, kind sir, will you make gentle, sweet love to me under the twinkling stars? Is that better?”

“Stop,” he groans, but he likes her teasing. She can tell by that barely covered smile.

“It’s okay if you’re not into it. We don’t have to go there.” She shrugs, laughing when he snakes an arm around her waist and pushes a kiss behind her ear.

“I’m into it. It’s already on my bucket list.”

“What a coincidence, it’s on mine too.” They have to get it together if they have any hope of continuing to plan instead of shoving everything off the bed and using it for other things. “Okay, so we spend a couple weeks here, then at those other two parks.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Just live out here with me forever, sounds far too bold for two people who only recently admitted what they feel for each other.

They’ve slept together once, and she already has visions of turning this trip permanent, but if she’s being honest with herself, she’d admit that was her hope from the start.

She wants to be out here with him. Forever.

She thinks he wants that too. It’s an unspoken thing that probably shouldn’t need to be spelled out.

What the hell else would they do anyway?

Where else would they go after it’s all said and done?

Yet she longs to fling it into the open for confirmation.

Voicing her desire is difficult when she isn’t brave enough to tell him her secret.

Can’t expect him to commit to something so final without knowing the truth.

She needs to wait for the right moment to share what will definitely wreck the mood.

“Hey,” Kara says suddenly, shifting gears toward something that’ll get them on a different, more exciting track. “We never finished playing twenty questions. How about an X-rated version?”

“You’re on.”

“Position you’ve always wanted to try?”

“You already asked me that one.”

“No, I asked your favorite. This is different.”

“All of them with you.” His reply is matter-of-fact and honest, tinged with the barest hint of disbelief that he’ll be able to follow through on that. “Got any requests?”

“There might be one that I’ve always been a little curious about…”

He leans forward. “Go on.”

“It’s called the butterfly. Me in your lap but facing away and, well, you can figure out the rest.”

He swallows hard. “I know a certain park that might be a good place for that one.”

It’s her turn to squirm now, imagining how that might play out and feeling her skin prickle hot. “Your turn. Ask me anything.”

This sort of conversation is pushing past barriers for him. He seems more the type to take a dare instead of the truth if they were playing that game, but he surprises her with an intimate question she didn’t expect.

“Have you ever used toys?”

“A vibrator?”

He nods.

“Absolutely. It used to be the only way I could get there. I had quite the collection. Mourned the loss of them when I had to leave ‘em behind.” He gapes at her and she can’t resist teasing a little further, popping a piece of muffin in her mouth and shrugging matter-of-factly.

“The purple one was my favorite. It did this curling thing.”

“Curling?”

“Sort of like…a deep, upward stroke.” She makes a come-hither motion with two fingers to drive the point home.

“You like that, huh?” he says, evenly.

She nods, and suddenly it’s not funny anymore because she can tell that he’s filed this away. The idea of him touching her like that already has her wound up.

Then, his hand works its way beneath her shirt, boldly popping open the single button holding it together before he pushes her back against the pillows.

She’s used to being the one who takes control in every aspect of her life.

It was the only way she could survive, both in the foster system and then out of it, when the world ended.

She is a wrecking ball, someone once told her.

If there is a decision to be made, she’s the one making it.

That hard exterior protects all her softest, most vulnerable pieces that she’s never shown anyone else. Anyone except Wade.

She didn’t realize how badly she craved the option of letting someone else lead.

Instead of feeling the heavy stretch she expected, two fingers curl up inside her as he peppers a kiss to the pulse point in her neck, proving he’d been taking notes and is only too happy to put them to good use.

Is that how this works now? Can she just…s ay what she wants and somehow get it?

It’s easy to relax into the rhythm of that curling motion he’s perfecting until she’s soaked his hand, letting him know she’s ready for more. She’s left empty and wanting until he begins to fill her in a new way, nudging himself in place.

She knew he was big, but feeling him inside her, stretching her until her muscles ache, is a whole new experience that she hadn’t fully imagined.

She shifts her hips, instinctively looking for relief, yet still wanting more.

The pressure is exquisite and persistent.

Just when she thinks it’s too much, he pulls back until only the tip rests inside her, teasing her entrance.

She squirms, missing him already, trying to pull him back in.

The way he watches her face could be uncomfortable with anyone else, yet she feels no need to look away. Holds his stare as he carefully pushes into her again, ending with a swift thrust to make sure she’s taking every inch. Her sharp inhale prompts a satisfied glimmer in those soft eyes.

He makes love to her like she’s something precious, and much as she appreciates that, there’s also a red-hot desire to feel completely engulfed by him.

She pulls him down against her until he gets the idea.

Then his weight is everywhere, leaving her protected and secure.

Doesn’t feel smothered when she probably should, only wraps her legs around him and enjoys what she’s given.

It’s like that hug in bed when he’d gathered her up and squeezed just past the point of being gentle, but so much better now when there’s no part of him she can’t feel.

It’s not until later, when she’s come a second time and he’s marked her as his all over again, both of them collapsed side by side trying to catch their breath in a haze, that she realizes this is the first time she’s felt as sated as the person she’s in bed with.

Instead of grabbing her clothes or rolling away, she rolls toward him, tucking herself into his side with a yawn.

They have lost time to make up for. The best place to rest for that is right here in his arms.

* * *

The next morning, they wake early and aim the Range Rover for Zion.

They’ve left the bike behind this time. Not safe to take both modes of transportation when the roads to reach their destination are said to be rocky and steep, with few guardrails along the slopes.

If they make a wrong move and tumble over the edge, they’ll need that bike if they manage to survive the fall.

Her brain is always in worst-case scenario mode. She’s a good driver, always has been, and there’s no chance she’ll steer them wrong.

She does, however, hit the brakes when an overlook along the road opens up to reveal a small town below. Kara can see the faint hint of movement, but her naked eye can only process so much. They exit the car to get closer, pulling out binoculars looted from the camping shop.

“Could be a shit ton of people down there,” he growls, clearly as unhappy about this as she is.

They already suspected a thriving community. She’s not ready in the slightest to deal with that. There’s plenty of activity down below when they peer through the glass, but it’s not people they see, it’s rotters. The town is completely overrun.

A plume of smoke coming from the mountains beyond is a clear sign they’re not alone.