Billie chuckled. “Honestly, if that happened with one of my tutors, I’d probably buy them a drink.”
“What about you, Scarlett?” Amelia said.
She shook her head. “I want to do a bit of painting tonight, but you all go and have a great time.”
Jane clapped her hands together, her entire body practically buzzing with energy. “You two get blankets, hot chocolate in thermoses, and snacks. We’ll get the telescopes and other supplies and meet you at the car in ten minutes.”
There was ten minutes of flurry and movement, during which Jane managed to whisper to Scarlett and me, “We can give you about four hours,” and then they were all gone.
I stood beside Scarlett, blinking at the front door, the house unnaturally quiet. “Is it too weird your parents just arranged time for us to be alone?”
Though it did answer my question about how they’d feel if they knew we were sleeping together. They were okay with it. More than okay with it.
“Finn, this is one of the least weird things about my parents.” She chuckled. “You know what’s interesting? A few months ago, this was what it was like for us every night. Before my parents landed on the doorstep or Amelia came home.”
“Or Billie arrived on holidays and Harvey moved in. And it seemed natural then.”
Impossibly large hazel eyes looked up at me. “How does it seem now?”
“Like an opportunity.” I took a step closer, close enough I could feel the heat emanating from her skin. “You know, we don’t just have the house to ourselves. It’s more than that.”
“We also have the leftover licorice ice cream to ourselves.” She spoke without hesitating, so clearly she’d already been giving the ice cream situation some thought.
“Sure,” I said, my mind suddenly going in all sorts of erotic directions, despite knowing that wasn’t what she’d been thinking. “But what I meant was, every time we’ve slept together, we’ve had to sneak around.”
A pulse at the base of her throat fluttered. “That’s true. We ducked into your office at uni when we were supposed to be somewhere else.”
“I sneak into your room at night.”
“Stolen kisses in the car.”
“But now,” I said, and left it hanging.
“Now…” Her voice trembled on the single word.
Needing to feel a connection, I wrapped an arm around her waist, not pulling her against me, just letting it sit. “We have four hours free of interruptions.”
“We can be as slow as we want.” Her gaze locked on my mouth.
My pulse spiked. Scarlett being unable to look away from my mouth was one of my very favorite things in the world.
I had to clear my throat before I could talk. “As loud as we want.”
“You’ll never last four hours.” Her voice was teasing as she slid her hands up my arms, leaving them to rest on my biceps. I shuddered at how good that felt.
I swayed against her. “I’ll bet you cooking duties for a night that I can last longer than you.”
One corner of her mouth hitched up. “Well, it is your birthday. I’ll probably let you win.”
“And all I want for my birthday is to be inside you. To feel you around me, as desperate for me as you were in my office.”
“Without the destruction of furniture.” Her eyes filled with that same lust-fog I’d been feeling since the parking lot.
“Preferably. Though to be honest, right now I wouldn’t care.” I laced my fingers through hers and tugged. “We have an entire houseful of locations to choose from. Where do you want to be?”
She touched the tip of her tongue to her top lip and glanced from me to the hall and back again. “You know what? I’d really like your bed. You’ve been sneaking into my room because it’s further from your sisters’ rooms, and I’ve been dreaming about your bed.”
“If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. But fair warning, I’m going to take advantage of the empty house and make you scream.”
She smiled, and I watched the heat in her eyes flare to bonfire proportions. When she leaned in, her breasts rubbing against my arm, until her lips touched my ear and whispered, “Happy birthday, Finn,” I nearly came in my pants.
“Let’s go,” I said, and dragged her down the hall.
Scarlett
We reached Finn’s bedroom in record time and, as I spared a glance at his bed before jumping on it, I saw a thick, red book. Practically skidding to a halt, I grabbed the hardback to toss it aside, but the title caught my attention.
“The Kama Sutra?” I held it up for him, grinning. “A little bedtime reading?”
He frowned and reached for the book. “That’s not mine. I’ve never seen it before.”
“Aw, Finn,” I teased. “Don’t be scared to tell me if you want to try something a bit different.”
But his face remained deadpan. “I don’t own a copy of the Kama Sutra.”
“Then where did it come from?”
“It wouldn’t be my sisters, so it can only be your parents.”
A cold chill raced across my skin. My parents? The last people I wanted involved in my sex life—even via leaving a book filled with suggested positions—was my parents.
Dropping the book like a hot potato, I stepped back. All traces of need fled. “I’m out. Game over.”
Finn grabbed my arm at the bedroom door. “Don’t leave.”
“It’s too weird, Finn,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why can’t they be normal parents?”
“They’re not normal, it’s part of their charm.” He glanced over at the book, his hand on my arm beginning to absently caress instead of hold. “Even though I admit this is a bit much, let’s not let them ruin something between us.”
“I don’t want to be thinking about my parents while we’re having sex.”
His eyes flashed with challenge. “I promise, you won’t have room in your mind for anything but me. Give me one second.”
He released my arm, grabbed the book, and headed out of the room. Within moments he was back, empty-handed.
“Now where were we?” He laced his fingers with mine.
I shrugged. “Planning other ways to spend four hours. Painting, perhaps.”
He brushed the hair off my shoulder and placed a delicate kiss on the exposed skin. “What if I do this?” he murmured near my ear. “Will you still want to find another way to fill the time?”
His voice lured me, but still, the mood had been well and truly broken. “Finn—”
He spoke over my objection. “What if I do this?” From behind, his lips skimmed over the nape of my neck and delicious heat began to unfurl down deep in my belly.
“That’s nice,” I said, my eyes drifting closed. “How about we make a date for later?”
“Nice? That’s all?” He pulled me back against him, then gently bit down on my shoulder. A gasp escaped my throat at the surprise and the decadence of it.
“Hmm…how about pleasant?” Luckily he couldn’t see me grin. I was beginning to get back into the mood, but I was enjoying myself too much to let him know. As he’d pointed out, our sex life had so far consisted of sneaking around and desperate attempts to make the most of the time we had. Being seduced was far too fun to cut short.
He grabbed my hips and pulled my ass firmly against his erection. I’d never get used to knowing it was me who made Finn hard—and that it was all for me.
“Pleasant?” He practically growled before sucking my earlobe into his mouth. My breath hitched and I felt him smile. “Perhaps a little more than pleasant?”
“Let me think.” My pulse had picked up speed, but I managed to keep my voice calm. “Perhaps a little more. Do you have any other moves that might help?”
Without warning, he grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and had it over my head, then my bra off and on the floor. He pulled me back against him, into the position I’d been in before the flurry of action, though this time he cupped my bare breasts. Those hands were made of magic, sending tingles right through my body.