“I'm working on it.” She released the knot she'd been fiddling with unnecessarily and moved on to another one. “Does he have feelings for you?”
“He doesn't have feelings for anyone anymore.”
“And why's that?” She met his eyes, and he didn't look away. Were they starting to connect on a more personal level? She wouldn't mind. This sex for the sake of sex thing was new to her, and she wasn't sure if she could forget this guy that easily. Wasn’t sure she wanted to forget him. So far, he was pretty terrific.
“He was in love with a woman. Planned to marry her.”
“Was?”
“She died.”
Empathy made Caitlyn’s heart pang. She’d lost her sister a few years before, she still felt as if a gaping hole was eating its way through her heart whenever she thought about Morgan. The sad thing was, she thought about Morgan less and less as time went by. She couldn’t seem to stop her from slipping farther away. “He's still grieving?”
“Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll always grieve for her.”
“Probably. But it will lessen with time.” And then he’d probably feel guilty for moving on. Caitlyn did.
“It's already been five years.”
“That's not so long, really.”
“It is when you're twenty-seven.”
Caitlyn paused. “Is that how old you are?”
“Maybe. Does it bother you?”
She chuckled and moved to the next knot in Kellen's intricate and beautiful design. “You're quite a bit older than my ex-husband’s new fling,” she said. “But then she can't legally drink in this country.”
“Age doesn't matter.”
“You don't think so? I think society would disagree.”
“Fuck 'em. No one understands what's between two people except the two involved. Outsiders, they don't get it.”
“I guess I am an outsider in my ex-husband’s relationship. But I don’t agree with it and yes, partly because of their age difference. I’m sure he took advantage of her innocence.”
“I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about us.”
“Oh, did I take advantage of your innocence?” Caitlyn paused and flexed her fingers. They were starting to ache from working the knots free. “And I didn't think there was an us.”
“If there was.”
“If.” Caitlyn traced the outline of the tribal tattoo on Owen’s shoulder. “If is a very big word, Owen.”
“Are you almost finished?” he asked. “My muscles are starting to cramp.”
“I'll hurry.” She began to work faster, releasing knots in the reverse order that Kellen had tied them.
“You know,” Owen said, “most people have a difficult time releasing the knots properly and we usually have to cut the rope.”
She paused and looked up at him. There she went being weird again. “I… uh… watched him closely when he was tying them.”
“And you memorized the entire sequence?”
As she’d been blessed with an amazing memory, she did remember the entire sequence, but she played down her unusually sharp memory. “It's not too hard really. You just follow the rope from one end to the other. It’s getting more difficult now that the free end is so long.”
“It would be faster to cut them.”
“But then I wouldn't get to admire your body for a long, long time.”
He grinned. “You can admire my body for as long as you like.”
“What if I want to gaze at you for days?”
“I'll send you a picture.”
She laughed and swatted his ass playfully. His arm was loose enough now that he could get a hold on her. He wrapped a strong hand around her wrist and tugged her down to the mattress.
“God, I want to kiss you so bad I can hardly stand it,” he said. “Hurry up and untie me.”
“You want to kiss me?”
“Yes, and so much more.”
“I thought you wanted to be untied so you can leave.”
“What? No way in hell. We haven't even begun yet.”
His certainty made her smile. She couldn’t help it. “We haven't?”
“No, that sweet pussy of yours must need some relief. Untie me and I’ll fuck you senseless,” he said. When she did nothing but stare up at him as if she’d just won the sex lottery, he glared at her. “Untie me, Caitlyn.”
“I will, but I need to kiss you first,” she said, lost in his gorgeous blue eyes. They reminded her of the waters of the Caribbean. Warm. Inviting. Deep. “I think my lips have waited long enough.”
She scooted her body so her face was beneath his. He tried to stretch his neck to claim her mouth, but she remained just out of reach. She loved the look of anticipation in his eyes. He really seemed to want her. Badly. And she wanted to make him crazy with need.
Why hadn't she thought to do it until now? He was already half untied. She could have been teasing and tormenting him—as Kellen had suggested—for the past ten minutes.
“I want to kiss you too,” she said. “Our first kiss.”
He chuckled. “I guess that’s true. You’ve fucked me and haven’t even kissed me yet. My God, I’m a total slut.”
She chuckled. “I kissed you,” she said. “Just not on the lips.”
She lifted her head and gently brushed her lips against his. That small contact had her heart racing and her sex swelling with unfulfilled desire. She was so glad he wasn't through with her. He might have already enjoyed an explosive orgasm, but she hadn’t, and she was very interested in finding out what being “fucked senseless” entailed.
Owen strained to try to deepen his kiss, but she dropped her head back onto the mattress and continued her new favorite hobby, staring at him.
“There are other things I want to do to you, Owen.”
“There are plenty of things I want to do to you too. Finish untying me.”
“Not yet,” she whispered.
He groaned and dropped his chin to his chest. His soft hair tickled the tip of her nose. She lifted a hand to brush it back and then kissed his forehead.
“It's unfortunate that the pommel blocks most of your chest and belly. I'd really like to touch every inch of your skin.”
“You can as soon as you untie me,” he said.
Her attention focused on his beautiful cock. “But I do see one part of you is fully exposed. I could start there. I really want to get a closer look at that piercing.”
His head jerked up. “Kelly put you up to this, didn't he?”
“He might have planted a seed of thought,” she said. “You can thank him later.”
Caitlyn shifted to the opposite side of the pommel. It pressed against the middle of his chest and his upper abdomen, but lying on her back beneath him, she could see his lower belly, the delightful V of his hipbones, and his suddenly attentive cock. He liked her idea. She could tell by how quickly he was getting hard again. She ran her fingertips down his lower belly and he shuddered, his partially freed arm lowering so he could fist his hand in a tangle of bed sheet. She took her time exploring his flesh—stroking, nibbling and licking his belly and hips, forcing herself not to go for the decorated and engorged prize at the center. She wanted him hard and fully excited before she pleasured him, but she couldn’t take her eyes of his cock. There was something about those two little metallic balls decorating the rim that fascinated her. What would that feel like inside her?
“Touch me,” Owen whispered. “I can't stand it, Caitlyn. Touch me.”
“Touch you where?”
“Where do you think?”
She cradled his balls in one hand, ever so gently massaging. He sucked a breath through his teeth.
“Here?” She didn't wait for his answer. She lifted her head and licked the wrinkled skin of his sac, swirling her tongue in chaotic patterns that caused his breathing to skitter and shake.