“You’re not terribly chatty in the morning,” he finally says quietly, and leans over to kiss the ball of my shoulder. I chuckle and bury my face in the pillow, then gaze over at him again.

“Good morning.”

“There she is,” he says. The house is quiet around us. It must be very early morning because of the gray light coming in through the windows. “How do you feel?”

“Hmm…” I take stock of my body and my heart, and smile. “I feel surprisingly limber and sated. You?”

“I don’t think I’ve been better,” he replies, and traces my tattoo again. “I was also surprised to find this during the night.”

“Surprised good or bad?”

“It’s sexy as hell, cher.”

“Are you going to ask me about it?”

“No.” He exhales deeply and finally pulls me into his arms, kisses my forehead, and tucks me against his chest. “You’ll tell me about it when you’re ready.”

I grip onto his naked side and sigh in happiness. He’s warm; his skin is smooth over toned muscles. He kisses my forehead, and his scruffy chin rasps against my skin.

It’s sexy.

“We should be asleep,” I murmur against his chest. “We couldn’t have gotten more than a couple hours of rest.”

“Go to sleep,” he whispers against my hair. His hands are drawing patterns on my back, his lips are planted on my head, and with his heart beating in my ear, I could easily drift off and sleep happily for hours.

But it seems a shame to waste an opportunity to have Eli naked.

Again.

My hand drifts down beneath the sheet to cover his ass, which flexes under my touch. His body is just crazy. All of those hours I spent daydreaming about what he would look like beneath those suits of his were a waste of time, because the reality is just stellar.

“That’s not going to sleep,” he murmurs. I can feel him grin against my head as I turn my face and plant a kiss to his chest.

“Not particularly sleepy right now,” I whisper, as I press my belly against his growing cock.

“No?”

“Nope.”

He growls as I press him back onto the bed and pepper his torso with wet kisses, my hands roaming all over him in lazy caresses. His hands drift up my back to push my hair off of my face. When I glance up at him, he’s grinning wickedly.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Kate.”

I feel my face blush as I hide it against his hard abs. “Thank you.”

Eli grips my shoulders and flips us, so I’m suddenly beneath him, his pelvis cradled between my legs, and his arms braced under my shoulders. He brushes my hair off my cheeks and stares down at me intently.

“You. Are. Beautiful,” he repeats, kissing me deeply between each word, and my body flares to life beneath him, my nipples puckered against his chest and my hips circling against his hardness. “Jesus, just when I think I’ve had my fill, it’s as though I’ve never touched you before.”

“Love the way you touch me,” I murmur against his lips. I freaking love the way he touches me.

“Do you like it when I do this?” He drags his nose down my jawline to my neck and lightly scrapes his teeth over my skin.

“Oh, gosh yes.”

“Gosh yes,” he repeats with a grin. “Oh, I think we can do better than that.”

I whimper, knowing where this is going, but I have no energy to try to talk him out of it.

I’ll say extra Hail Mary’s the next time I go visit my parents.

“I want to hear that sweet mouth of yours get a little dirty, cher.”

I bite my lip as he kisses down to my breasts and circles my nipple with his nose before taking it in his mouth and sucking firmly.

“We’ll start with something easy. What’s this?”

“My breast.”

He tweaks my nipple, sending a zing up my spine. “Ow!”

“Dirty.”

“Um, tit?”

“Very good.” He laves the abused nub with his tongue, and then kisses his way down my stomach, nuzzles my navel and the piercing there, then scoots down the bed further and spreads my legs wide. “Look how wet you are.”

I bury my hands in his hair and try to guide his mouth down to me, but he pulls away and grins. “Use your words.”

“Eli…”

“Yes, that’s a start. Keep going.”

“Please, kiss me.”

He presses his lips to the inside of my thigh and then grins up at me.

“Please kiss my…”

“Your what, Kate?”

“My.” I swallow hard and clench my eyes closed. “Pussy.”

He growls and licks me from my opening up to my clit, and then proceeds to drive me out of my ever loving mind with his lips and tongue, making my head thrash back and forth on the pillow.

“Do you want my fingers inside you?”

“Yes!”

“Ask me.”

“Please put your fingers inside me.”

“Inside your what?”

I lift my head and stare down at him in confusion. “My pussy.”

“Say cunt, Kate.”

I blink. You’re nothing but a fucking cunt. I can’t stand the sight of you.

“Never.” I try to close my legs and move away from him, but he immediately covers me again with his body and holds me tenderly. Tears have sprung in my eyes, pissing me off. “I won’t ever say that.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.”

“That word isn’t okay. Ever.”

He holds me to him, braced over me, and combs his fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry, cher. I didn’t know that was a trigger for you.”

“It’s just that one word. I can’t deal with it.”

“Understood.” He kisses my cheek and the corner of my mouth before pulling back and gazing down at me. His eyes look a bit angry, and I’m sure he has a million questions, but he simply offers me a soft smile and palms my breast once more. “No more c word. Any other words we should avoid?”

“I’m not particularly fond of being called a bitch either.”

All humor leaves his face as his hand stills on my breast. His eyes narrow.

“Let’s get something straight right now, cher. I would never call you that, or cunt, or any other despicable word that could hurt you. You are beautiful and sweet, and there will never come a day, regardless of what happens with us after today, that you or anyone else will ever deserve that. Are we clear?”