Chapter 5

Sol wriggled on top of him when she felt his arousal spring to life, knocking against her inner thighs like an insistent salesman. She didn’t have to be sold, she was a satisfied consumer. “Mmm … can we do that again?”

Kael blinked several times. “You really want to?”

“How could I not?” She laughed softly, resting her chin on her fists which were on his damp chest so she could look at him. His eyelids were heavy. Sex popped into her mind and coursed through her body. Making love seized her heart. “It was wonderful, Kael. You were wonderful.”

“I had help.” He twined a curl around his index finger. His other arm was bent under the pillow at his head.

“I didn’t do much,” she countered. “You were the blazing fire of passion.” “I think we both did some blazing there.” He winked. She trailed her fingers through his underarm hair. She liked the soft, thick tufts.

Somehow it was so … male. So goddamned sexy. “Okay, we’ll share the credit.”

“Deal.” He ran his hands down the length of her spine now, swirling his fingers in the two dimples just above her bottom. “Speaking of deal.” He looked thoughtful. “This is your show.”

She frowned in puzzlement. “Meaning?”

He shifted her so that she lay in the curve of his arm at his side. She snuggled up closer to him. He pulled her closer. “Well, we have an unusual relationship. I’d like to know what the rules are. I certainly wouldn’t want to do anything out of line, take advantage of you, or step over any boundaries where I wasn’t welcome.”

“God forbid,” Sol murmured, wishing he would do something out of line, take advantage of her and overstep a few boundaries all at once.

“I’m serious.” He stared at the ceiling. “I should put a mirror up there. I bet we look like dynamite while making love.”

Sol slapped at his chest as she felt his cock and her pussy pulse at the images he ran by her of the two of them entangled together. She needed to keep this in perspective. No hearts involved—except for their mutual friendship, of course. The hell with her heart! Her libido was involved beyond belief. At least that’s what she put these intense feelings down to.

Who knows, maybe she was just so damned hot for Kael because it had been over a year since she’d had sex. That was it, denied hormones. Wasn’t it? Damn, now she was confused! She didn’t like being confused. She was also starting to feel scared. She liked that even less.

“Spell it out for me,” he said roughly. “My mind’s doing hairpin turns right and left. Are we going to do this again? If so, how often? What are the stipulations to this arrangement? Are we still allowed to see other people?”

Sol sat upright, grabbing the corner of the sheet closest to her and draping it over her lap. Kael looked so serious. She doubted if she’d ever seen him this concerned over something in the past. “Well,” she began slowly, running her fingers through her hair like a female Sampson gathering strength from the gesture. “As a matter of fact, I have thought this thing through.”

Kael nodded, urging her to elaborate.

“I don’t know how long it will take me to get pregnant, and since I can’t afford to buy ovulation and pregnancy tests on a daily basis, much less run to the doctor every time I feel a new twinge or sensation…” She took in a fortifying breath, mentally crossing her fingers in hopes that he would go along with her plan. Kael hadn’t thought past this one night, she was sure. “I figured we could make love for the two weeks during my peak times, and take two weeks off on the down times, hormonally speaking.” She wanted to look away, fearing what his reaction might be, but found herself glued to that drowsy, puppy-dog expression of his.

Kael nearly jolted himself into a sitting position, making Sol jump. “Are we supposed to do this every day for those two weeks?” He pointed at the area below her waist and then his.

Sol cringed. “Is that too much?” Maybe he couldn’t handle performing every night?

“No. Not at all,” he said quickly. “In fact, I could even manage two or three times a day.”

Sol swallowed hard. “That—that would be good.” That would be fantastic! she wanted to shout, but didn’t want to appear so utterly thrilled. He’d probably run scared, or be completely turned off. “As for our relationship on an everyday level, we’re still friends. You can see other people, if that’s your wish. I certainly don’t want to be in the way of your social life.” She said it with as much dignity as she could muster up and swallowed the painful lump in her throat when he nodded, obviously agreeing with her levelheaded plan.

She didn’t want to be levelheaded, damn it! She wanted to stake her claim on him. Wanted to jump into this wondrous thing with both feet. She wanted it to last as long as possible. But she was smart enough to know that the only reason she was feeling this way was because she’d known Kael for so long. There were strong ties that bound them. It couldn’t possibly be anything more than that.

After all, this was the man who used to give her noogies and filipino burns that lasted a week at a time. The very man who told her to go home and bake cookies whenever she attempted to weasel in on one of the neighborhood boys’ baseball games.

And he was the same wonderful man who took care of her when she’d had the allergic flu when it had been going around a couple years ago and hadn’t disowned her when she threw up all over him—four times.

He was the same man who tried to talk to her about the facts of life when she was eighteen and moving out on her own. He had come into her bedroom one morning, sitting anxiously on the edge of the bed. What prompted him to come and talk to her about that particular subject, she would never know, but she remembered it clearly.

“Sol,” he had said. “Now that you’re a young woman and venturing out into the world on your own, I thought it was time I tell you about certain things concerning women and men. In your case young women and guys…”

“Oh, I know all about that stuff.” She waved a hand breezily through the air as if she had all of the answers.

“Now I’m not talking about that birds and bees business.” He started pacing the small room that had once been his bedroom but had given it to Sol when she’d moved in. His bedroom then consisted of an extra dresser in the bedroom and him sleeping on the couch at night.

“Speaking from a guy’s point of view, I want you to know that they will say anything to get what they want. They will do anything to get what they want. They will make you feel like you’re the only woman for them. Tell you that their balls would literally shrivel up and fall off if you didn’t help them through their overabundance of hormones.” He stopped directly in front of her, his eyes piercing, a stiff finger pointed in her direction. “Don’t you dare believe it. And don’t give in until you’re sure you’re in love. Love. Got it? Not curiosity, not peer-pressure, but love.”

She had only nodded, words evading her as she thought how hard it must have been for him to tell her that. Of course, her mother had given her the same discussion when she was thirteen, minus the shriveling-balls scenario. But, somehow, it had been different coming from a man. And he had been right, Lil discovered as the years went by. Men would say and do anything to get what they wanted. And what they always wanted was a woman in their bed, or front seat, or any reasonably secluded grassy or sandy area.

Sol now looked at the man beside her who was giving a long perusal of the unconcealed parts of her body. Was Kael included in that list? Yes. She had heard him work his charm on a multitude of women over the years. Was she included on that list? Probably. And the knowledge hurt, but shouldn’t be surprising. Kael was doing her a favor, not falling in love with her.

Her blood stopped in her veins for a second before surging ahead at an alarming rate. Was that what she was doing? Falling in love with Kael? After only one night, one session, of lovemaking?

She refused to muse over such somber thoughts, knowing that falling in love with him would be the biggest mistake of her life simply because she wasn’t his type in the least. Besides, she seriously doubted if Kael could actually be tied down to one woman. Sol reached out to touch his face, holding back the tears of confusion. “Shall we try again?” she asked, her throat suddenly feeling tight.

“Is something wrong?” Wrapping a big hand around her wrist, he lowered her palm, pressing it against his lips, and planting a tender kiss there. The tender gesture burrowed its way into her heart and Sol bit back the urge to start bawling. “Everything’s just dandy.” A small smile curved one side of her mouth.

He didn’t look convinced, but let it pass. “Maybe you’d like to do some exploring before we get to the heavy stuff,” he offered, lifting both hands above his head, grasping the bars of her headboard, looking like a perfectly willing prisoner. “We kinda sailed through the first time.”

Sol’s passion began to mount, her gloomy thoughts forgotten as she watched the great big man on her little bed. “It might take me a while.” She ran a finger over the bump on the middle of his nose where it had been broken.

“I’m in no hurry.” His voice was a raspy whisper. “Take your time.”

“Let me know if I hurt you, okay?” Sol said, trailing a hand over his taut body. Kael smiled and let his eyelids drift closed. “Make sure you hurt me bad, okay?” Sol shook her head and chuckled.