Incubus Dreams   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

“Not wet enough,” he said, and his voice was thick and strangely hoarse, strangled with desire.

I would have liked to argue, because theardeur wanted to argue, wanted to say, take me, take me now. If I’d been with almost any other man in my life, we could have done just that without hurting me, or him, but Micah was the exception to a lot of rules in my life. It wasn’t the length that was the problem, it was the width. We’d found this out the hard way, and had had the rubby spots to prove it.

I managed to say, “No, not wet enough.”

He leaned his forehead against mine and said a heartfelt, “Shit.”

I nodded my head against his, wordless assent, because I didn’t trust my voice. Micah wasn’t the only one strangling on need. He drew his body from between my legs, and even that drew a small sound from me. His hands went to my waist and he just suddenly lifted me up, up so that I was perched on the edge of the tub. If his hand hadn’t been on my leg I would have overbalanced and fallen back into the water, but he steadied me. One hand stayed on my leg, but the other hand moved up the line of my thigh. I thought he was going to do me by hand, but his finger slid inside me. It was unexpected, and even one finger felt tight and good. So good that I lay back along the raised tile around the tub. I felt the heat before I actually lay down on the candles, but the heat of it pressed against my skin. I sat up so abruptly that he had to move his hands and spill me back into the water.

“Did you get burned?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, not this time.” I’d caught my hair on fire once. I laughed, sort of shakily. “Stupid.”

Micah looked at me, and there was something in that look.

“What?” I asked.

“Theardeur is gone.”

I thought about it, felt around for it, and found no, no, not gone, but receded. Not receded like when I fought it, but more like me getting almost burned had helped me think again. Or maybe even theardeur bows to physical survival. But I could feel it like a storm that had moved offshore, but was still coming.

“I thought I’d caught myself on fire.”

“Again,” he said.

I frowned at him. “Yes, again. Is it my fault that you’re so amazing that you make me forget everything, even physical safety?”

He shook his head. “Not me, theardeur. Theardeur makes everything better, Anita.