Page 68 of Carnal Wagers

His grip around me relaxed, and I laid my head against his chest. His heartbeat pounded against my ear. That was now a total of four orgasms from him—four out of my self-demanded ninety-one—and one fantastic marriage consummation. I smirked.

Little by little, the thumps of his pulse gentled. His fingers swept soothing strokes up and down my back.

I glanced up to find him staring out the windshield. He looked lost. The hardness that he seemed to carry like a second skin was stripped away. A sadness that almost felt empty replaced it. It twisted something inside me to see someone so strong and capable turned forlorn. I cupped his cheek.

“Are you alright?”

A myriad of emotions swam over his face. His hand glided up my spine to my nape and slowly circled to the front of my throat.

“You’re so fragile.” His thumb caressed my carotid. “So easily killed. One second alive. The other dead.”

“Oh la la, reveille toi.” Oh, wake up.

This was not the type of afterglow I was after.

“You ever thought about what the fecking point of our lives is? I do. Every second of every day.” A lengthy snicker drew out of him. “It’s like standing on a beach all day sweeping water back into the sea. Pointless, redundant, and never-ending.”

This sudden shift in behavior had my hair standing on end. I scooted away to take back my seat, but his grip tightened around my neck.

“Then there’s you. Nonsensical but radiant.” He sounded almost angry saying it, and I uncapped the little knife in my bra. “I can’t keep you. I can’t expect more either. You’ll be dead, and it’d be like doing it myself. No different than if I squeezed.”

I pressed the tip of my knife to the base of his dick. “Try it, and I’ll make you lose your best asset.”

That gleaming spark in his eyes was back, a sudden light in his darkness. “Is that what you think of my cock?”

“Seems to have more brains than you do.”

“I’ll bet you won’t do it.”

“You sure you want to test that theory?”

“It wouldn’t serve your bottom line.”

His fingers teased circles into my pulse, and I moaned at the mix of dominance and tenderness, despite my misgivings after his tailspin.

“You know nothing about my endgame. For all you know, your death could make things so much simpler for me.”

“And here I thought I tickled your fancy.”

“I’m a woman in a dangerous world. I’m adaptable.”

A real smile widened on his face, though I wouldn’t say it was particularly friendly, but it made him look younger and freer and completely erased all traces of his sadness.

“This how you treat the man who pulled you out of your panic?”

Moonlight glinted off my miniature blade as I lifted it from his groin. “I think the sex did that.”

He tucked stray hair behind my ear and sighed. “It’s a shame you keep getting more interesting.”

“You’re just saying that because I beat you at your own game.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve no intention of killing you…yet.”

I searched his eyes for the lie. “Then take me back to your place.”

“Why?”

I leaned into his ear. “I’m not done with you.”