by Susan Stoker
“Uh, that’s weird, Dane.”
“I know. Takes one to know one, sweetheart.”
Bryn blinked at that. Then slowly smiled.
“Yeah, I see you’re gettin’ it. I don’t care about your quirks because you don’t care about mine. But…as much as I love your brain and how it works…I don’t love that it puts you in danger sometimes. Please, please, tell me before you go rushing off into the world to find answers. I’ll do everything in my power to help you get the information you need…but I’ll make sure you’re safe while you do it.”
“I love you.”
The smile that came over Dane’s face almost blinded her, but she kept talking. “I mean, I know we haven’t been seeing each other very long and I don’t want to freak you out. It’s just…when I was sitting in that bunker and being treated like a prisoner of war, I was scared I’d never get to see you again, and I was sad that you’d never know. Of course, you might not want to know now, so that was probably presumptuous of me, but there isn’t a time—okay, not much time—when I’m not thinking about you. Maybe that’s because I really am a stalker and not in love, but I’m going with it for now.”
“Smalls, I—”
“It’s okay if you don’t love me back. I mean, I hope you will someday. In two thousand and eleven, there was a study done that found that men tend to say ‘I love you’ before women. And there was even a survey that calculated men take an average of eighty-eight days to say it, while women usually waited a hundred and thirty-four days. It hasn’t been nearly that much time for us, so it figures I’ve managed to mess this up too, but I couldn’t not say it anymore. You mean more to me than any degree I’ve ever earned. Oh, and even more than the time I got to talk to James Watson.”
“James Watson? Who’s he?” Dane asked, still smiling.
“He’s the guy who co-discovered the structure of DNA. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in nineteen sixty-two. He worked at Harvard for a while and spoke at a conference I attended. I was able to meet him and we spoke for thirteen minutes and twenty-two seconds. It was awesome. But, Dane,” Bryn came up on her elbow and brought her hand to his cheek, “I never would’ve recovered if my stupidity had gotten you hurt or killed. Never.”
“I love you too, Bryn.”
“You do?”
“Of course. How could I not? And you weren’t there, but you should know that the research you did on women’s rights in other countries…” Dane’s voice trailed off, thinking about the awful things he’d said to Knox.
“Yeah? What, Dane?”
“It totally got us out of there,” he said, quickly wanting to move on. “So don’t ever stop being you. I love you just the way you are. Okay?”
Bryn plopped back down onto Dane’s chest, not hearing the small “oof” he let out when she landed. “I won’t. But I’m gonna try to curb the whole not-being-smart-about-running-off-into-the-wilds-of-Idaho thing.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
After several moments, Bryn bit her lip and asked softly, “You really love me? You’re not just saying it because I did or because you feel sorry for me?”
“I definitely love you, Smalls. Every inch of you. From your incredibly intelligent brain that I don’t have a prayer of keeping up with to the teeny toes on your adorable feet.”
Bryn sighed in contentment and closed her eyes.
“You all right? Really?” Dane asked softly.
“Yeah. My arm is gonna bruise, and my wrists ache from being bound, but it’s nothing that a few painkillers won’t fix.” Bryn thought of something and lifted her head again. “Oh. You wanted to have sex.”
Dane chuckled and shook his head. “Not tonight. I’m exhausted, and I’m enjoying holding you in my arms just like this.”
“Okay. But…soon?”
“Yeah, sweetheart.”
“Good. Do you think it’ll be different because we love each other? I mean, I know people have one-night stands all the time, and I know I’ve never been impressed with the sex I’ve had so far, but maybe that’s because I didn’t love the guys I was with. I don’t want to build up any crazy expectations, but if what we did before was any indication, I’d have to say that—”
“Shhhhh, Smalls. Go to sleep.”
“But—”
Bryn cut herself off when she felt Dane squeeze her butt cheek then press her into him once more. She snuggled in and heard him take a deep breath of her hair.
“I miss the coconut, but I have to tell you, I love that you smell like my soap. Call me a caveman, but there’s something about knowing you were naked in my shower, using my soap, that gets to me. And I have no doubt that being in love will mean that our coming together will be off-the-charts hot. I love you. So much I can’t imagine spending even one day apart from you.”
Kissing his chest where it lay under her lips, Bryn hugged him to her. “Me either.”
“Thank you for letting me handle that today.”
“You’re welcome.” Bryn knew exactly what he meant. If she’d opened her mouth and argued, or in any way tried to “help,” they wouldn’t have escaped as easily as they had. It was only because she’d trusted Dane to do whatever it took to get them out of there. “I might do stupid things, but when it’s important, I know when to keep my mouth shut. Love you.”
“Go to sleep.”
“Mmmmm.”
The last thing Bryn thought about was how thankful she was that she’d gone looking for Dane all those weeks ago. Best. Decision. Ever.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Bryn woke up a few hours later, her mind immediately whirring with all that had happened. She’d wanted to sleep in, but as usual, she was awake four hours after drifting off in Dane’s arms.
She carefully picked up her head where it was resting on Dane’s chest and saw he was still out. Bryn took the time to examine Dane without his knowledge. The arm that had been resting on her hand on his chest was now over his head and she could clearly see the stump below his elbow.
Running her eyes over it, Bryn tried to imagine what it might feel like to not have half her arm…and of course she failed. Her eyes moved down, over his biceps to this face. He had a scruffy beard growing and Bryn wondered what that would feel like against her skin. His lips were slightly open and he was breathing deeply, obviously still asleep.
She shifted and felt his hand fall off her butt onto the mattress beside him. The covers had slipped down sometime in the night and she could see Dane’s broad chest under her. She carefully went to her knees, ignoring her own nudity in her eagerness to see all of him.
She’d seen him in the shower and she’d stroked him to an orgasm, but it seemed different this time. He had a few scars on his torso that she hadn’t seen before, but all in all, he was perfect. Bryn knew he wouldn’t agree, and he’d show her his stump and scars, then probably point out all the other imagined flaws he had…but she knew deep in her heart that he was perfect for her.
Her gaze wandered down from his chest to his stomach, then to his penis. It was lying flaccid between his legs and looked so different from the last time she’d seen and touched it. Bryn knew from studies that the average penis length was three and a half inches when not erect, but Dane’s looked to be bigger than that. She suddenly wished she had a ruler.
Reaching out, she ran her index finger down the length of him and was surprised at how soft he was. Without the extra blood running through it, it seemed a lot less intimidating…and squishier. Bryn continued to run her finger up and down the length of Dane’s cock as her thoughts turned to the blue whale. It had the largest penis of any animal, at eight to ten feet long. It weighed between a hundred and a hundred and fifty pounds and could ejaculate over thirty-five pints of semen. Just once she’d like to see that; it had to be both scary and amazing.
At the same time that Bryn realized the dick under her fingers was no longer flaccid, but quickly growing in size, Dane murmured, “Good morning, sweetheart.”
<
br /> “Did you know there’s a penis museum in Iceland?”
He groaned and stretched, opening his body to her as if without thought. “Nope. I had no idea.”
“Uh huh. And a man ejaculates an average of seventy-two hundred times in his life, with about two thousand of those being from masturbating. That’s a lot of sex. I’m not sure how many of those fifty-two hundred times you’ve used up, but I can’t wait to get started on the remainder.”
Bryn shrieked as Dane suddenly sat up and pressed her backwards. He came down on top of her, catching both her wrists in his good hand. She noted that he was careful not to put too much pressure on the bruises that had formed overnight.
“Should I be concerned that you know so much about dicks, Smalls?”
“What? No. It’s just that a porn video showed up on my social media timeline. I watched it, and wasn’t impressed, but it got me thinking about…stuff. So I did some research.”
“What did you find out about pussies?”
“Vaginas?”
He chuckled and brought his other arm down, caressing her lower belly with his stump. “Yeah. What can you tell me about this?” He moved until he was touching her between her legs with his scarred flesh.
Bryn arched up into his touch. “Oh…that feels so good, Dane.”
“Facts, Smalls.”
“Um…vagina in Latin means ‘sheath for a sword.’”
Dane brought his mouth to her neck and nibbled on the sensitive skin there. “Appropriate. What else?”
Bryn shifted in Dane’s hold, pressing herself against his stump. It felt so good, but she really, really wanted his fingers down there. “Vaginas aren’t as interesting as penises.”
“I beg to differ. I happen to love yours. Tell me something else you learned.”
“Some women can develop an allergy to semen. More specifically, the proteins in it.”
“Don’t move your hands, Bryn. Keep them above your head. Tell me more.”
Bryn signed in relief when Dane let go of her wrists and kissed his way down her chest. He used his hand to plump up one of her breasts, and sucked and nipped at the other. When she didn’t say anything, he lifted his head.
“The more facts you give me, the faster I’ll move to where you so obviously want me.”
Bryn blushed, knowing her hips were undulating under him, practically begging for him to touch or kiss her there. “Most vaginas look alike. There are over a thousand nicknames for a vagina. Passion flower. Pink pearl. Fish taco. Cod canal. Fuzzy lap flounder. Apple pie.”
She heard Dane chuckle but he was moving where she wanted him, so she kept talking. “The average length of an unaroused vagina is between two and a half to three inches. Hair around the vagina only grows for three weeks, while the hair on a person’s head can keep growing for seven years. Sharks and vaginas both have a substance called squalene…it’s in the shark’s liver, and in women it’s a natural lubricant. Um…God…Dane…yeah, that feels so good.”
Bryn lifted her head and looked down at Dane. He was lying between her spread legs, his stump resting on one thigh, holding her open to him, and his hand spreading open the folds around her clit.
“I know some facts too, Smalls. Wanna hear?”
No. She didn’t want to hear. She wanted him to make her feel as good as he’d done before. She wanted his mouth on her clit…but when she didn’t respond, he said, “We could get up and watch Mythbusters if you wanted to instead.”
Bryn heard the laughter in his voice, and wanted to smack him. Instead, she said breathlessly, “Yes. Facts. Go on.”
She felt a finger slowly rub over her clitoris in a barely there caress.
“A woman’s clit gets an erection when stimulated. It gets engorged with blood when aroused, just like a cock. It’s also a lot longer than what can be seen from the outside.” Dane leaned down and licked over it once, then said, “And caresses feel a lot better when it’s wet. It’s a known fact that women’s clitoral orgasms are stronger than a man’s could ever be, simply because the nerve endings are more concentrated…here…than in a cock.”
Dane leaned over, continuing to hold her open, and lapped at her clit. Again and again, he licked her hard nub. Bryn could feel her hips pushing up against Dane’s face, but couldn’t make herself stop.
“Give me your hand,” Dane ordered suddenly, right when Bryn thought she was going to explode. She whimpered but did as he asked, bringing one of her hands from over her head down to him.
“Hold yourself open for me. I’ve only got one hand and I need it elsewhere. That’s it, sweetheart. Help me out. Perfect.” His next words were interspersed with his tongue licking hard right over her clit. “Just. Like. That.”
Bryn felt Dane’s hand brushing against her sensitive folds, then a finger pushed deep into her as his tongue continued its assault on her senses. She bucked once, but Dane’s other arm kept her mostly still under him.
“Oh God, Dane.”
He didn’t respond, but increased the speed of his tongue at the same time that his finger curled upward and brushed against her inner walls. She tightened around his questing digit, wanting more.
He pushed against her G-spot. When she groaned, he lifted his head and murmured, “Yeah. Love to hear you moan for me.”
Her other hand came down with no clear thought and grabbed his shoulder, digging her fingernails into him.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful, Bryn. You had a G-spot orgasm when I did this before…”
Bryn couldn’t talk, she couldn’t breathe. She shook her head frantically back and forth, wanting to stop him and order him to keep going at the same time. The last time he’d made her come it had been earth shattering, almost scary.
“Relax and let it happen again. Some women don’t like it, but I have a feeling you aren’t going to be one of them. You came so hard last time. You’re soaked, so beautiful. Come for me, Bryn. Come all over my hand. Let me taste you.”
Dane’s head dropped and he went back to flicking his tongue over her clit, while at the same time massaging the extremely sensitive spot inside her.
It didn’t take long before Bryn knew she was going to come. Her feet shifted and rested on the mattress next to Dane’s shoulders and her hips tilted up. He didn’t lose his grip on her, and switched from flicking her clit to closing his mouth over it and sucking.
That was all it took, Bryn exploded in an orgasm so hard, she swore she saw stars. Dane’s finger inside her kept up its erotic massage for a beat, then he stilled. She twitched and squeezed him as she continued to experience several small orgasms.
“I need to be inside you, Smalls.”
“Yes! God, yes, Dane,” Bryn choked out.
Before his name had cleared her lips, Dane was moving. Spreading her knees farther apart, he scooted up between her legs and braced himself with his good hand by her shoulder.
“Put me inside you,” he ordered. “I can’t hold myself up and do it at the same time.”
Bryn opened her eyes and looked up into his as her hand shifted to his rock-hard cock. She took hold and tilted her hips, bathing him in her release before pressing the tip to her opening.
They both moaned as he slowly sank inside her hot folds. Bryn’s hands moved to his ass and pulled him into her. Dane collapsed on his elbows and groaned, burying his nose in her hair.
Bryn squeezed her inner muscles, loving how full he made her feel. She wiggled under him and tilted her pelvis, wanting him closer. Dane’s left arm came down and pressed against her, holding her to him.
“Fuck, you feel amazing, sweetheart. But before we go any further…I’m not wearing a condom.”
“I know. I’ve got an IUD.”
Dane stilled and looked at her with his eyebrows raised in question.
“I have fibroids,” she hurried to explain. She didn’t want him to think she needed it because she was promiscuous. “Noncancerous tumors. It controls them so they don’t cause me any pain.”
“But you ca
n still have kids?”
Bryn smiled up at him and nodded. “Yeah. I can still have children. It’s removable.”
“Thank fuck. I’m clean, sweetheart. I wouldn’t put you in danger. I swear.”
As an answer, she looked into his eyes and ordered, “Move.”
He smiled. “You want me to fuck you, Smalls?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe I want to feel you squeeze and caress me some more.”
“Dane, please,” Bryn whined, grabbing hold of his sides with her hands and digging her nails lightly into the skin there. “I’ve waited my whole life to fuck the man I love, don’t make me wait any longer.”
“How can I resist such a pretty plea as that?” Dane asked immediately, and moved his hips back before pressing inside her again.
“More.”
“Greedy.”
“For you,” Bryn agreed.
She kept her eyes open and stared up at Dane as he moved in and out of her slowly. Each glide made her clench against him, wanting to hold him inside her and never let go.
Dane propped himself up on his hand again and looked down to where they were joined. His hips undulated, pressing himself into her, then pulling out slowly. “God, look how wet you are. You’re all over my dick, Smalls, it’s fucking beautiful. Rub your clit for me. I wish like fuck I could do it myself, but I can’t. Not and hold myself up and watch you take me.”
Bryn blushed, feeling self-conscious about touching herself in front of him. He caught the blush and leaned down and kissed her hard before pulling back just enough to tell her, “You’re gonna have to get used to it. I only have one hand, and it’s busy at the moment.”