My voice trails off as my gaze falls on Marc. He’s watching me, and as I meet his eyes, I find his filled with a sultry desire. He’s thinking about me naked. About sex. Specifically, having sex with me. Oh. That’s thrown me. What was I saying?
He lifts an eyebrow, and I tear my gaze away, clear my throat, and carry on. “Yes, um, it’s surprising how many children don’t think about the animal in that way.” I continue talking, keeping my gaze averted from him so he can’t distract me, but inside I have butterflies, and my heart is racing.
The conversation continues for a while, moving on to the veterinary center, and as Hemi and Ashton tell us about their plans for creating a Ward Seven the same as at Noah’s Ark, my gaze drifts back to Marc. He’s listening to them, nodding, and adding something every now and then, but at that point he meets my gaze for a second time. He doesn’t smile, but it’s like an electric shock to my system again. How can he do that with just a look?
We stay at the Ark for another hour, but even though I join the others in a wander around the site, and I listen to the conversation, my mind isn’t on it. I keep thinking about that morning, when Marc woke me by kissing my back before sliding into me from behind, and how he so easily, so effortlessly, coaxed me to a climax again. I want more of that. I’m hungry for him. I’m a little tender down below—Jesus, what a surprise, after having sex twice within twelve hours—but still, I want him again. Will he want to have sex with me later? Definitely, if that hot look in his eyes is anything to go by.
Ashton stops by the fence around one of the paddocks to talk about the possible site for their own petting farm, and when I lean on the fence, Marc comes and leans beside me. He’s not touching me; his arm is half an inch away from mine. But I can feel him with every fiber of my being. I can almost smell his skin, feel his muscles beneath my fingers. I want to slide my hand beneath his T-shirt onto his back; trace his spine up to his shoulder blades. I want to feel his mouth on mine. I want him inside me.
“Poppy?”
I jump at Sally’s voice behind me and turn. “Sorry?”
“I just asked whether you both wanted to join us for dinner tonight? We’re all meeting up in town at a Chinese restaurant.”
I glance at Marc. “Sure,” he says. “But we might go back to the lighthouse first to catch up on a few phone calls and then get changed.”
“Oh, you’re staying at the lighthouse?” Sally says. “It’s a lovely little cottage, isn’t it? So picturesque.”
“Yeah,” he says, “I got a last-minute booking due to a cancellation. What time are you meeting?”
“Six-thirty, at the Golden Dragon.”
“Okay, we’ll meet you there. Poppy? Shall we shoot off?”
I nod, and we wave goodbye to the others and head back to the car.
He glances at me as we walk. “Why are you blushing?”
“You told them we’re staying at the lighthouse.”
“Yeah, so?”
“It only has one bedroom.”
“Yeah…”
“So they all know we’re staying together,” I point out with some exasperation.
“Of course they do. I told Ashton we were an item.”
That surprises me. “Did you?”
We arrive at the car, and get inside. “Yeah,” Marc says, buckling in his seat belt and starting the engine. “He told me he was thinking of asking you out for a drink this evening.”
“Oh!”
“I might have gotten a bit jealous and glared at him.” He turns the car around and heads off down the road. “He asked if we were together and I cleared it up by saying ‘not officially, but yeah, kinda.’” He gives me an amused look.
My head’s whirling, and I feel a mixture of emotions.
“Sorry,” he says. “Did I overstep the boundary?”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Did you want to go out for a drink with Ashton?”
I roll my eyes. “Of course not. I mean, I’m flattered he’s interested, of course, but I’m not interested in him.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”