Her next question made the funny feeling settle back in my chest.
“How long have we been in love?”
“Not long,” I muttered, having no idea what else to say.
“That’s vague.”
In that moment of vulnerability, she looked more like a young girl than a woman. The truth was, Siren was a lot younger than me. “Do you remember how old you are?” I asked.
She thought it over for several seconds. “Not precisely.”
“You’re twenty-six.”
“How old are you?”
“I’ll be thirty-nine next month.” This time, I turned my head away from her.
“Does our age difference bother you?”
“Does it bother you?”
“I hate that,” she muttered.
“What?”
“When someone answers a question with a question.”
I smiled. “Yes, you do.”
“Then, answer.”
“I’m too old for you.”
“Is it that, or am I too young
for you?”
Rather than answer, I leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“The sex, though, is fantastic,” she whispered in my ear. “That, I remember.”
6
Siren
My body hurt like fecking hell, and my left arm only sporadically did what I wanted it to. My head was wrapped in bandages and, more often than not, throbbed. And yet, given all those things, whenever I closed my eyes, all I could picture was Smoke’s naked body covering mine, like it had the night on the beach.
When he went to sit back up and I tightened my grip on his hand, he looked as surprised as I was. “Come closer,” I murmured.
He leaned down so I could feel his breath on my cheek.
“Smoke,” I whispered. “How much longer until we can be alone?”
A groan emanated from somewhere deep in his chest, and he brought my hand to his lips. “Have you forgotten you were just released from the hospital?”
“Was I? It seemed more like I absconded.”
He laughed. A sound I loved. His voice was deep and rich, exactly the way one would think judging by his appearance. Its timbre shot a wave of desire through my body. I moved our clasped hands to my breast and saw the same desire I felt, flare in his eyes.