I fight with myself to will that image away before it threatens to pull my attention completely away from the reality standing right in front of me. I tear my eyes from her chest, adjust the way I’m standing and hope she doesn’t notice that I’m now sexually aroused when I shouldn’t be.
“I could be a wayfaring fortune-teller and secret sorceress. We’re at an inn somewhere, and we’ve run into each other in the pub. What do you say to me?”
I smile at her willingness to play the game. “I wonder what the chances are that you’ll kiss me?”
Her brows rise again. Good, I’ve surprised her. With a smile, she turns back to my pile of dice and pulls out two ten-sided dice. A roll of these dice will determine a percentile score. If a character has a percentage chance of doing something, the score on the two dice will show their chance of accomplishing it.
“Let’s say that right now you have a five percent chance of getting a kiss from me as a complete stranger. Do you wish to make that attempt?” she asks.
I think about that for a moment. “Can I do things to improve my chances?”
“Of course, we’re role-playing!” She smiles. “But I’m not going to tell you what they are.”
“Of course not. It wouldn’t be a game worth playing if you did that. I’ll offer to buy you a drink.” I pause, thinking. “Then I signal the barkeep to buy the beautiful lady whatever she wishes to drink.”
She considers that for a moment, handling the dice. “Okay…that’s nice. Is there a limit on what you’ll pay? What if I wish for the most expensive glass of champagne?”
“I’ll order a glass of Dom Perignon for my lady,” I say.
She smiles again, her teeth gleaming. “That has increased your chance by fifteen percent. You now have a twenty percent chance of getting a kiss from me.”
I frown. “That’s only one in five. I don’t like those odds. I’d like to increase them. What if I tell you how beautiful you are?”
“Hmm. I’m waiting,” she says, cocking her head to the side. “What do you want to say to me?”
“That your eyes are the same blue as the water in the famous Turkish salt flats called Pamukkale. The water in the travertine pools is a pure reflection of the sky—pale and pristine. They are the exact color of your eyes.” She swallows and I continue, “And your hair is shiny and golden like angel hair. And your skin is soft—”
“Wait, how do you know my skin is soft? We’ve just met.”
“Because…” I hesitate, trying to think of what to say, other than the fact that I have stroked that skin. I’ve run my hands across her smooth belly, her rounded breasts, her soft thighs. These thoughts aren’t making my erection any easier to handle.
“It looks soft,” I say. “Like silk.”
“Okay,” she says with a nod. “And I had no idea about those—those Turkish salt pools.”
“Pamukkale. It means ‘cotton castle’ because of the white calcifications. But the water is powder blue. Like your eyes. I’ve seen pictures of it, and whenever I look at your eyes, I think of those pools.”
She blinks. “Oh…”
“In ancient times, people bathed in the water because they believed it brought them special blessings.”
“Are you saying you want to bathe in my water?”
I frown. “Umm...”
She laughs. “Never mind.” She fiddles with the dice in her hand again. “Your chances are getting better. Fifty percent now. Want to risk it and roll?”
I prefer to weight the odds in my favor, so I reach out and take a strand of that celestial hair and tuck it behind her ear. Her big blue eyes widen as she looks at my face. Our eyes narrowly miss as I shift my gaze lower, to where that t-shirt is covering a chest that is moving faster due to an increased rate of respiration. “You are so beautiful that sometimes it’s hard to breathe when I look at you.”
She sways toward me for a moment, as if she’s being pulled against her will. I steady her, my hand on her shoulder, and her eyelids droop. She licks her lips. “Wow. You, um…you sure figure out what you’re doing quickly.”
We’re standing very close now, and I can feel my heartbeat in my throat. Jenna swallows and clears her throat. “If you roll now, I’d give you an eighty-five percent chance of being able to kiss me.”
I hold out my hand, palm up. I can do those odds. I rarely miss when given that chance. She places the two dice in my palm, and I promptly toss them on the worktable without taking my eyes off her. She turns her head to look, blowing out a breath. “Ninety-one. Shit.”
I look to verify. “No, it’s the other way around. Nineteen. The blue die is the first digit.”
She sighed. “Thank the goddess,” she murmurs and reaches up to put her hands on either side of my face. I stiffen immediately, then pull them away and indicate that she should lace them around my neck instead. I snake my hands behind her back and pull her body firmly against me. Her breasts push up against my chest, her arms tightening around my neck as our mouths meet. Unlike the other night in the car, she immediately opens for me.
I’m tasting her and I’m drowning, but I’m also surging with power like a superhero. It’s like dying and rebirth with each alternating second.
Her tongue moves and it stabs me with pleasure throughout my entire body. My hands slide down from her back to her shapely butt..
Our heads move together for long moments, but I know that my body wants more. I’m ready for her, and judging by the heat of her body against mine, she’s ready too.
I really, really want her.
Basically, if people weren’t in this house, I’d push her down on the ground right now and pull her clothes off. I’d ask her first, of course, but then I’d totally do it.
Although knowing her feelings about leaving, I know that it’s a good thing people are in this house right now.
Jenna stands up on her tiptoes to press herself more forcibly against me and my hands cup her round butt, rubbing over the stiff denim of her jeans. She’s making little noises that remind me of how she sounded when I brought her to climax.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps in the doorway. Jenna and I pull apart, and then turn to face the visitor. I’m now looking straight into the astonished face of my cousin, who takes a step back and is about to leave, but apparently he can’t because he bumps into someone else right behind him—Mia.