“Yeah they-” humor flooded his eyes then, “looks like they sleep as deep as you do.”
Persephone smiled, threw back her head in light glee. “They used to sleep for fifteen hours when they were infants. Both of them! Made those days a lot less hectic than I’ve heard they should be.” She saw the slight flex of muscle along his jaw and knew talk of the girls infancy was probably not the best idea.
“With school and friends,” she continued, “it’s harder for them to settle down for that long, but every now and then…” she gave a saucy toss of her head, “the deep sleep bug does give them a bite.”
Hill went to lean against the wall. He tilted his head, sending damp locks into his face. “Are they in a good school?” He asked.
“They’re homeschooled. I...I didn’t want them out of my sight that long,” Persephone went to lean against the opposite wall. “It’s my own hang-up. I know they’d do fine in regular school. They’re friends with most of the kids their age on the island. Their teacher left the system and opted to devote her time to homeschooling. Her sister’s a teacher too so...lots of opportunity for birthday parties and sleepovers- helps to keep things normal somehow.”
“Do they like it? School?” The question seemed to put Hill on edge. “I hope they didn’t inherit their smarts from me. I’d rather they had Smoak’s genius,” he smiled, thinking of his younger brother then.
“Well,” Persephone gave a long inhale, let it out slow. “Genius streaks aren’t always a good thing,” her thoughts had gone to Eva. She straightened then, gestured to the linens. “I was just coming to make sure your bed was made.”
“It is.”
Nodding once, Persephone headed back the way she’d come from her room. She was more abundantly aware then of the insistent tingle that had plagued her for the better part of the day. The sensation had ebbed, following the shower she’d taken while Hill had gone to run his errands. It had doubled the second she saw him half-dressed in the hall.
He’d followed her into the room and, having him there, turned her legs to water. She set the folded linens to the dresser and leaned against it in the hope of steadying herself...useless.
Pathetic! She silently raged. She had deceived him in one of the worst ways a woman could deceive a man and there she was ready to jump him and take what her body screamed for.
“Think they’ll be out for the rest of the night?” Hill was asking about the girls.
Yes. Good idea. Talk about the girls, Persephone approved. Maybe she could save herself the humiliation of begging him to forgive her deceit and give her what she wanted from no one else besides him.
“We won’t hear from them ‘til the morning. I’m sure of it.” She said upon turning.
She stood before the dresser, shifting her weight from one bare foot to the other. “You uh, you wanna talk some more?” She’d lost the ability to keep eye contact with him. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the carved presentation of his abdominal muscles as he advanced.
“Yeah, we should talk more,” Hill said even as he dipped his head and claimed her mouth.
Persephone wasn’t looking for tenderness. She didn’t think she deserved that. The kiss transitioned to white hot sensuality in the space of a second. Hungrily, she thrust her tongue against his, running the tip of it across his perfect teeth and then repeating the act all over again.
Already on fire for her, Hill jerked her high. In the process, he put a rip in the side of the sheer sleep tee she wore.
Persephone wrapped her long legs around his back so that he had no choice but to follow her down when they reached the bed. Dual moans filled the room. Persephone’s were breathless and beckoning whenever Hill broke their kiss to let her emit them. His mouth skimmed her jaw and then down her neck where he nibbled at her clavicle and then her earlobe.
Persephone was desperate to be rid of the ripped tee, but then Hill was flush against her back and much movement was impossible. Her bottom nudged his groin and she shuddered, savoring the thick elongated muscle her core wept for. Still grinding her ass against him, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and started to lift it.
She found her wrists shackled before she could raise the fabric even a few inches. Hill pressed her wrists to the bed, a silent indication that she should keep them there. Obliging the request was easy enough, until he touched her again. One arm was beneath her, his hand already closing over a breast to plump and squeeze the mound. Then he was subjecting the nipple to a ruthless and lengthy molestation through the material of her shirt.
Hill released her wrists and used his free hand to tease the lacy edges of her panties. He tugged them over her generous bottom and thighs and Persephone assisted with wriggling them the rest of the way down her calves and off her ankles. He plied her with strokes that soothed the heavy throb only to replace it with an even sweeter ache. She was quivering by the time his thumb began to toy with her clit. A shriek lilted into the room and he punished her with a bite to the shoulder before using his tongue to erase the memory of his soft brutality.
Persephone didn’t know whether to grind the erection that rested in breathtaking splendor behind the soft cotton of his sweats or to ride his middle and ring fingers that were at work plunging and rotating inside her.
Hill carried out the lusty caress even while putting Persephone on her stomach and pressing her into the mattress using the weight of his body. There was no discomfort for Persephone, only anticipation, excitement. She continued to cry her pleasure into the pillows.
In addition to the orgasm-inducing fingering he supplied, there was a persistent nudging Persephone felt at her spine. Happy shivers electrified her at the discovery that he was freeing himself of the sweats. Once they were discarded, his palm smothered her upper thigh and he was positioning her to receive him.
He shushed her cries as the wide, mushroom-shaped head of his sex wedged between her folds to stretch her beautifully as he seated himself. Persephone slammed her fist to a pillow in high approval of being filled. He handled her with an expert’s touch and synced the rhythm of his thumb at her clit, so that the act was shared with the endowment that sent her need building, coating his erection in a film of creamy white.
Hill hid his wickedly beautiful face in Persephone’s clipped dark waves and took her slow, though his every hormone commanded more and faster. This however, he wanted to savor. He wanted to brand.
Persephone was all for savoring, but just then she was falling victim to the demands of her hormones. They commanded that she take everything and without hesitation. One orgasm ebbed just as another waltzed up to the stage. Hill’s stamina was incomparable and that night, he seemed set on testing its limits…
He pulled his face from her hair, took her chin and turned her for a kiss that Persephone was all too eager to give. Their faces were curtained behind the provocative dark of his hair. Desperately, their tongues waged a war that consisted of chase, capture and tease. Persephone’s infectious, helpless sounding moans drifted as her tongue met the demanding strokes of his with lazy sensuality.
Hill forced down the need to take her in a wilder, frenzied manner. He was still set on savoring the time with her body ripe and eager for him.
They made spectacular use of the bed before
exhaustion claimed them both. Hill elected not to spend the night
once Persephone drifted into sleep. He tucked her in and then made
a reluctant retreat to his room.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Persephone stirred cozy and well-rested between covers she didn’t remember tucking into before sleep visited. Hill. She wondered what he’d think of discovering he was an instinctive nurturer.
She saw a robe at the foot of the bed and nodded-nurturer indeed. Curiosity outweighed her temptation to settle back into the covers and Persephone shrugged into the robe. The ankle length kimono robe was made of navy silk and imprinted with golden dragons and emerald vines.
Persephone checked the girls’ room first and then Hill’s a short way down the same hall. Finding both suites empty, she strolled the house until she had covered the entire dwelling.
A look outdoors proved to be the lucky move. The sound of tiny giggles met Persephone’s ears the closer she drew to the trio of lounge chairs around one of the massive palm trees dotting the estate.
“Mommy!” Layah’s smiling face appeared over the top of one lounge, followed by Leeya’s around the side.
Persephone sent the girls a smile and double wave. She found Hill relaxing on the chair, his long legs elevated on the bamboo table in the center of the space.
“Mommy, Daddy’s reading!” Leeya announced and then plopped back to her spot nestled in the crook of Hill’s arm.
“How long have you been up?” Persephone couldn’t mask her surprise.
