“So,” she asked as the second knot came free, “how long have you known Kelly?”
“He doesn't like to be called Kelly,” Owen said.
“You call him that.”
“And he complains about it constantly.”
“Okay,” she said, “how long have you known Kellen?”
“We aren't supposed to be getting personal. Remember?”
“If you won’t talk to me, I guess I'll just come to my own conclusions about the two of you then,” she said, working at a third knot, but taking her sweet time about loosening it.
Owen stiffened. “What kind of conclusions?”
“That you're in love with him and the only reason you go after women is to cover up your feelings for a man.”
“That's one possible explanation,” Owen said, surprising her yet again by not saying what she expected.
“Is it the correct one?” She didn't want it to be. She had no problem sleeping with Owen unless he was in love with someone already. If that was the case, then she felt in her heart that she was the other woman. Or maybe the only woman in this particular case.
“No,” Owen said with such conviction that she believed him. “I'm not in love with him.”
“In lust with him?”
“I'm not sure.”
“Have you been in lust with a man before?”
“Never. And I'm not sure I'm in lust with Kelly either. I'm not sure about anything at the moment.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Except that I'd really like to be untied now.”
“I'm working on it.” She released the knot she'd been fiddling with unnecessarily and moved on to another one. “Does he have feelings for you?”
“He doesn't have feelings for anyone anymore.”
“And why's that?” She met his eyes, and he didn't look away. Were they starting to connect on a more personal level? She wouldn't mind. This sex for the sake of sex thing was new to her, and she wasn't sure if she could forget this guy that easily. Wasn’t sure she wanted to forget him. So far, he was pretty terrific.
“He was in love with a woman. Planned to marry her.”
“Was?”
“She died.”
Empathy made Caitlyn’s heart pang. She’d lost her sister a few years before, she still felt as if a gaping hole was eating its way through her heart whenever she thought about Morgan. The sad thing was, she thought about Morgan less and less as time went by. She couldn’t seem to stop her from slipping farther away. “He's still grieving?”
“Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll always grieve for her.”
“Probably. But it will lessen with time.” And then he’d probably feel guilty for moving on. Caitlyn did.
“It's already been five years.”
“That's not so long, really.”
“It is when you're twenty-seven.”
Caitlyn paused. “Is that how old you are?”
“Maybe. Does it bother you?”
She chuckled and moved to the next knot in Kellen's intricate and beautiful design. “You're quite a bit older than my ex-husband’s new fling,” she said. “But then she can't legally drink in this country.”
“Age doesn't matter.”
“You don't think so? I think society would disagree.”
“Fuck 'em. No one understands what's between two people except the two involved. Outsiders, they don't get it.”
“I guess I am an outsider in my ex-husband’s relationship. But I don’t agree with it and yes, partly because of their age difference. I’m sure he took advantage of her innocence.”
“I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about us.”
“Oh, did I take advantage of your innocence?” Caitlyn paused and flexed her fingers. They were starting to ache from working the knots free. “And I didn't think there was an us.”
“If there was.”
“If.” Caitlyn traced the outline of the tribal tattoo on Owen’s shoulder. “If is a very big word, Owen.”
“Are you almost finished?” he asked. “My muscles are starting to cramp.”
“I'll hurry.” She began to work faster, releasing knots in the reverse order that Kellen had tied them.
“You know,” Owen said, “most people have a difficult time releasing the knots properly and we usually have to cut the rope.”
She paused and looked up at him. There she went being weird again. “I… uh… watched him closely when he was tying them.”
“And you memorized the entire sequence?”
As she’d been blessed with an amazing memory, she did remember the entire sequence, but she played down her unusually sharp memory. “It's not too hard really. You just follow the rope from one end to the other. It’s getting more difficult now that the free end is so long.”
“It would be faster to cut them.”
“But then I wouldn't get to admire your body for a long, long time.”
He grinned. “You can admire my body for as long as you like.”
“What if I want to gaze at you for days?”
“I'll send you a picture.”
She laughed and swatted his ass playfully. His arm was loose enough now that he could get a hold on her. He wrapped a strong hand around her wrist and tugged her down to the mattress.
“God, I want to kiss you so bad I can hardly stand it,” he said. “Hurry up and untie me.”
“You want to kiss me?”
“Yes, and so much more.”
“I thought you wanted to be untied so you can leave.”
“What? No way in hell. We haven't even begun yet.”
His certainty made her smile. She couldn’t help it. “We haven't?”
“No, that sweet pu**y of yours must need some relief. Untie me and I’ll f**k you senseless,” he said. When she did nothing but stare up at him as if she’d just won the sex lottery, he glared at her. “Untie me, Caitlyn.”
“I will, but I need to kiss you first,” she said, lost in his gorgeous blue eyes. They reminded her of the waters of the Caribbean. Warm. Inviting. Deep. “I think my lips have waited long enough.”
She scooted her body so her face was beneath his. He tried to stretch his neck to claim her mouth, but she remained just out of reach. She loved the look of anticipation in his eyes. He really seemed to want her. Badly. And she wanted to make him crazy with need.
Why hadn't she thought to do it until now? He was already half untied. She could have been teasing and tormenting him—as Kellen had suggested—for the past ten minutes.