To be fair, Dani couldn’t argue with that logic either. She didn’t particularly relish the thought of spending six months cooped up with his ex-girlfriend any more than he did. ‘OK, so if Elspeth has the bedroom, won’t that make it difficult for Ash to entertain anyway? I mean, he can hardly have an orgy in a bunk bed.’
‘Knowing Ash he’d use someone else’s bed.’
She frowned and wondered again if Ginny really did know what she was getting herself into. Xane made him sound like a diabolical slut. She prayed, for Ginny’s sake, he was exaggerating.
The sleeping quarters occupied the middle section of the upper floor. ‘Top or bottom?’ Dani asked. There were three bunks on each side.
Xane immediately vaulted up onto the middle bunk on the righthand side. ‘Neither.’ He turned onto his back and wriggled a little to test out the mattress. ‘Not bad. Not bad at all. Come on up.’
She ought to have known he’d opt for the middle. After all, he’d spent numerous nights in the centre of a three-way. She shoved the thought of him sandwiched between Elspeth and Steve to the back of her head. It was only her guess that they’d engaged in that sort of sex anyway. Xane had never explicitly said that the three of them had shared a bed at the same time.
Xane rolled onto his side to look at her. ‘Which one do you want?’
All the bunks were identically made up with the same smart black and white coverings, so the only actual difference was the positioning. ‘This one.’ She opted for the bunk directly below Xane’s. Kneeling to crawl into bed seemed less hassle than having to scurry up and down a ladder. She didn’t possess Xane’s height or agility to be able to easily hop up into even the middle bunk.
Dani crawled into her new home and stretched out, getting herself acquainted with the space. A shelf ran along the entire length of the back wall. She also had her own TV/DVD combo set into the wall at her feet, and there seemed to be a multitude of odd little cubbyholes too.
A line of switches sat directly above her head. Dani tested one at random and the lights dimmed. The second closed the curtains, concealing her from the rest of the room.
Xane stuck his head under the curtains. ‘I hope you’re not intentionally shutting me out.’ He crawled in beside her and stretched out on his side.
‘Just testing things out.’ She flicked a few more switches on and off.
‘There wasn’t any of this stuff on the old bus. I guess it’s a welcome improvement, even if we do have to share with Ash. These bunks are easily a foot and a half wider than the old ones. Want to know how I can tell?’ He kissed his index finger and pressed it to the tip of her nose. ‘Because we’re not squashed together like sardines. In the past, we’d have had to be like this if we’d wanted to lie down together.’ He rolled on top of her, with his knees tucked tight against her sides and his body hunched low as though there were no headspace at all above him.
‘Cosy,’ she said, putting her arms around him too. ‘I might be mistaken, but I seem to recall you saying something about my knickers coming off.’
Xane lifted himself on his elbows a little so that they weren’t pressed quite so tightly together. ‘I did, didn’t I.’
‘You did.’
‘Did I cite a reason?’ he teased.
As if he didn’t know. ‘I think you were planning a bit of a workout.’
‘I think I’d need gym clothes for that, wouldn’t I? Not your panties.’
Dani slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Stop it.’
‘Don’t you like my teasing?’ He arched his body at that exact moment so that the swell of his erection pressed tight against the apex of her thighs.
‘Mm,’ she groaned.
‘Is this the “mmm” bit?’ He rolled his hips again, thus teasing her in exactly the right spot. ‘I’ve really fucking missed you, have I mentioned that yet? I wanted your arms around me so much.’ He explored the side of her jaw, nipped her earlobe, then trailed kisses down to the pulse point in her throat.
‘I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.’ She sought a route inside his shirt, clawed at the skin of his back until he growled and pulled away.
Xane breathed out jerkily. His hot hands slid down to her waist, and a second later he had her jeans around her knees. ‘I do like these knickers,’ he said, twanging the side elastic of her bit of Black Halo merchandise. ‘Although I like them down here best, where they can be all pretty but not get in the way.’ They followed her jeans down to her knees.
It wasn’t so long ago Dani had balked at the mere thought of being this exposed, but when Xane crouched over her, looking at her, she knew he wasn’t seeing her hundreds of scars, only the prize awaiting him between her thighs.
‘You smell so sweet.’ He stuck out his tongue, and her body wept in anticipation. He didn’t make her wait too long. His tongue tickled her navel first, before delving lower. He licked along the split of her lips, teasing, tantalising her with the promise of more, so that she arched off the bed towards him, offering herself up.
When his tongue finally touched her clit, the jolt zapped through her like ten thousand volts. She clawed the bedclothes.
‘This bit?’ he enquired. ‘This spot here? Buck for me some more.’
She did, her muscles jumping without conscious input on her part. Wild fire raged inside her whenever he touched her with his mouth.
‘What exactly is it that gets you so twitchy?’
‘Do that again?’
He licked her clit again, using his tongue stud against the underside.
Hell, yeah! That turned her to mush every time. It damn near short-circuited her brain. If tongue studs became standard and more guys were prepared to do this, the world would become a happier place overnight.
‘What about if I tickle this bit too?’ he said, briefly touching her rear entrance.
Oh, God, no. She couldn’t take it. It was too sensitive and too naughty. But then Xane did love being rude. He liked pushing boundaries, doing things in places he shouldn’t. He’d proved several times over how much fun doing those things could be too.
The thought of him sliding into her rear, pounding her hard that way, made her gasp. If the rest of the band turned up while he was doing that, it’d be totally embarrassing. Not that she wouldn’t die anyway if they arrived now, while she had her panties round her knees.
‘Like that thought, don’t you?’ Xane’s breath whispered against her skin. ‘I know you do. You like to pretend you’re all prim, but I know the real you. I know you like it when I put my dirty fingers in dirty places.’
‘Yes,’ she breathlessly agreed. There didn’t seem to be any sense in denying it. Not when she was already reacting to him stroking her there. He tantalised her with the press of one fingertip, pushing it in enough to light up her nerve-endings and make her feel ridiculously naughty. She knew he liked sex that way. She guessed that’s how he’d done things when he was with Steve.
Fuck! She had Steve Matlock in her head again. She wasn’t going there. She wasn’t. Not when Xane was coaxing this much pleasure from her body. It didn’t matter what he’d done in the past, or who he’d loved. He was with her now.
‘I’m thinking I’m going to need to get inside you real soon.’
He rose over her, and began a seductive climb up her torso, marking his ascent with kisses. When he reached the hem of her top, he shoved it up over her breasts, exposing her from her bra to her knees. ‘You are so fucking sexy,’ he growled, his