He would have never in a million years thought his sex life was in any way lacking, but his entire past paled to the satisfaction he got from burying himself in Imogen, and when she bit the tip of her index finger, he came inside her, a pulsing, hot orgasm that had him groaning loud enough to be heard back in Charlotte.
As soon as he could speak, he apologized. “Sorry, I’m sorry, I should have pulled out.” It was rude and insensitive at this point in their relationship to just go for it inside her, even if he was pretty certain nothing on planet Earth could have made him stop. The position, her body, the lack of a condom . . . he only had so much control and Imogen shattered it.
“Why? I told you I’m on the pill,” she said, her voice husky and muffled by the sleeping bag.
“Yeah, but most women aren’t thrilled with the aftereffects of this.” Ty started to pull out, but Imogen grabbed his hip.
“Don’t. Not yet. I like to feel you pulsing in me.”
Which was why he adored her. Ty stopped moving, wishing he could rest his weight on her, but knowing that would crush her.
“I want you to come in me,” she said. “And I want you to lie down on top of me now like you really want to do.”
“Really?” He ran his fingers across her back, raising goose bumps. He did want to do just that. “I shouldn’t.”
“‘The Lady doth protest too much, methinks,’ ” she murmured.
“Kenny Chesney?” he joked.
“Hamlet. Lie on me.”
“Okay. But I’m no lady.”
“That is the understatement of the year. You are all man.”
He liked the sound of that. Ty dropped his weight on her as gently as he could, and sighed at the feel of her warm skin beneath his. He kissed her hair and rested his head next to hers.
“I think I like camping after all,” she said.
Ty laughed. “Me, too.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TY was in such a good mood, he didn’t even mind when he and Imogen emerged from their tent three hours later after a nap to find that raccoons had been having a party on the picnic table. Their lunch was torn into and scattered all around, most of it missing, but a few random bits of bread and fruit scraps were left behind. It even looked like one ambitious guy had gnawed on the plastic container the sandwiches had been in.
The one lone party animal left sat on the bench nibbling on a piece of cheese, staring at them with mild interest.
“Oh, my God!” Imogen said, grabbing on to Ty’s arm as she maneuvered behind him. “What is that?”
“It’s just a raccoon. They’ll eat anything and they aren’t afraid of people.”
“Obviously. What do we do?”
“Nothing. They’re mean as a snake and carry rabies. We’re going to ignore him and light a fire. Maybe that will send him scattering.”
“He doesn’t look mean.”
“Trust me, you try to take that cheese away from him, he’s going to spit and hiss.”
“Well, it’s not like I want the cheese back at this point, so why would I attempt to take it away from him?”
Ty laughed. Trust Imogen to point out the obvious and logical. “True. God, I can’t believe it’s dusk already. Guess it really is fall.”
He started building a fire with the wood he’d gathered earlier, content and still sleepy from their post-sex nap.
Imogen perched on a rock, giving wary glances at the raccoon every now and then. “There are only a few weeks left to the season, aren’t there? How do you feel about that?”
“Yep, only four races left. Not much time to make a difference. I’m in fifth place right now.” Which he should be stressing more about, frankly, but for some reason he wasn’t. Fifth didn’t suck, and he wasn’t feeling quite the competitiveness he had in previous seasons. It was a little unnerving, but at the same time, he suspected it was just that he was comfortable with his career. He had achieved a lot already and he worked damn hard. If it didn’t land him in the number-one spot, that was no reason to beat himself up. There were some damn good drivers and cars out there every week.
“Wow, that’s really impressive,” Imogen said, sounding like she actually meant it. “What does the overall winner for the season get?”
Ty surveyed his fire pile, satisfied. He glanced back at Imogen. “Fame and fortune, babe, plain and simple.” He turned full around, realizing she was shivering. “You cold?”
She nodded, her arms crossed across her chest.
“Go get your sweatshirt.”
“I didn’t bring one. I only brought this sweater I’m wearing. I thought it was sufficient and I was trying to pack light.”
“I knew there was a catch to that tiny backpack you brought. I’ll get the fire going and that will help, and the sleeping bag is plenty warm, especially with me there to heat you up.” Ty gave her a wink. “But in the meantime, grab my sweatshirt. It’s in my pack.”
“I don’t want to go through your bag.”
“Why not? I can’t imagine the sight of my underwear is going to upset you in any way.”
“Well, no. But it seems like a privacy violation.”
“I’ve got nothing to be private about.” Not in his bag anyway. Maybe he did have one tiny little thing that he kept from most people, but it wasn’t a big deal. And as much as he liked Imogen, he couldn’t foresee telling her he couldn’t read. She’d run for the hills and he just wasn’t ready for that yet.
“Okay. Thanks.” Imogen stood up and patted her front pocket. Ty knew she kept her phone in there when her purse wasn’t available and she did pull it out. “Wow, I just got a message. Who knew you could get cell reception out here? I wonder if I can check my e-mail?”
“No e-mail.” Ty frowned. “That’s just wrong.”
She nodded. “You’re right. But I should check to see who called. It might be my parents or something.”
“I can authorize that,” he said with a smile. Hell, he’d brought his cell, too, because Toni would have a heart attack if he didn’t. “Then put a sweatshirt on and come over here and share my body heat.”
Imogen didn’t say anything, and Ty glanced over to see her listening to her voice mail with a weird expression on her face. “What’s wrong?” he asked her when she hung up.
“Nothing.” She crammed the phone back in her pocket and looked around. “What was I doing?”