After Lorne left, I sat on the couch, set my MacBook on the coffee table and opened it, the Wikipedia page filling the screen while a low-battery alert flashed 9%. Darn, no charger. Should have shut down last night. Then remembering why I didn't, I sighed. Yeah, straight from looking up asexuality into diddling. Oh, God! Then into sex far finer than I've ever dared write. Far finer than I've ever dreamed possible.

I blew a deep breath. Need to rethink my ideas about ace. My mind drifted to his delightfully naïve awkwardness. His unleashed desire to pleasure me. The look of adoration in his eyes. I shuddered at the memories and the feelings sweeping through me before I realised my fingers were pressed to my mound and slowly circling.

Following a loud sigh, with both hands back at the keyboard, I focused on the screen to continue reading about asexuality. After following links that led to contradictory information, I realised that asexuality is not yet well understood. Even some in the LGBT community dispute its place under their rainbow. Strange.

At least, that's better than being diagnosed as a mental disorder. God, what a horrid thing to impose on an already confused teen.

After digging further and finding increasingly conflicting opinions, the battery alert changed to a larger and more insistently flashing 5% on the screen. Continue this later. More immediate concerns now.

I searched through my files to locate the K ate design, opened it, clicked full screen and zoomed in to examine. Hmmm! The pink background might not be the best choice for Lorne. The links are still valid, so all that's needed...

A click, a thud and some rustling somewhere in the loft sent my heart racing, and I shuddered, jerking my gaze around in search of a place to hide.

"Sorry I took so long, Kate. The stores were all –"

"Oh, God! Lorne! You scared the bejeebers out of me."

"Sorry. Didn't think. Where are you?"

"Part of me is cowering under the coffee table, some behind the sofa." I tried a giggle, but it came out closer to a cackle. "The rest is trying to decide."

He chuckled. "Where's your mouth, so I can kiss it?"

"Still trembling here on the couch, frozen in place by fear."

"Sorry. I should have found a better way to –"

"No, it's me, Lorne. Mind still flashing to –" I crunched my eyes closed. "Oh, God!"

Lorne nestled to my side on the couch and wrapped me in his arms, cupping my head and easing it to his chest. "You're safe with me, Kate."

"Ummm. When you're here."

"Next time, I'll call you as I approach – I got burner phones for us."

"Hunh? What're they?"

"Difficult-to-track throwaways. That's why I told you to check your iPhone settings before we left the boat; they have Nathan's with your calls and texts in it."

"But it showed his number was not in service."

"After they had taken any data they wanted – yours included. Remember, a number can be used to find the phone's precise location."

I blew a loud breath. "Yeah. But they wouldn't be able to get into his phone."

"Did he unlock with a thumb-in?"

"Oh, God! They have full access. They'd have known I was aboard Tastevin."

"Did you share iCloud with Nathan?"

I shook my head. "No, too full of my writing backups."

"Good. Did you connect to my wifi?"

"Only with my computer."

"Great! And with your Share Location off, there's no way they could have seen your movements. But you must remain offline until you get a new SIM."

I pressed my cheek onto his chest and hummed a sigh. "You're so good at this."

"Hunh? At what?"

"At calming me. Quieting my churning mind."

We remained silent for a while, enjoying our closeness and gentle caressing, then Lorne said, "Oh, what a splendid design."

"Unh? What do you mean?"

"On your computer. The business card."

I lifted my head and looked at it. "Ummm, a bit too pink for you, though."

"It complements the other colours – the logos."

"Yeah, but it might cause them to question a hunk like you using it. It's a PSD, so I can easily change the background colour."

Lorne shrugged. "Why? Pink used to be considered the boy's colour and blue the girl's, and this has flipped back and forth for centuries. It's only during the post World War Two baby boom that these have settled."

"What? How do you know this?"

"Research I did for an article on rosé wines and the male bias against them."

"Yeah, you're always so thoroughly researched." I nodded toward the computer screen. "So, print it like this?"

"Definitely – it has impact. Just as with wine labels – all other things marketing – the unusual attract."

"Yeah, like huge red hair." I blew a deep breath. "Need to plug in; battery's almost flat. Did you get a cord?"

"For both that and your phone."

I untangled from our hug and sat up, running my fingers through my hair. "And a brush? Really need to work on this."

"Yeah, everything on your list except new clothes."

"What? Why not?"

Lorne winced. "I stared for a long time at the displays of undies, confused by so many types and sizes. Finally, I asked for assistance, outlined the situation and got all flustered trying to describe your body." He paused and blushed. "When I used my hands to show her your breast shape and size, the woman couldn't control her laughing."

"Oh, God!" My body shook with laughter, and when I had calmed, I said, "But for undies, I need only panties. I haven't worn a bra in ages."

"Ummm!" He paused and adjusted his trousers. "That would have saved some of the embarrassment."

"So, I've nothing clean to wear?"

"I bought you a hijab, so we can go shopping together."

"Ooh! How creative."

Lorne shrugged. "When the woman stopped laughing, she suggested it – also told me to have you wear one of my shirts, its looseness and length adding to the look of modesty."

I nodded as I glanced down at my short top and low-rise jeans while I feathered my fingers back and forth across my belly. "Yeah, a bare midriff with a hijab would be far from inconspicuous."

A short while later, in the master suite, Lorne watched as I removed my hoodie to change into one of his shirts. "Braless, but so high and perky. Always thought a bra was to prevent their sagging."

"No, that's the lingerie industry's marketing bunkum and blather. It's the opposite; bras make them sag."

"What? How?"

"By letting the supporting muscles and ligaments become lazy and not work as intended." I cupped the girls' bottoms, lifted them and let them fall and bounce, delighted with the look of lust on his face as his eyes followed the jiggling.

He licked his lips. "Would you allow me to..." He paused, looked up and blushed.

"Saves me from begging you to." I giggled, arched my back and rose to my toes.

A delightfully long while later, we lay in a connected cuddle on the bed, basking in the afterglow. Finally, Lorne broke the silence, "That was definitely from desire."

"Ummm. Loved watching it evolve. Encouraging it."

"Encouraging?"

"The twitch in your trousers when I mentioned braless."

"Yeah, that's when the distraction started."

"Not a distraction, Lorne – unless you're involved in something you shouldn't ignore."

"Hmmm! So, no need to kill it, then."

"Not in this instance. Do you remember the next twitches?"

"Oh, God! The mention of your bare midriff and your fingers dancing across it."

"Exactly! And the next?"

"Removing your hoodie and shaking your shoulders. From there, I couldn't stop it."

"Nor was there any need to. Your desire to pleasure me had caught up with my craving to again have you send my soul soaring."