Lorne's light lip brush sent shivers to my – my everywhere, and I shuffled on the couch to move further up his front, allowing better access to his mouth and to run my fingers through his unruly blond curls. "Mmmm, and you attract me, as well, Lorne."

I gazed into his eyes and nibbled on his lips. "But as much as I want to continue this, we should take care of food and Flo first."

"Yeah. Sorry, Kate. Far too impulsive and forward of me."

"No, not at all." I took his bottom lip between my teeth and nibbled again before I ran the tip of my tongue across it. "Remember when we did this as kids?"

"Ummm! Delightful times. Wonderful memories flashed through my mind just now – urged me to do it again."

"So innocent back then. Trying to figure out how to make babies."

"Hunh? What?"

"All the holding, touching and kissing we did."

"How is that making babies?"

"Hmmm, maybe I was too eager and forgot to explain."

He raised his eyebrows. "To explain what?"

"I had asked Mum how babies are made, and she told me it happens when two people who are in love hold each other in a special way. Tried everything with you that my six-year-old mind could think of. God, so innocent."

"Oh! That's what all that hugging, touching and kissing was about."

"Yeah, I always watched Mum and Dad kissing and caressing, wanting to understand the special way. Then I'd try them with you."

Lorne nibbled on my bottom lip and licked it. Then he lifted his head and said, "I'm intrigued to explore this further, but let's do that when our stomachs aren't rumbling and when your – hmmm, how to say it? When your menstrual flow has been – hmmm. When you've – Whatever, you know what I mean."

I chuckled. "Simpler to say inserted a tampon." I tilted my head and smiled. "But my characters use many colourful euphemisms in my novels – veejay bit the bullet, Miss Flo be dammed, replaced the manhole cover, and on and on."

"Yeah, either straightforward or lighthearted."

"It needs to be, so it doesn't distract."

"As it appears to have distracted me." He leaned in and nibbled my lips again. "Need to go buy food and some mantra care."

I giggled. "Yeah, distracted. It's Natracare. N-A-T-R-A. Look for a pale blue box, a horizontal one, not the vertical packaging. Those are with applicators."

"Applicators?"

"I'll explain when you get back."

"Ummm, yeah, need to get my mind out of there. Think of something else." After a short pause, he continued, "What's your townhouse address?"

"Hunh? How did you jump from this to there?"

"The overbearing situation. On my way up the street, I'll call the police to update them on our suspicions and have them establish surveillance front and back. Watch for suspicious activity – goons waiting for you to arrive or leave. Maybe ring the bell to check if anyone is home, and if not, enter and booby-trap."

"A fine idea, but what chance is there that the police would do that?"

"A hundred per cent." He shrugged. "My position gives me strong connections with the RCMP and VPD."

"Yeah, it would. It's ten forty-seven Marinaside, and because of the Fairview burglary, I had a hi-tech alarm system installed." I nodded toward my phone. "No notifications yet, so they've not entered."

"Great! Sounds as if it's monitored."

I nodded. "And it even notifies me and the police if someone disconnects or overrides it."

"Yeah, like my system. But to be safe, I'll arrange to have the locks changed tomorrow." Lorne stood and pointed toward the companionway. "I'll set the boat's perimeter alarms, so stay inside and don't open any windows or hatches. Back in fifteen or twenty minutes."

As he climbed the steps into the cockpit, I caught myself admiring his butt, and I sighed. Sighed? Why did I sigh? Because I was being naughty, that's why. Hmmm, or was it because I want to grab those firm cheeks? I smiled. Yeah, both.

What the eff? I should be grieving. Why am I not? Still in shock? Too recent? Yeah, likely. It'll hit me soon. Don't push it. Too much else now.

I sat on the couch and ran my gaze slowly around Tastevin's interior. So elegant, so spacious, so comfortable. Oh, God! So alone. But he said there are alarms. Keep everything closed. But him? Is he safe out there? They're watching. So close to here. Unpredictable. 

My breathing was now shallow and rapid, and I clenched my eyes. Enough! Think of more pleasant things. While I worked at controlling my breathing, my mind drifted to Lorne's arms enfolding me, his hands caressing, his tender lip brush. The way he swelled against my thigh when I nibbled his lip. What? 

He can't. 

But he did.

Hmmm! Yeah, he did. Maybe I don't understand asexuality.

Look it up. No different from researching facts and details for a novel. Start with Wikipedia, get an overview, then see where the links lead.

I opened my MacBook, clicked the Wikipedia bookmark, entered asexuality and watched the page load. Wow! So much. So many swipes to the bottom and so many linked references. I continued down to the end of them to see 128 beside the last reference. And eight related Wikipedia sites and more links for further reading. Hmmm! This'll take many hours – days even.

Scrolling back to the top, I began reading, and a dozen lines down, my eyes stopped on, "Some asexual people engage in sexual activity despite lacking sexual attraction or a desire for sex, for a number of reasons, such as a desire to physically pleasure themselves or romantic partners, or a desire to have children." Oh, God! Needs line editing, but, oh, God! His rise was real.

My mind flashed back to the sensation on my thigh. Yeah, real and big – real big.

I continued reading, stopping at, "The desire for masturbation or other sexual activity is often referred to as sex drive by asexuals, who disassociate it from sexual attraction and being asexual; asexuals who masturbate generally consider it to be a normal product of the human body rather than a sign of latent sexuality..."

Too much. Too complex for now. I closed my MacBook and nestled back into the soft leather of the couch, Lorne's aroma wafting up from the cushions and filling my senses. Then lowering a hand to my mound, I closed my eyes and began a slow circling.