“I don’t care—wait.” Curiosity got the best of me. “What? The…the four of them? Together?”

He grinned as his other hand slid down my back. “Oh, yes.” His palm glided over my rear, which had become exposed in my rush to grab the journal. He cupped the flesh, sending a shivery wave of awareness through me. “Four of them. Together. Lots of manhoods. Lots of scandalous lady parts.”

“Lady parts?” I choked on a laugh.

He nodded as he dragged the edge of his teeth over his bottom lip. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel…uncomfortably curious,” I admitted. I had questions. Like how did that even work?

Casteel’s brows flew up. His surprise was like a burst of cool wind on my skin, and then something spicy and lush landed on the tip of my tongue. “Poppy,” he purred, his eyes deepening to a warm honey color. “I was talking about how you felt after getting some sleep.”

“Oh.” Heat swept through my entire body. Scrunching my nose, I planted my face in his chest. “I feel fine.” And embarrassed.

His laugh rumbled through me as his arms tightened. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m glad to hear both of those things.”

“Oh, my gods,” I muttered. “Please forget that I said I was curious.”

“Unlikely.”

“I dislike you.”

“That’s a lie.”

“I know.”

Another deep laugh came from him, and I smiled because I loved that sound. How deep and real it was. “We’ll talk about your uncomfortable curiosity in great detail later, but you need to get off me and change into something that makes it less easy for my manhood to find its way to your lady parts.”

I lifted my head from his chest. “You’re holding me to you.”

“True.” His arm eased off me, and I started to rise when he lightly smacked my rear. I let out a little squeak, and those damn dimples appeared in both of his cheeks.

I stared down at him. “That was very inappropriate.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” He didn’t feel even a hint of shame.

Still flushing to the roots of my hair, I started to move but stopped. Tension crept into my muscles, a contrasting mixture of reluctance and determination.

“What?” Casteel’s gaze searched mine. “What is it?”

“I…” It was hard to explain what I felt. It was a mixture of several things. I shifted onto my knees between his legs. “I almost don’t want to leave the bed. Things…everything feels different here. Like nothing outside of this place exists or matters. And I know…” I looked over to the latticed door, to the night beyond. “I know when I do, I’ll have to face all the things that do matter.” My gaze fell to the journal I held against my chest. “That probably makes me sound like an immature child.”

“No. Not at all. I get what you’re feeling.” He folded his fingers under my chin, lifting my gaze to his. “When Malik and I went to the caverns, it was our way of escaping.”