His expression was still blank. "What’s tickling?"
Okay…that was most definitely a new one for her. Not only was he not ticklish, but he didn’t even know what it was. Holding her hands up, she mimed with her fingers how to tickle, as she tried to come up with a way to explain it.
“Umm…it’s something you do to someone to make them laugh. You wiggle or ‘tickle’ your fingers on different areas of their body to get them to laugh and squeal. If they’re ticklish, they can’t control their reaction, and they’ll laugh until you stop. For example—you can tickle babies to make them laugh when you want to see them look as cute as can be, or…” Summer rolled her eyes “…like my brothers did, you can use it to drive your little sister crazy, as a form of torture. It can be a lot of fun because most of the time, the person doing the tickling ends up laughing almost as much as the one getting tickled.”
Pouting a little, she asked. “You’ve never been tickled? Ever?”
A small smile on his face, he shook his head. "No...it's not something we do. Not that I know of anyway."
The penny dropped. He’d told her just after they were married that his culture was very different from hers. They'd never played as children because their parents hadn't. Brought up in a war, they didn't know how to. Doing something purely for amusement was as alien to him as handing explosives to a five-year-old so they could make mines, was to her.
Her heart ached. He’d told her bits and pieces about his childhood, merely enough for her to remember it didn’t sound as if it’d been all that happy. Abruptly, she felt like an idiot. “I’m sorry. I must seem pretty damned silly to you, huh?”
"No, not at all." He grinned suddenly, his expression mischievous. "I used to bunk off cleaning duty to go play in the woods. There were mines there to play with. I used to skip rocks over them."
Without warning, his hands wrapped around her tiny waist and he wiggled his fingers, digging them into her skin slightly.
Her incredulous expression changed instantly. She squealed, squirming to desperately evade his fingers. Sprawled on top of him the way she was, all she accomplished was to press herself harder against him. All grace gone, she practically screamed with laughter and gasped for air. “Stop…you…eee!”
He laughed in delight and kept up the assault. Yeah, he seemed to understand the appeal of tickling now. “Why?” he asked. “What's it worth?”
What the hell? Had he sprouted extra hands? Every direction she tried was blocked by strong fingers digging into her sides. Summer felt like an epileptic cat, rubbing against him in uncontrolled twitches.
“What’s—” she couldn’t work out whether to gasp, squeal or giggle, so she tried to do all three at once “—what’s what worth?” But she was laughing so hard, getting words out was nigh on impossible.
Straddling his hips, she used her legs to try to push off him. All she ended up doing was falling down on him again. Great. She’d smother him with her breasts if he didn’t let go soon. Death by C cup. What a way to go.
Pushing up so he could breathe again, she scrambled once more, but couldn’t get loose. Desperate times and all that, she ended up saying the worst thing ever. “Roz! Please…”giggles escaping her lips, she wiggled again and pleaded, “…anything! Anything you want.”
He grinned and flipped her onto her back, holding her down against the soft surface with his hard body. Capturing her hands with ease, he hauled them over her head. In a heartbeat, the light in his eyes went from teasing to red hot. "Anything?"
Breathing hard, she struggled to get her hands loose before the magnitude of what she’d said dawned on her. Anything? Wow, let’s chalk that one up under dumb things to say.
The heat in his gaze threatened to melt her on the spot. Fighting not to capitulate immediately, she racked her brain for something witty or sarcastic to say. Her gaze wandered over his face and came to rest on his lips. Relaxing, Summer shifted and brought her legs up to cradle his hips against hers.
“Whoa there, wildcat. Did I say anything? ” she scoffed, trying to gain control of the situation. She smiled wickedly, teasing him, coming within a micrometer from kissing him. Nuzzling his nose, she added in a breathy whisper, “I meant to say almost anything.”
Basking in the delicious heat coming off of him, she took it for herself…reshaped it, fed it and added to it…until what she returned to him was a barely contained inferno. Ever the one to play with fire when it came to Roz, she fanned the flames even higher. Rubbing against him sinuously, she didn’t back down, but met him head on.