his seed from my skin. Spencer followed behind me, stripping off what remained of his wet clothes. I watched him in the mirror, drinking in the sight of his incredible body. Then I noticed, his lower lip trembling slightly.
I bit back a laugh when I realized he was cold. There was something so ridiculous about this muscular, powerful man shivering.
“I’m going to run your bath,” I told him, walking toward the tub.
“That sounds good,” he admitted, “but only if you join me.”
I nodded. That sounded even better. Turning on the faucet, I waited for it to heat up. I added some oils sitting nearby and soon, steam was rising from the glassy surface of the bathwater. Spencer climbed inside and groaned as he sank against the porcelain, his eyes shuttered with pleasure. He propped open one eye and beckoned me with his index finger.
It was all the invitation I needed. I stripped off my damp tank top and bra.
I paused and considered the mess we’d left behind us. “I should probably go pick up the trail of clothes we left downstairs.”
“Leave it.”
“Giles will love that,” I muttered. I wasn’t sure his proper sensibilities would survive finding my thong in the dining room. “Of course, it serves him right for setting me up.”
“It’s my fault. Not his. But I wouldn’t worry about shocking him,” Spencer advised. “Staff sees the worst of us. It’s why we pay them so well.”
His words sent a lump forming in my throat. I shook myself free of the gloomy thoughts trying to break past the lingering happiness in my mind.
Spencer reached his hand out to help me, and I took it, the sudden darkness vanishing as swiftly as it had arrived. I stepped into the water carefully, lowering myself to sit between his open legs. My breasts bobbed on the water as I relaxed against him, peace settled over me. There were still obstacles in our path. There was still a deadline for our relationship. Somehow, though, in his arms, none of that seemed to matter.
His hands strayed up my body, cupping my breasts. He swirled a finger absently over my nipples, which pebbled at his touch. “Have I told you how perfect these are?”
“One or twice,” I said, thinking of the nights we’d spent together.
“I’ll be sure to tell you more often.” He kissed the back of my neck, and my eyes closed. “You deserve to know how perfect you are every moment of every day.”
“I’m far from perfect,” I muttered even as his words made me ache with longing for his vision of our life together.
“What are you thinking about?” he whispered in my ear.
“The future,” I admitted.
“What if we only think about right now?”
“If I could only turn my brain off, I would,” I said with a bemused smile. This earned me a slight laugh.
“How about I distract you then?”
He reached over and grabbed a sponge sitting in a tray by the side of the tub. Plunging it into the water he lifted it and brought it to my shoulders. The warm water relaxed me further as he gently massaged away my distraction.
“That feels good.” I allowed my head to loll against his shoulder. There was nowhere else I wanted to be than here with him.
“Kerrigan,” he said. “Can I ask you something?”
I bobbed my head slightly in agreement, too mesmerized by the deliberate tenderness of his touch.
He tossed the sponge which landed with a wet plop on the tile floor. I peeked to see his hand reach toward the soap dish. Apparently, I was getting a full bath. I didn’t mind in the least.
“I know we don’t know everything about each other,” he began, “but there’s one thing I’m absolutely certain of.”
“Which is?” I murmured.
“I want to spend the rest of my life learning everything I can about you. Marry me?”
I stiffened for an instant as his words hit me. Then, I sat up and twisted around to meet his eyes. He couldn’t be serious. An uncharacteristic vulnerability was written across his face, the shadows that usually clouded his eyes had lifted, and in his hand, he was holding a ring.
There were ten million reasons to say no.
There were ten million reasons to say yes.
I’d been given my answer before we ever met.
But that wasn’t what I thought of now. I didn’t care about the ring. I didn’t care that it could never work. I only knew one thing. “I want that, too.”
Spencer exhaled and leaned forward to kiss me. I felt