the heat had gone off the charts. He put his mouth on her, exploring her sex like his hands had discovered her skin. Pure pleasure shot through her like a rocket, and she heard herself groan his name.
She loved his name. Zéphirin. It was as unique as the man himself. It felt good to say it. So often she hid behind his last name, calling him Guidry to distance herself. But it was good and right to say his name in this place. It was intimate.
His hands cupped her backside, holding her there for his mouth and tongue. She held on for dear life while he gave her more pleasure than she’d had in forever. Maybe never. He was open and honest when he was making love. He was focused on nothing but her, and when they were together, she was the center of the universe.
It was an addicting experience. This was what she craved every bit as much as the pleasure he could give her.
She let the thought drift away as the peak hit her and she was left shaking.
Zep stood and kissed her, the taste of her own pleasure still on his lips. He was breathing like he’d run a race when he rested his head against hers. “Don’t go anywhere.”
He stepped outside the shower and she took a long breath as warm water sluiced down her back. It hadn’t been enough. He’d given her the first orgasm she’d had in a year, but it wasn’t enough because he hadn’t been with her.
That was the danger of Zep. She wanted more than mere pleasure from him. She ached for the connection she’d found that went beyond any other man she’d ever known.
He strode back in and she realized why he’d left. He had a condom in his hand.
He’d taken such good care of her. She wanted to do the same for him. She took the condom out of his hand and opened it.
A low groan came from his throat and his head dropped back. “You’re going to kill me, baby.”
She gripped him and stroked, enjoying the fact that he was under her power for a moment. His eyes had closed and his hips moved, pushing himself into her hand over and over. She watched his gorgeous face and thrilled because she was doing this for him, making this connection with him.
She wanted to watch him, wanted to see him take the same pleasure she had, but not more than she wanted him inside her. She rolled the condom on and moved into his arms then realized they had a problem. “We should take this out to the bed.”
“No time,” he said as he picked her up, pressed her against the side of the shower, and then he was inside her with one long thrust.
She wrapped her arms around him, wound her legs around his waist, and let him take control.
He kissed her, turning what was innately carnal into something sweet. He kissed her forehead and her cheeks, her lips and her chin.
“You feel so good,” he whispered. “You feel so right.”
Being with him felt right. Too right. She had to try to distance from him, but it was impossible in the moment. It was impossible when she felt like they’d torn down all the barriers between them and had managed to find this third thing. There was Roxanne. There was Zep. But in that moment she felt like she’d become something different, the Roxanne she could be exclusively with him. The part she could show only to him.
Her whole body tensed and then released as the orgasm hit her, stronger this time because he was with her. His arms were tight around her, his body merging with hers until she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began.
He held her for a moment more as she started to come down.
“You have no idea how much I needed that, baby,” he whispered before kissing her cheek.
She took a deep breath as he eased her to her feet. Her whole body felt languid, but her heart was racing. “Me, too. I figured as long as you’re here, we should take advantage of the stress relief possibilities.”
She meant it as a joke, something to break this horrible vulnerability she suddenly felt. She wasn’t good at talking out her problems, and she certainly wasn’t going to start with him. Zep liked kidding around. Joking and sarcasm were pretty much the languages he spoke.
He stopped and stared down at her. “Stress relief? That