go and poured himself into her.
Grim rolled over on his back, taking Sassy with him. Cradled in his arms, she rested her cheek on his broad hard chest. He smelled wonderful, hot male mixed with the clean, soapy scent that was uniquely Grim. A light film of sweat coated his big, muscular body. His heart pounded like a drum.
She’d done this to him, made him lose control, her magnificent warrior. It was a heady feeling. She’d lost control, too. Let go and given in to her feelings. Taken what she wanted for a change without guilt, anxiety, or reserve.
It was like that with Grim. Effortless. Safe. With him, she was at rest. No frenetic need to please or placate others to the point of exhaustion. No tiptoeing around on eggshells, afraid to upset his apple cart. With him, she could simply . . . be.
He was her calm, her center, the one place she was truly herself. For a perpetual pleaser like her, it was a gift beyond price.
She pressed her lips to his ribs. “So that’s what the fuss is about.” “What?” His deep voice rumbled against her ear.
“Sex. Passion.”
Grim stiffened. “Sassy, you were not—”
“A virgin? No, but I may as well have been. It’s never been like this. It’s really quite splendid, isn’t it?”
“If it were any more splendid, I would not survive.”
Grim kissed her and stood up. His cinnamon hair brushed his broad shoulders. Pulling his jeans and boxers to his hips, he left the zipper unfastened. The sharp jut of his lower abs framed his taut waist. He was all muscle, power and strength encased in smooth golden skin. The dusting of reddish brown hair on his chest trailed in a faint line past his navel to his groin. He was aroused again, his erection a hard ridge against his belly.
“Where are you going?” Sassy asked, pushing to her elbows.
“We are going to take a bath.”
Ignoring her shriek of protest, he scooped her up and carried her to the sunken tub. The marble basin was large. More of a small pool than a tub, with smooth, curved sides carved from the same rose and silver stone as the fluted columns. A fountain carved in the shape of the exotic bird on the banister flowed at one end of the stone pond. Water cascaded in a steady stream from the bird’s open beak.
Grim walked down the steps and into the pool, jeans and all. The water was maybe five feet at its deepest, and warm.
Grim lowered Sassy onto a submerged bench near the fountain and stepped back. The liquid caress of the water made Sassy’s nipples pucker. Or maybe it was the possessive, heated way Grim looked at her.
“Stay,” he ordered, without taking his gaze from her.
He stripped off his jeans and underwear. The ripple and play of his heavy muscles as he went about the business of removing his clothes was mesmerizing. Grim-o-vision: Sassy’s new favorite channel.
He tossed his wet garments aside. They landed with a wet plop on the side of the pool.
“Mother-of-pearl,” Sassy breathed, staring hungrily at him.
He was gorgeous, the perfect specimen of masculine splendor. Wide shoulders. Arms and chest bulging with muscle. Flat stomach and ripped abs, powerful thighs and calves. One look at her demon hunter and Michelangelo would take a hammer to the David and smash it to smithereens.
The skin tightened across Grim’s cheekbones. Heat flared in his eyes.
“Sassy, I would make amends for taking you with such haste earlier, but I am only flesh and blood. When you look at me with such wanton delight, you make me forget my good intentions.”
“I like looking at you. And I liked every second of what happened between us. Best sex ever.”
Grim’s sexy mouth kicked up at one corner. “It is my desire to please you. However, repetition is the key to improving one’s skills. Would you not agree?”
“Oh, yes.” Sassy’s heart skipped a beat. “Practice makes perfect, or so I’ve heard.”
He closed the space between them. Lifting Sassy off the wide marble ledge in one smooth motion, he sat down and settled her across his lap. Beneath her naked thighs, his strong legs were unyielding as stone. The water swirled around them in slow waves. The hard length of his erection pressed against her side. She was intensely aware of everything in that moment: the soft trill of the bird on the rail; the heave and sigh of the wind through the trees; the intense sweet fragrance of the roses that