an explosion of pleasure.
Later, she stirred, stroking his chest. Enjoying the feeling of being in his arms. Warm, soft, floating. Utterly weightless.
They gazed into each other’s eyes, speechless. Astonished. She couldn’t stop stroking him. His chest, his heartbeat. Every detail of his gorgeous face. The bold dark slash of his heavy eyebrows, the wonder in his dark eyes. Like she was the most fascinating, desirable thing he’d ever seen.
It was so sweet. She could get used to that.
The fleeting thought gave her a twinge of panic. The thought of getting used to anything presupposed a future. She hadn’t let herself think of the future for a very long time. She hadn’t dared. She still couldn’t. She was dangling by a thread.
“What’s wrong?” Nate asked, because of course, he felt it. The slightest disturbance inside her. She’d never known anyone as perceptive as he was.
She didn’t try to evade the question. “It’s just too good, with you,” she said. “It scares me.”
He nodded. “Same,” he said. “But I’m not going anywhere. Let’s just be brave. We’ll hope for the best. Give it our best shot. That’s the best anyone can do.”
She pulled him closer and hid her face against his chest. “I guess so.”
“It’s going to be all right,” he said. “Tomorrow, we go on the attack, with reinforcements. Tonight, you can relax. Rest, so you can be fresh and alert for Josh.” He rolled away and got up. “Wait here,” he said, heading for the bathroom.
Right, like she was going to bounce up and race off into the night.
She heard the roar of running water, and Nate returned swiftly, looking pleased with himself. “I want to try that bathtub. It’ll relax you.”
It sounded wonderful. Frivolous and sensual and self-indulgent. “You’ll get in with me, right?”
His grin was wicked. “Babe, nothing on earth could keep me out.”
13
Nate had to go back a few times, to check on the water and gauge the temperature. In between times, he slid right back into the warm bed and wound himself around Elisa’s slender, silken one. So lithe and strong. Those beautiful, plump, perfectly shaped tits. So perfect for his hands, his mouth.
His dick was in a perpetual state of frantic eagerness whenever she was in his line of vision. Or his thoughts, for that matter. And the touch of her skin made his heart thud and his whole body instantly overheat into a thrum of raw need.
Wait. He had to pace himself. This wasn’t about him. He had to make it perfect for her. It was the iron-clad rule. Forever and always.
When the tub was finally full, he turned to find her already in the bathroom door, winding that long, night-dark curly mass of her hair into a thick messy knot on top of her head, and securing it with the black elastic tie she’d used for her braid.
He was speechless, his entire brain busy processing the sensory input of her naked beauty. Her eyes fell to his erection, and she gave him a teasing smile, her eyebrows going up. “Oh! So it’s that kind of bath?”
“It’s just a bath,” he assured her. “Any kind of bath you like. I don’t want to overdo it.”
“Speak for yourself, buddy.” She stalked past him, stroking his chest and arm as she went by, and her slow, teasing touch buzzed against his nerves like electricity.
He followed, helpless and dazzled. She moved like a queen. Regal, lofty. He could stare at her elegant back forever. The little wispy dark curls at her nape.
Nate stepped in front of her and went in first, down the steps and to the bottom of the hip deep tub. He held out his hand. When she took it, the contact was a soul touch. A mark of divine favor, and she was a goddess with the power to bless and transform him. To change his fate forever.
He couldn’t even pretend not to look at her. From her bold eyes and face and her body’s stance, she silently commanded it.
He took the opportunity to memorize every tiny perfect detail. The curly wisps of dark hair clinging to her cheekbones, the secret, mysterious smile in her golden eyes, the flushed, sexy lips. So full. Their beautiful, sensual shape.
She already acted so differently with him, after only a few hours of being lovers. Since they met, he’d admired her beauty and wanted to know her secrets, but she’d kept him at arm’s length. She’d struck him as fragile, brittle. Hunted.
She didn’t seem that way anymore. She