left ajar.
Once inside, she turned on the shower, nice and warm, and stepped under the spray. She’d been through a lot that day, and the warm water was just what she needed to get the knots out of her shoulder muscles. She washed her hair, and the slide of the lather down her body felt unaccountably sensual. She might have even moaned a little, but the answering growl made her nipples peak and her tummy clench.
Her eyes shot open, and she turned her head. Jim had followed her trail of discarded clothing and was standing just outside the large walk-in shower stall, looking at her. The growl had come from his throat, and it was deliciously clear that he was more than interested in what he saw.
“Join me?” she asked, looking at him over her soapy shoulder. He answered with a new growl that flowed over her nether regions like a caress.
As she watched, he peeled off his shirt, kicked off his boots, and shucked his pants, all without breaking eye contact. She held his gaze as he opened the fogged glass door and entered the shower stall. He was a big man, but the bathroom had been built with shifters in mind, and the shower was luxuriously large with a wide bench built right in and multiple showerheads.
Jim touched one of the controls, and a wide rain head came on over the entire enclosure. It felt like being caught in a warm summer rain. The mood Helen was in, it felt sensual and seductive. Just like the man who caught her in his arms and slid against her, both of their bodies slick with warm water.
He helped her wash the few remaining suds out of her hair with gentle hands then took her chin in one hand, tilting her face up to the rain. She closed her eyes, and then, the rain was replaced by him. His presence. His lips on hers. His kiss.
It was one of the most erotic experiences she’d ever had, and they hadn’t even done much of anything, yet. She couldn’t wait to find out what else he had in store.
She’d been extremely tired and low on energy, just a moment ago, but as they kissed, she could feel the fire in her soul rekindling. Her energy started to flow more easily, and she was able to meet him, kiss for kiss, touch for touch. She ran her hands all over his hard body, reaching between them to stroke his hardness with a gentle but firm touch. She loved the growl that came from deep within his chest, especially when he rubbed against her, and she felt the growl in her skin, as well as heard it.
He moved back so that she had to let go of him, but he didn’t go far. He came up behind her and pressed against her back, cupping her breasts from behind, playing with her nipples under the warm rain of the shower. Bending, he kissed her neck and nibbled gently on her earlobe as his fingers trailed over her body, no part of it left untouched or unexplored.
Jim’s talented hands delved between her legs, one from the front and one from the back, cupping her rear then sliding between her cheeks to tease and tantalize. No man had ever touched her so intimately as a precursor to lovemaking. No man, she realized only now, had ever really cared that much about her enjoyment of the act, as to prepare her so thoroughly.
The irony was that all Jim had to do was crook his little finger—and not even necessarily in the position it now enjoyed—and she was ready for him. Although, when he did crook his finger…and a whole lot more…she found it hard to stand because her knees almost gave out at the deliciously decadent sensations he was causing to course through her body.
But he was there to catch her. Jim held her securely, and she knew he would never let her fall. She’d never felt so sure about any man. He was unique in her experience. Unique and wonderful.
She felt herself being lifted off the ground and turned. His strength continued to take her breath away. He was muscular and sleek, but those lean muscles of his provided a strength all out of proportion of any regular man. Maybe it was shifter magic. Maybe it was the power of his animal spirit. She didn’t know what made him so incredibly strong, but she liked it, whatever it