Part 17 (2/2)

I went over and sat on the edge of the white bed, running my fingers over the lamp gently. ”This is mine. Wow.”

”It's beautiful,” Jack said and came to sit next to me.

I smiled at him. ”This place is beautiful. Thank you.”

”You're beautiful.” He swallowed. ”I hope you don't think it was too presumptuous of me to do this so fast. Just because we're here, doesn't mean we have to, you know.”

”I know.” I smiled. He'd said that like three times.

”I'll bring our stuff in. I think there's more to the bathroom than just that tub, maybe back behind here somewhere,” he said, indicating the wall behind the bed. ”You go investigate. Maybe we can shower then see what we've got to eat in the fridge.”

I nodded, and he headed out to the porch.

There was indeed a bathroom back there with a ma.s.sive walk-in shower lined with white subway tiles and multiple showerheads. I reached in and turned it on, letting the water heat and wandered over to the mirror above one of the marble topped vanities. I was flushed from the sun and my hair, as I pulled it out of a messy bun, was a kinky mess. When Jack told me I was beautiful, I believed him. Fully. I felt beautiful when he looked at me.

His mention of us showering conjured all sorts of images, and while he probably meant we should shower one after the other, all I could think about after our outdoor shower was us in there together.

We had this one amazing night here, away from prying eyes and judgments. I had no idea what our relations.h.i.+p would look like going forward, but we had this moment. Seven long months I'd spent missing him and wanting him and fantasizing about various scenarios. And some had been s.e.xual, there was no point denying it to myself.

I took a deep breath. ”Jack?”

He came in, carrying a black toiletries bag and dumped it on the counter. ”Yeah?”

”I, I was thinking ...” Gah. My throat was so thick with nerves, I sounded like I needed speech therapy. And my cheeks were hot. My eyes flicked over to the shower involuntarily.

Jack followed my look then looked back at me. And I saw the thought cross his mind, his eyes narrowing, his nostrils flaring slightly. His Adams apple bobbed roughly as he swallowed. ”What were you thinking?” he said roughly.

My shaking fingers found the b.u.t.tons of my shorts, and I popped them open, and then s.h.i.+mmied them down my thighs until they dropped. I stepped out of them and toed off my shoes.

Jack's eyes tracked down my legs then back to my hands, waiting to see what they would do next, I guess. The steam from the warm shower filled the room.

I reached for my t-s.h.i.+rt and pulled it off and stood in my bikini. ”I was thinking, you did such a good job of was.h.i.+ng me in the shower before, you, you could do it again?”

Jack's mouth closed in a tight line, and his hand gripped the counter, white knuckled.

”Get undressed, Jack,” I said softly and reached for my bikini tie at my neck.

”Stop,” he said harshly.

I froze.

He let go of the counter, and reaching behind him, pulled his t-s.h.i.+rt over his head. ”I want to do that.”

Gulping, I obeyed.

”Get in the shower,” he rasped, his eyes intense.

The hunch that I'd released some kind of animal in Jack was strong. And rather than trepidation, it sent a rush of hot want through every single part of me. I nodded with a small smile as I entered the shower. Stepping under the warm spray, I turned to watch the vague outline of Jack through the foggy gla.s.s as he took off his shoes and shorts. Despite the moist humidity and the water streaming over me, my mouth went dry at the sight of Jack stepping into the shower completely naked and aroused.

Wow.

The sight of his muscled form with the hideous tattoo, beautiful but ugly for its significance, caused my nerves to ratchet up. My eyes traveled back up to where he was watching me intently, his green eyes boring into mine.

A small crease between his brows let me know he was also nervous. Maybe he was nervous this was all a big tease, or that he might step over some kind of line and go too far with me. I didn't know.

Picking up my sopping hair to expose the knot of my swimsuit, I turned and presented my back to him. ”Can you take this off me now please?”

His fingers touched my neck and spine. The top gaped forward and I pulled it off, letting it smack the floor of the shower. He stepped in close, his arousal hard at my back.

... Causing an involuntary shudder to run through me ...

His hands slid around my belly, and after a brief hesitation, up and lightly over my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

I clenched my teeth at the shock of sensation.

Holy s.h.i.+t.

I let my head fall back.

Reactions cascaded one after the other, a relief of having his hands on me. It wasn't nearly enough. How did I let him know how much I wanted him?

Sometimes the look in his eyes was completely at odds with his slow and gentle touches.

I wanted him to lose control. I wanted to see Jack at his most primal. I wanted to be the object of his l.u.s.t. Of his love, not his pain or revenge.

Hearing his breath in my ear, I came to a decision.

I grabbed the miniature shower gel bottle and poured some in my hand and moved away, sliding around behind Jack in the shower. Exchanging places.

Lathering up the soap, I slid the suds over his muscled back, ma.s.saging my hands over the slick and tense terrain, and up into his hair, using my nails to sc.r.a.pe lightly over his scalp.

”What are you doing?” He hissed in a breath, dropping his head forward into the spray. His hands came up to brace on the wall as the water sluiced over him. ”d.a.m.n that feels good.”

Smiling, I got some more gel, the scent of rosemary and bergamot swirling with the steam, and ran my hands down his back again. I glided over his b.u.t.tocks then, as I felt him tense, and swallowing my nerves, round to the front of him where I grasped his firm thickness in my hand.

Jack's hand immediately clamped down on my wrist, hard. ”Christ,” he gasped, his voice breaking over the word. Then he moved, spinning me toward him, lifting me through the hot spray and back against the cold tile wall that took my breath. I barely got a chance to see his flushed face and beautiful eyes before his mouth took mine.

Grasping his neck and his head, I hung on, returning his fevered kisses, las.h.i.+ng my tongue against his. Tension coiled tightly in my body, a ma.s.s of heat that seared me from the inside out, a scalding ache that begged to be eased.

”Please,” Jack whispered as he pulled his mouth from mine. ”Please, stop me,” he repeated before seizing it again. He pressed himself between my legs where I literally ached for him.

”No f.u.c.king way,” I managed through a whimpered gasp.

Immediately Jack pulled back, looking at me in shock, and then bursting into a chuckle, his dimples creasing his cheeks. He kissed me again. ”I seriously never know what is going to come out of your mouth. You kill me.”

”Yeah, well, you're killing me right now. I need these bikini bottoms off. Stat.”

<script>