Without speaking, he reached over and picked up a bar of soap, then proceeded to lather up his hands before kneeling at her feet. He placed the bar of soap on the floor beside him and cupped her ankle in his big hands.
She glanced down at his dark hair, his sexy pose, and her nipples peaked with desire, her breasts suddenly heavy, her pussy throbbing with need.
“What are you doing?” she asked thickly.
He glanced up, his eyes as dark as she’d ever seen them. “Taking care of you,” he said, then bent to his task.
He soaped her skin, starting at her feet and moving upward, massaging her muscles with tender care. First he pressed his thumbs into her calves, slicked his hands up behind her knees—an erogenous zone she hadn’t known she possessed—before graduating to her thighs. His talented fingers reached higher quickly, and she sucked in a breath as he slid his thumbs along the crease between her thigh and her slick outer folds.
She grasped on to his shoulders and held on, fingers digging into his skin as he soaped around her sex, fingers easing over her nearly bare mound but never touching where she needed him most. She arched her hips forward. He chuckled, low and deep, pausing only to soap up his hands again and keep moving, up her belly, over her breasts, paying special attention there but not stopping in his quest to clean her completely.
It was as if he understood how fragile today had made her feel, how out of control and afraid, and he was here to help her rinse off all traces of the horrific experience.
He slicked his hands over her shoulders, down her arms, threading their fingers together almost symbolically, his heavy-lidded, aroused gaze meeting hers. That’s when it dawned on her.
Scott wasn’t speaking. There was no dirty talk. No sexy descriptions of what he was going to do to her. No teasing comments about how many times he planned to make her come. Instead, there was an intensity and seriousness to his touch and his expression she’d never seen before.
It was as if he were memorizing every second, every bit of her because now that the danger had passed, this was their last time together. And though she knew it to be true, the pain of that thought lanced through her heart.
There was so much unspoken in the steamy bathroom and between them, but she couldn’t bring herself to think beyond the here and now. All she wanted was to feel, and Scott was so capable of making her do that. He unhooked the handheld shower sprayer and rinsed her off, gliding his fingers over the soap, pushing the foam off her skin, helping the soft sprinkling of water do its job.
Once she was clean, he knelt before her once more. Her sex clenched in anticipation, but his next move was so much different than she expected. So much … more.
He braced his hands on her hips and leaned close, pressing his lips to her now slightly visible belly. Her throat swelled, her heart filled, and intense feelings of longing swept through her, rendering her unable to think, let alone speak. He glanced up long enough to meet her gaze, to hold on, to force her to look into his eyes, which were glittering with the same raw emotion pulsing through her.
He rose and slammed his hand against the faucet, shutting off the water, then opened the shower door and guided her to the floor mat. He wrapped her in a towel and gently patted her dry, keeping her wrapped and warm. He grabbed another towel and dried himself. He dropped his towel to the floor and tugged hers off, too, before sweeping her into his arms.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, nuzzling her cheek against his, breathing in the warm, clean scent of his skin. She never thought she’d have even this much with any man, and Scott Dare exceeded all her dreams and expectations.
Even now, as he carried her determinedly into the bedroom and placed her in the center of his large bed, he was her white knight. She withheld her smile at the thought, knowing he wouldn’t like it.
Coming over her, he bracketed her between his thighs, pinning her pelvis to the mattress with his naked body as he stared into her eyes.
“You’ve been quiet,” she said, needing to break the silence, to know what was going on in his head even if she didn’t want to hear.
“I’m not sure you want to know,” he said, his jaw tight.
She had a hard time looking past his bronzed, muscular chest that was just begging for her touch.
“Probably not,” she agreed. “But we’re going to have to deal with it sooner or later.” Not that she could concentrate at all with his hard, hot sex throbbing against hers.
“Yes, we are.” He lifted his hips and slid his cock over her damp sex.
She closed her eyes, and sparks flickered behind her lids at the erotic feel of him gliding against her. She whimpered and bent her knees, wanting him to take her hard and deep.
“No, Meg. Look at me.”
She forced herself to meet his determined gaze. “I know you don’t want to rely on me. That you need to stand on your own, and I respect that.” He leaned over and touched his forehead to hers before looking into her eyes once more. “I respect you.”
She swallowed hard, waiting for his next words.
“And know this,” he continued. “I’ll always give you what you need even if it’s not what I want.”
“What do you want?” she asked.
He shook his head, his lips lifting slightly. “I can’t believe you have to ask. I want you,
Meg. I love you.”