“Together,” I breathe, my eyes reluctantly meeting his. “I meant we should shower together.”
Immediately, his eyes flood with relief and the coldness leaves his stance. “Fuck, yes,” he growls, and kisses me quickly and slightly rough. He grabs the bone from the bag on the counter beside me and tosses it at Prue where she lies on the floor. “Have fun, girl.”
And then he picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder caveman style, running up the stairs with me.
My laughter echoes around the stairwell and I swat at his butt. “Put me down!” I try in vain to get out of his arms.
“Not until you’re wet.” He chuckles, and I don’t think he means it sound dirty but it does and I kind of love it.
He pushes open the door to my room and heads straight for the bathroom. Without putting me down, he turns on the shower and we end up inside, fully-clothed. The water beats against me, coursing down my bare legs.
“Now I can put you down.” He lowers me from his shoulder but keeps his hands on my waist so I don’t slip. I kick off my heels and reach down to toss them out of the tub. Next he gets rid of his shoes. He turns us so his back is to the water and I’m shielded from the spray. His eyes linger on mine as he reaches for the top button of his shirt and slowly slips it through the hole. He moves to the next one, and the next, and all the way down until his shirt is completely undone and the shirt hangs limply from his shoulders. The shower is small, and with the space his large body takes up I don’t have to stretch my arms far to grab ahold of each side of his shirt and push it down his arms. It falls to the floor of the shower with a wet thump. His hair is plastered to his head and I watch the rivulets of water slide down his torso, getting lost in the fabric of his pants.
I know he’s waiting for me to go next—he won’t push this, won’t push me. He wants me to know the power is in my hands, and while I appreciate the gesture, he should know by now that I’m powerless when it comes to him.
I turn around and tug my hair to the side, exposing the zipper in the back of my dress. I look at him over my shoulder and take pleasure in the darkening in his eyes and the way he bites his lip. He reaches out a tentative hand to the zipper and slowly—oh so slowly—lowers it. My heart races in my chest and I crave his touch more than I ever have anything else. The dress begins to slip from my body and I let it fall, leaving me only in my lacy bra and underwear.
The dress pools on the floor along with his shirt, and before I can turn around to face him, he cages me in with his large body. The tile wall of the shower is right in front of me, and I brace my hands against it as he towers behind me. He rubs his hands up and down my sides before settling one hand on my stomach and pulling me more firmly against him. I gasp at the feel of him pressing against me and a moan leaves my throat.
God, I want this. I want him. This isn’t like the frantic night we shared in Vegas. This is raw and real and us.
I reach my hands up behind me and wrap them around his neck, tugging on the strands of his hair. I tilt my head back and the look on his face nearly undoes me. He looks at me like I’m everything he’s ever wanted in the world.
He moves his hands up my sides and cups my breast. I shiver against him.
“Please,” I beg. His fingers find the strap of my bra and he undoes the hooks. It goes slack, and I let it fall down my arms. I move aside the shower curtain and toss it out and then do the same with my underwear.
I turn, facing him, and he eyes me up and down. Maybe I should feel shy beneath his gaze, but the only thing I feel at the moment is beautiful.
I move forward, pressing my hands to his solid chest and relishing in the slight twitch in his muscles. He’s just as affected by this as I am.
“Please, tell me you want this,” I breathe the words above the sounds of the water beating against the floor. A drop of water slides down my nose and onto my lip and I lick it away. Xander watches the movement and his Adam’s apple bobs.
“You know I do,” he whispers. “I want you so much.”
Hearing those words … They feel surreal. For so long, I thought I was just another girl crushing on her brother’s best friend, but to know that he’s always felt the same feels pretty damn good.
“Good.” I take his face between my hands and kiss him. The spray of the shower covers us both, the water coursing down our bodies.
Xander pushes me away slightly and removes the last of his clothes.
I stare at him, overwhelmed by the feelings coursing through me.
This is … intense. I never knew it was possible to feel so many things at once.
Fear.
Lust.
Worry.
Hope.
Love.
Yes, even love.
“Turn around,” he says gruffly.