AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No protests about running the bath water in the jacuzzi-style tub. Or about raiding the cabinet for bubble bath and pouring a bit too much into the water.
When I peeled off my shirt and tossed it, only then did he try and put on the brakes.
Filling the space with his broad shoulders, standing tall without help, he rushed out, “What are you doing?” Wide, concerned eyes slipped from my face to my bra, and I slowly unhooked it. “Fuck.” Another low hiss of sound from between his teeth, a borderline growl, was followed by one more long, drawn-out word—my name.
Grateful I’d left my sopping wet shoes and socks in the bedroom, I went for my jeans. Button undone and zipper down, I shoved at the wet fabric, thankful they were high-rise and not skinny jeans.
Dark eyes transfixed between my thighs as he quietly observed me.
“This isn’t like old times, Mya.” The raspiness of his voice as he wrestled with his control caressed my skin, heating my body, and I ignored what felt like an impending warning. “You can’t strip to end a fight.” Eyes locked with mine again, he stepped closer, almost within arm’s reach. Brows tightened, he asked, “We aren’t even fighting, are we?” He tipped his head, patiently waiting for me to answer him.
“Not fighting, no,” I finally replied. Releasing a steady breath, I lifted my hand between us to show him I wasn’t shaking. Not an ounce of panic in my body. My heart wasn’t thundering hard. My pulse wasn’t in my ears. I wasn’t nauseous or scared. “A bath. We need one. It will help.”
God, I was talking like a kid’s book from the fifties. See Jane run. See Spot sit. Maybe falling ten thousand feet had jarred me a bit, not to mention knocking my head against this man’s hard granite jaw.
With Oliver continuing to stare at me, I removed the last physical barrier. I slid down my panties, toeing them off to the side. Turning my back to him, remembering how much he loved the view, I bent over the tub to check on the water.
I’d probably overdone it on the jasmine-scented bubbles, but I didn’t care. The tub was big enough for the two of us to fit in comfortably, and the water was finally high enough to turn on the jets. “Your shoulder is hurting, and the jacuzzi will be good for you,” I explained, finally remembering how to string words together into a full sentence.
He didn’t speak or come up to me, so I had to play dirty. While reaching for the knob, I pretended to lose my balance.
He was at my six in a second.
Was that wrong? Probably.
Desperate times, though. Desperate measures.
He banded an arm around my waist, drawing me upright so I didn’t go headfirst into the tub. In my fake attempt to fall, I nearly had.
His hand was hot on my skin, burning a trail of heat down my body and around to my stomach. Those butterflies, well, I didn’t want to drown them in tequila. I wanted them to live. To thrive and fly.
“Mya.”
His chin resting on top of my head, he brought me back to times before, and I relaxed into him. My ass was snug against his crotch. I could feel his erection straining, and I knew he was probably internally kicking himself for getting turned on after the day we’d had, but I’d be even more worried if he didn’t with me naked in his arms.
His chest hitched and his breath shuddered as he tightened his hold ever so slightly. “This is beyond just touching. This is about twenty steps farther. Are you sure you want me naked in that bath with you?”
Peeking back at him over my shoulder, I met his eyes. “Absolutely sure.”
This was something we’d never done before. Shower? Sure. Never a bath, though. For whatever reason, it felt even more intimate despite the circumstances that brought us there.
“If at any point you change your mind, say the word.” He slowly spun me around, cupping my chin, unable to mask his worry. Lines bracketed his mouth before he pleaded, “Promise me.”
“I promise.” I almost pushed up on my toes to kiss him, but stopped myself, unsure where that kiss might lead.
Naked now. Kiss another time. That was backward, yes, but we never did anything by the book, why start now?
He freed my chin to try and undress. At the sight of him struggling, I set my hand on his chest and went to my knees.
I looked up at him as I unlaced his shoes, and he continued watching me as if that simple activity was the sexiest thing he’d seen in his life.
Once his shoes and socks were off, he lowered his jeans and I helped him step free from the wet denim.
Assisting me up, I halted at the sight of his hard length tenting his gray boxer briefs. Memories of taking him into my mouth catapulted to the forefront of my mind, erasing the horrific nightmare I’d been having while unconscious earlier.
“Mya.” His strangled tone was my cue to stop staring at his crotch as if beneath his boxer briefs was the Seventh Wonder of the World.
I mean . . . the man was packing, that was for sure. I’d felt his length and girth deep inside me before, knew what it was like to have him fill me, taking me to a safe, but passionate place.
