Page 54

He stepped closer. His hand came up to my jaw and turned my face toward him. "You looked so beautiful on that screen tonight."

He kissed me, his thumb tracing my cheekbone. His hands slid down my sides and pulled my hips back against him. I could feel exactly where this was going.

"Alex." I laughed against his mouth. "I just want a shower. I still smell like the stadium."

"Perfect." His mouth found my neck. "So do I."

His hands were on my stomach, my ribs, the underside of my breasts. I could feel the want in his palms, in his fingers, in the way he couldn't settle on one place, like he was trying to touch all of me at once.

"I've been wanting to do this since I walked in here and saw you." His voice was low against my ear. "Standing right here."

"That was a long time ago."

"And I finally have the chance."

His hand slid down my stomach, between my thighs. He paused.

"Is this okay?"

"Yes."

He kissed my shoulder. His other hand moved up my ribs, over my breasts. When he found a spot that pulled a sound out of me, he stayed there, his mouth against my ear, his fingers moving in slow circles until my breathing wasn't mine anymore.

I could feel him against my back. Hard, pressed against me, and his restraint was making it worse because I could feel what it was costing him to keep his hands patient while the rest of him was anything but.

My legs started shaking. I reached back and gripped his thigh.

"Alex. Please."

He kissed the side of my neck. "Okay."

I arched back into him. He lifted my hips, tilting me forward, and slid into me in one slow push, pulling me back against him as he went.

My breath hitched. He stopped.

"Janine?"

"Keep going." I pressed back against him. "Don't stop."

He kissed me there as he filled me completely. I pressed my palms against the tile and tried to remember how to breathe.

He moved my hips with his hands, guiding us both, finding the pace that made my breath catch and his roughen at the same time. His mouth never left my skin. He kissed my shoulder, the back of my neck, the spot behind my ear, like he couldn't stop.

When we found it, his hands started to wander. Between my thighs again, his fingers finding me while he moved inside me. Up to my breasts, his palms covering me, pulling me back against his chest. Every place he touched built on the last until the heat was everywhere and I couldn't separate one sensation from another.

"Alex—I'm⁠—"

"I know." His voice was wrecked against my ear. "I know."

He pressed his forehead against my shoulder. His breathing broke apart and I felt him losing control at the same time I lost mine. The wave hit and I cried out. He groaned against my neck and pulled out at the last second, finishing against my back, the water washing it away.

We stood there under the spray. His arms wrapped around me from behind, his chest against my back, both of us breathing hard. The water was starting to cool.

He kissed my shoulder. "Thank you for indulging me."

I turned around in his arms. The water ran between us as I reached up and touched his face.

"I love you, Alex."