Chapter Ten
Son of a bitch. Nick yanked on the tap and jerked off his jeans. He unwrapped the toy-sized bar of soap resting in the dish in the stall, then stepped under the weak spray.
He had to spend another night beside Sasha, sharing her sheets, wrapped in her sweetly female scent.
How the fuck was he going to stop himself from stripping off every stitch she wore, baring all her sugar-soft skin to his greedy gaze, then crawling between her legs to shove his way home?
Because that’s how he thought of her now.
His person. His woman. His home. With her was where he wanted to be forever.
Jacking off wasn’t a substitute for her anymore, and he swore he’d lose his goddamn mind if he couldn’t touch her, taste her flavor on his tongue, and feel her every limb and orifice cling to him soon.
He could lie to himself, but why bother?
He didn’t just want her because he hadn’t had sex in well over a year.
He didn’t burn for her because she was beautiful.
He coveted her because she was good and warm and giving.
She was his sun and lit his darkness with so much light.
Now that he’d seen the fierce survivor and protector in her, he only hungered for Sasha more.
And last night, she’d looked about as eager to take him deep inside her as she was to catch a disease. So where did that leave him?
Utterly fucked. No. Fucking his hand for relief. Again.
Nick lathered the harsh soap in his hands, which smelled faintly of artificial coconut and chemicals. He tried to block out the crappy scent as he tossed the small bar into the dish, then grabbed his throbbing cock.
He had to end the danger to Sasha tonight.
He had to make certain they were safe—for Mike, for her daughter, for his own freaking sanity.
Then he’d start over, maybe take Javier and Xander up on their offer, see if Sasha could picture any sort of future with him.
If not, he’d find someone else he’d want eventually, right?
Someday…maybe. On the twelfth of never. After hell froze over.
As fixated as he felt on Sasha Porter right now, he doubted he would ever lose his heart to any other woman.
Pushing the thought aside, he tried to focus on the sensation of his soapy hand gliding down his sensitive shaft, then roughing his way up to the head, which he caressed with his roving thumb.
He imagined Sasha touching him, arousing him.
Tingles streaked and blistered through his veins.
Excitement clawed through his system. His cock jerked in his grip.
Yeah, orgasm wasn’t going to take long. But he was quickly finding that wasn’t synonymous with satisfaction. If anything, he felt emptier beside Sasha when he’d just given himself temporary, hollow relief.
But it was safer than not controlling his raging need at all.
A click sounded above the din of the water. Nick paused mid-stroke. The squeak of the door filled the little bathroom next. The rush of cool air disrupted the steam swirling around him.
His heart stopped. The only person in the room with him was Sasha, and no way she would voluntarily come into the bathroom while he was wet and naked and wanting her.
Had Clifford’s goons found them already? Come to kill them?
Anxiety iced through him as he rinsed his hands and leaned to his left to peer around the shower curtain. He had to know his enemy, how many, how armed. If he survived, he’d curse himself for the carelessness of leaving his weapon on the nightstand. Would Sasha see it? Use it to save herself?
Or was it already too late?
Shifting his weight a bit more, he’d just visually cleared the edge of the shower curtain when he heard the sweetest, sultriest sound.
“Nick?” Sasha. She sounded jittery…but not afraid.
Maybe they weren’t under attack. But something had happened to prod her into the shower with him.
“What? You okay?” he asked, then pulled back the cheap plastic curtain enough to expose his face and clap eyes on her. His breath—and his heart—stopped.
She was utterly, head-to-toe naked. She met his gaze with hazel eyes full of resolution. And need.
Sasha Porter wanted him. She didn’t even have to say the words. He saw it on her face.
For a long moment, Nick could only stare. And ache. And marvel that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen without a stitch.
Her long hair, now dark, fluttered over the smooth skin of her slender shoulders, onto the swells of her naturally heavy breasts.
They were tipped with delicate rosy nipples that stood ready for his lips to suck and tease.
She tapered into a small waist and a flat belly, which soon gave way to the flare of her womanly hips and generous, creamy thighs.
As a natural blond, she had a faint dusting of fair hair shielding her pussy.
He imagined her wet and pink, legs spread, waiting just for him.
Her hands fluttered nervously to the scar bisecting her between the hip bones. A couple of faint silvery lines shot up around the point of incision, now mostly faded. “I’m not perfect.”
“You are to me.”
She smiled faintly and pressed on as if he hadn’t spoken. “But I’m hoping you’d rather have the pleasure we could share together than whatever you could give yourself…”
So she’d figured out what he did in the shower, huh?
“Always.” His heart hammered. “You offering?”
“Yes.”
“Because you owe me?” God, he didn’t want her to say that. If she did… He gritted his teeth, fearing he might lose his fucking mind. He’d have to turn her away again.
She shook her head. “Because I’m falling in love with you.”
Her words went straight to his cock. He hadn’t thought he could get harder. Nick was shocked to find out that he, in fact, totally could.
God, he couldn’t touch her quick enough, couldn’t reach her soft body fast enough. He cut off the water and grabbed a towel off the rack. With one hand, he rubbed at the droplets beading over his skin. With the other, he curled his fingers around her arm and brought her close.
“Be sure.”
“That I want you? I am.”
“That you love me. I fell for you the moment I saw you. That might sound dumb, but…there it is. If you agree to be mine now, I won’t give you up. You’ll stay mine.”
Sasha didn’t hesitate. She didn’t shake her head or frown, back away in objection, or tell him to pound his own cock again. She didn’t do or say any of the fifty things he’d imagined she might if he admitted how he felt.
Instead, she softened, her lips lifting in a gentle, reassuring smile. “You’re mine, too.”
He dragged the towel over his middle one last time, then tossed it on the basin. “Absolutely, baby. Totally, utterly yours.”
“Good.” She lifted her hand to him, and he realized her fingers trembled.
Nick stepped from the stall and took her hand in his. “You’re nervous. Unsure?”
“Worried,” she countered. “I don’t have a lot of experience, and I want to please you.”
“Just breathe and say yes. You don’t have to do anything more to thrill me. And relax. I don’t want you afraid of me.”
“I’m not.” She shook her head, sending her hair tumbling softly.
“You’ll never hurt me, just make me feel good in ways that will blow my mind completely.
I hope I can do the same for you.” She fell quiet.
“But I have to say one other thing… If you’re worried about Mike, I think he would have approved. After all, he threw us together.”
Nick was relieved she’d come to the same realization he had. “Yeah. He knew how much I wanted you. I wasn’t good at hiding it.”
“I had no idea.”
“Oh, he did. About five minutes after he introduced us, he warned me away. My attraction for you was all over my face, so Mike dragged me out to the yard and confronted me.”
“What did he do, threaten to…beat you up?” She frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Mike.”
No, his pal hadn’t been one for violence. “He said if I crossed the line with you that he and I would no longer be friends.”
And given how long they’d been close, Nick had known Mike meant that.
Sasha gasped. She understood the gravity of the threat, too. “So you stayed away—literally—for the rest of his life. Heavens… All through dinner that night, I thought you were detached, almost disinterested.”
He shook his head. “I honored my promise to Mike. I kept my distance.”
“But in his final hours, he ensured we’d be together again.”
“Yeah. And now I want you so bad I can’t fucking stand another moment without touching you.” He stepped closer, then bent to whisper in her ear. “I intend to make you wet, make you scream. Make you mine.”
She shuddered against him. “Please.”
“I’m going to love being inside you.” He picked her up, fitting his hands under her lush, firm ass, and slanted his face to hers. “Kiss me.”
Sasha didn’t hesitate, just wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and parted her pretty bow lips to him.
As Nick carried her out of the bathroom, he barged into her mouth and sought out all the sweetest recesses. As he tasted her, he approached the bed and dropped her onto the starched white sheets.
With one arm thrown above her head and the other tossed out beside her, Sasha wasn’t hiding any part of herself from him.
She wasn’t even trying. Instead, she wriggled her hips as if seeking relief from the ache she couldn’t deny.
Her back arched as she dragged in a breath and implored him silently with half-parted lips and a sensual stare.
Nick wanted to savor her, but urgency crushed his self-control. He lowered himself on top of her, covering her body with his own, and plowed between her delicate lips again, swallowing her gasp.
Shit. He should slow down.
Just one more second… But he felt like he wouldn’t be able to breathe again until he had more of her flavor on his tongue, her silken skin under his fingers.