Savannah laughed so hard, tears burned her eyes. When she caught her breath, she exhaled, “I love you.”
As soon as she heard the words, she froze. Shit. She hadn’t meant to say that. Had she? A quick check of her emotions and, yes, she loved him. But…
She lifted her head and looked at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
He pressed his fingers against her lips. “I love you too. I kept hoping we survived long enough for me to tell you. You can trust me with your heart, Savannah. I’m going to prove it to you.”
She searched his eyes and found honesty and affection. He lifted his fingers and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was tender, emotional, but quickly turned hungry.
When Ian finally lifted his head, Savannah was dizzy with lust and the bathroom was filled with steam.
Ian smiled. “I think the water’s hot.”
He reached into the shower and adjusted the temperature. The warmth in the room felt so good, Savannah moaned. “Can we leave the water running and sleep in here? It’s so w
arm.”
“We can do anything you want,” Ian told her. “But first, shower.”
Undressing proved more painful and problematic than either of them had realized. With every piece of clothing finally stripped away, more bruises and injuries appeared, and Ian’s knee was worse than he ever let on.
Savannah winced. “Ouch.”
“I’ve been worse,” he told her. “Are you ready to brave the shower?”
“Definitely. I want warmth like you don’t know.”
“Oh, I know.”
He slipped his arm around her waist and held her steady as she stepped over the side of the tub, then joined her.
With more extensive injuries, Ian suffered the most in the first few minutes. As the water ran over the cut on his head, he growled and swore. Once their injuries had become desensitized and their bodies adjusted to the heat, the shower became luxurious. They lingered under the hot water, skin on skin, lips against lips.
Water slicked his hair off his handsome face and clumped his long lashes. The sight of rivulets coursing down his muscled body sparked her desire. The pressure of his erection low against her belly primed her bloodstream with lust. He was so strong, so primitively male, yet so tender with her. The contrast turned her inside out with want.
She slid her hand between their bodies and over his erection. Ian groaned and kissed her harder, deeper. The same way she wanted to feel him inside her.
He broke the kiss, pushed the shower curtain aside, and leaned out to search his wallet. With the condom’s foil packet between his teeth, he ripped it open. Savannah took the condom and rolled it on, quickly, efficiently. Her hands worked much better when they weren’t frozen.
Ian wrapped a strong arm around her waist and lifted her.
She grabbed his shoulders for balance. “Ian, no, your knee.”
He pressed her back against the wall and pulled her thigh to his hip. “I’ve got another one.”
Her laughter melted in another searing kiss. He gripped her ass with both hands, lifting and supporting her. She wrapped both legs around his waist, and Ian expertly guided himself inside her.
“Oh God…” She drew out the words in a groan of pleasure. She’d never felt anything as good as this man filling her. Then he moved, proving her wrong. Driving pleasure through her with every thrust. He swallowed her sounds of ecstasy with his kiss and methodically, rhythmically urged her toward bliss.
Ian dropped his forehead to her shoulder. “Baby, you feel…so good.”
Emotions swamped her. Too many and too mixed to sort anything out. She held him tight and rode his every thrust, pushing off the shower wall to meet him.
Her orgasm rose in a sharp wave of pleasure and crashed with a fury that tensed every exhausted muscle in her body. Ian’s growl of approval shivered through her, followed by his own climax, so intense, it stole Savannah’s breath.
His body relaxed, leaning into hers and pressing her against the shower wall while their breathing returned to normal. He lifted his head from her shoulder, his eyes heavy-lidded with satisfaction, and Savannah kissed him with all the affection and gratitude and love spiraling through her chest. He returned her kiss with a tenderness and reverence and sweetness that filled every hole in her heart.
He eased from her body and set her on her feet. When she turned toward the spray, rinsing one more time, Ian wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck. “We’ll have to sleep in shifts.”