"Although I can't image how the 'during' part could be any better."
His thumbs brushed along the soft undersides of her breasts, perspiration from the heated water dotting her chest and begging him to taste her. "I would take that as a compliment, but you had twenty-three years of buildup going."
"Who says I went totally without for twenty-three years?" Pure sensuality emanated from her smile. "I'm a woman who can take care of herself."
He choked on a cough. Take care of herself? She couldn't mean... He searched deeper into her narrowed eyes and holy crap, she most definitely meant exactly what he thought.
Carson linked their fingers tighter, holding hands as much touching as he could risk with his body on fire from just her words. "Now there's an image I could enjoy for a damn long time."
Nikki's smile widened and she guided one of his hands down her belly, dipping deeper into the water. "Or you could enjoy it along with me now for real."
His brain went on stun, then revved to life because no way was he missing out on a second of this fantasy come to life.
Nikki reclined back against his chest, her knees parting in the move of an awesomely bold innocent. She guided his hand lower, her hand over his cupping the core of her.
She brought their other fisted hands up over her breast, unfurling her fingers until she flatted his palm to her pebbled peak. Slowly she guided his hand along her skin, her impossibly tight nipple tightening further. He swallowed hard.
Her mouth tipped in a slight smile. She couldn't miss the sway she held over him and damned if he cared about his surrender so long as she continued to lead his touch, growing bolder as her pupils widened with unmistakable pleasure.
He throbbed harder against the sweet press of her bottom.
Her other hand, underwater over his, twitched, tangling his fingers in short dark curls, dipping into moist heat and rubbing slow circles with his fingers against the hidden bud beading as tight and hard as her nipple minutes before.
Much more of this and he would explode. He started to pull his hand away and she held him firm, her breathing faster, her heart hammering so hard he could feel it through her back against his chest.. .until her spine bowed forward in time with her gasp, another, then a low moaning exhale as she sagged against him again, a limp, soft weight.
He soothed her through the aftershocks with steady pressure, whispering in her ear, "Definitely an image to carry with me. You're one helluva woman, Nikki Price."
Her head lolling, she nuzzled his shoulder. "While I can take care of myself, I've found it's all the better with you along."
Tomorrow, he would take her up on that. For now, he held her while the water chilled around them, reminding him of the cold reality.
He was fast losing control of his feelings for this complicated woman.
So much for believing she could keep things uncomplicated with Carson.
Stretching her leg to toe on the faucet to reheat the bath, she couldn't decide whether to be totally mortified by what they'd just done or simply languish in the afterglow and warming water. Sheesh, when she decided to let down her boundaries, she really went all the way. "You were totally right about a bath relaxing me."
His light laugh ruffled her hair, uneasiness seeping from her toes.
Carson's arms tightened, their hands linked over her stomach. "Thank you for trusting me to be your first."
"You're welcome." Definitely not simple anymore. From the minute she'd met him, she'd wanted him to be her first.
Her last?
"Do you mind if I ask why you waited so long?" He stretched his foot to turn off the water.
He'd shared so much about himself and his growing-up years, it seemed selfish to hold back, especially when her past was so much less traumatic than his. "My parents had to get married when my mom was only eighteen. Mom was already pregnant with me. It's not something we discussed, but I always wondered if they fought because of me."
"You know better now, right?"
Sort of. "Chris told me he brought up my 'premature' birth once and Dad almost decked him."
"Since your father's one of the least violent men I've ever met, that says a lot for how much he must love your mom."
"Yeah." The silent tension had grown so thick over the years, she couldn't wait to leave for college. "Still, Chris and I weren't surprised when they drew up divorce papers. They had a tough start, followed by a rocky couple of decades before everything came together for them."
Saying it out loud resurrected memories of childhood nights crying in her bed while her parents fought downstairs. Crying harder when they stopped talking altogether. "So why did I wait? I just wanted to be really, really sure before I committed even a part of myself to a guy."