She shouldn’t have tacked on that question, but part of her wanted him to counter and tell her she was mistaken. She wanted someone on her team, in her corner, cheering her on. Damn it. When did she get so wimpy and weak?
“I don’t know your father,” Dane stated slowly as if choosing his words carefully. “But I do know we don’t always get great parents. My mother was the best. She raised my brother and me as a single mom and we were always her top priority. Then she remarried and my stepfather was...well, he wasn’t parent material. When she passed, we were stuck with him and that’s when we realized what a true bastard he was.”
Stella set her glass on the edge and sat up in the water. Dane’s eyes instantly went to her chest and her body immediately responded.
“Sounds like we both had to pave our own way.”
Dane reached into the water, keeping his eyes on hers the entire time. “You’re not relaxing.”
His hand found her thigh. That firm grip held her for a moment before he trailed his fingers up. Stella instinctively spread her legs and let her head fall back against the bath pillow.
“Drink your wine,” he demanded in
that husky tone dripping with arousal. “I’ve got this.”
Stella reached for her glass, but had to hold it with two hands to prevent herself from dropping it into the bubbles as those clever fingers parted her. Stella took a sip, her eyes locking on Dane’s over the top of her glass.
That dark unruly hair, the heavy-lidded gaze, the black stubble along his jawline all joined together to give him that mysterious, alluring factor. She’d never been reckless with anything in her life, let alone with her body. She’d been too focused on work, on moving forward to prove herself.
Letting a near stranger touch her this way felt wrong...yet oh so right.
Dane slid one finger into her and Stella arched her back, biting her lip to keep from crying out. As wave after wave of pleasure slid over her, she closed her eyes and let the moment capture every bit of her.
Nothing existed but Dane’s touch. She gripped her glass and clutched it against her bare chest. Water rippled, almost providing soft music to frame the intimate moment. She hadn’t expected this, hadn’t known he’d still be here when she came home.
As her body jerked, the wine sloshed from the glass and over her chest.
Suddenly the glass disappeared from her hands and Stella focused her attention to Dane. He’d leaned down, his free hand resting on the ledge beside her head. His other hand continued to work her and her hips rose to meet each pump.
Dane dipped his head and ran his tongue along the trail of wine. He made a satisfied purring noise low in his throat. “I never thought I’d crave white wine, but damn. That’s good.”
He slid his lips along the path again and took his time, quite the opposite of the frantic movement of his hand beneath the bubbles.
Once the wine was gone, he lifted his head and simply watched her. Watched her as if this would be enough to satisfy him.
Stella had never been on display like this, never realized how arousing it could be to have someone watch you so intently with such determination and fixation in their eyes.
The touch, the stare, the intensity of being utterly consumed by a man she barely knew...it all became too much.
Stella reached up and curled her fingers around Dane’s biceps, her other hand went to his wrist beneath the water. She didn’t know if she wanted to help him or if she just didn’t know where else to put her hand, but the way his muscles and tendons were flexing beneath her touch, working so hard at bringing her pleasure, had her body spiraling out of control.
Bursts of euphoria pulsed through her, her entire body tightened around him, and he murmured something as he leaned down and captured her lips. Every part of her continued to quiver as the release flowed.
Dane consumed her, but still, she wanted more.
Stella’s body started to settle, leaving her sated, exhausted, and most definitely relaxed.
When she regained control of her breathing and returned to reality, Stella opened her eyes. Dane’s hand rested on her thigh and that cockeyed smile matched the hunger in his eyes.
“Ready for bed?”
Stella started to sit up.
“Not sex,” he added. “I already told you that’s not why I’m here.”
Confused, she stood, her legs trembling more than she’d expected. “Then what do you call this?”
In that slow, easy manner of his, Dane rose to his feet and reached toward the heated towel bar. He pulled off a fluffy white towel and with an expert flick, he wrapped it around her.