He stepped out of the tub and crossed the slippery floor, placing one deliberate step at a time. “Say that again, and we’ll proceed as you request.” He stopped just before they touched. “Idareyou.”
She pressed her back against the tile. “No.”
“I thought not.” He placed one hand on the wall to the right of her face. “Would you like to hearmyfavorite words?” He placed the other to her left.
She stopped breathing.
He leaned in close and described, in the filthiest French he could imagine, everything he’d been dreaming of doing to her body—including several acts he’d never actually attempted, though he was certainly willing to try.
Her skin dimpled, raising the hair on her arms. “I didn’t understand.”
“Oh, I think you did.”
“Don’t look so smug. You haven’t won. You can’t win. Not against me. This”—she practically touched her nose to his—“is simply a draw.Point non plus—we’ve run out of options.”
“Wehaveoptions. I assure you.”
“None of which”—she hesitated—“you are brave enough to take.”
“Be careful, minx.” His sigh rippled through his muscles. “It’s not wise to touch a hot handle. One of us is going to do something we will both regret.”
“Coward.”
“Coward?” He gritted his teeth. “The last time, you told me tostop.”
“Not because I didn’t want you!” Her daze darted back and forth between his eyes. “I was scared. You pinned me against a wall, for heaven’s sake.”
“I’d pin you again—and more.” Everything in him screamed for him to do just that. “Do you understand? For once, kitten, you’re up against something you cannot control.”
“I know.”
He squinted. “Forgive my doubt.”
“For the love of Hades, Rayne—don’t you understand anything?” She drew her brows together. “I don’tknowwhat comes next. I’ve only everkissed, and, even then, only with you.” Her breath came in heavy, deep spurts. “Remember that this time, would you?”
Only him?And,this time?
The words spread through his being, slowly leaching his rage. Before he had time to fully grasp their impact, she sucked in her bottom lip and grabbed his face.
Then, in a long, slow, deliberate whisper against his ear, she said, “Fuck.”
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Eleven
Rayne closed his eyes. His lips pinched. His brow tightened. Then, his cheeks went taut, as if he’d sucked them in between his clenched teeth. On the whole, his expression screamedguilt.
A moment more, and he’d convince himself he must go.
A moment more, and he’d be lost to her, possibly forever.
“Show me how,” she urged. “I want to be with you. Please.”
His lids lifted, and she flew through the bright blue skies in his gaze, skies that concealed his thoughts the same way daylight concealed universes, the night-visible points of fire that stretched into infinity.
“Steal your innocence?” His voice nipped with multifaceted, mystifying edges. “Guarantee neither of us will ever be the same again?”
“You can’t steal what I freely give.” She would revel in any world his touch could bring into existence. “As for never being the same…I changed the moment we met. ‘At your service,’ you said.” She wet her lips. “I expect you to deliver, now.”
