Page 44 of Shark’s Pride

“What? Anything. Anything I have. It’s yours. But you have to tell me what you need.”

“Just hold me. Please.”

She rocked into my chest, clutching tightly under my armpits and then around to my shoulders. She gripped me so tightly, I could only fill my lungs to half capacity.

But that was okay. Because she needed…me.

After a few minutes, she loosened the clench. She slid her arms lower until encircling my waist. By now, because of her cheek snuggled to my chest, I was acutely aware of both our pulse rates. I willed mine to maintain a calm, steady rhythm.

And that was okay too. Because she needed me.

Several minutes of silence. The air flowed with the music and whispered with the candles. And I just let it, ready and willing to cradle her all night like this…

Until she shifted, wordlessly but tenaciously, against me.

Knowing I was still only covered by a big bath towel and very aware that she was only covered by the same. But then she was moving in that quiet and insistent way yet again. Probably aware, as I definitely was, that the plush terry sheets were matted down from our tight, continuous press. That meant there was only a thin barrier between the dewy heat of her skin and the aching desire of mine.

Barricades dissolving more by the minute…

By the second…

I wanted to be noble at that moment. I ordered myself to be. To do the right thing. To step back and let her have this moment.

But I barely achieved an inch of that because Abbi gripped my waist tighter, forcing me back toward her radiant softness and warmth. In the same moment, she lifted her face and locked her mesmerizing emerald stare to mine.

In an unsteady voice, she admitted, “I need you.”

Nobility? What the hell was nobility?

Let alone the infinitesimal shred of decency to which I’d attempted to cling.

Gone—all of it—in a damn flash. Incinerated like dry kindling in a forest fire.

I crushed her body closer and did the same to her mouth with a full and passionate kiss.

She yielded, letting me sweep my tongue between her lips while walking her backward with the advancement of my own steps. I didn’t halt until she bumped into the counter, and then I hiked her up onto the vanity.

“Yes,” she groaned as I went at her skin with seeking, fervid lips. I explored every inch of bare flesh I could, from her forehead down to where the towel nestled safely between her breasts.

When we were both panting from wild hunger and spiraling need, I abruptly stopped. With brusque urgency, I angled her farther back on the countertop and then took a measured step back.

“Show me,” I dictated, my tone coarse.

“What?” She took a moment to raise her eyes from where my erection was trying to escape between the overlapping towel edges.

“Drop the towel and show me your body,” I told her. “I want to look at you.”

She went to wriggle off the counter and even reached her hand out for support. “Let’s go to the bed, maybe?”

“No.”

That one finally seemed to sink in. Abbigail halted at the edge of the counter and shot her gaze up to mine. All the candles flickered with the air disturbance. I watched the different flames reflect back in her eyes.

“This is an excellent position,” I stated. “Now drop the towel, or I’ll do it for you, Red.”

She raised her chin. So defiant. So radiant. I cocked my head to the side and studied her for a long second. I was intrigued by the sudden shift in her demeanor—and unsure about how to proceed because of it.

But I didn’t want her to be scared. At all. I just wanted to take her mind off the shitty day she’d had.