Page 95 of Goode Tidings

She levels me with a gaze that can only be described as wanton. "Aren't you?"

I stop to soak her in. The feminine slope of her neck. The delicate curve of her shoulders. Every gorgeous thing that lies beneath the towel wrapped around her. That mind of hers, smart and playful. Her hands that create lovely things. "I could lie on that bed beside you and hold your hand, and it would be enough."

She smiles, but she's shaking her head back-and-forth. "That's sweet, but right now, it's not enough for me. So unless you say otherwise, I plan to maul you."

I'm not sure how I got so lucky that a woman like Eden wants me the way she does, but I'm not about to question it. I'll take the unexpected gift I've been given.

Eyes on mine, Eden drops her towel. "Another full circle moment," she says.

"Mine was an accident," I grit out. I think she's trying to kill me. Lush curves, breasts that fill my palms. Hips that flare, and the most perfect v-shape at the top of her thighs.

"Was it though?" She watches my slow perusal of her body. I love it. The way she stands before me, letting me drink her in. "I think you wanted me to see it."

The appendage in question is painfully hard at the moment. "Nothing to write home about, remember? A non-event."

She makes a little noise, a pleased vibration in the back of her throat. "I lied." Then she opens the shower door, and before she steps inside, she shakes her ass at me.

I want to laugh at her antics, but I can't when my whole body burns with impatience. With desire. Not because it's been so long since I've been intimate. Not that at all. Because I've been waiting to be with Eden, and every day has felt like a year. Denying my feelings for her over and over again has been exhausting.

"Don't go," she says, stepping under the spray. She angles her hair away from the water. "Stay."

"Alright," I grind out.

Eden grabs the bodywash, glances at the fluffy looking scrubber hanging from the faucet handle, then smiles wickedly and deposits the soap into her palm.

"Fuck," I croak. Her hands rub together as she forms a lather, and with her gaze burning into me, proceeds to wash her body. Every inch of it.

"Eden?"

"Hmm?"

"Finish that fucking shower."

She grins, unbelievably pleased with herself. She rinses off the soap, then turns off the water. Steps out of the shower. Takes a step toward me.

"Don't you want to dry off?"

"It's warm in here."

She's right. It is.

She stops in front of me. Gorgeously naked. Dripping wet. "I was thinking about how you didn't want to be touched when I first met you."

Where is she going with this? I stay quiet, and nod.

"But then you let me. And you looked like you liked it."

"I did," I cough on the words. Loved it, really. Eden's touch, lighting me up.

"So last night, when you had me in here but didn't wait for me to touch you, that wasn't because you don't want to be touched?" Her eyebrows lift. Tiny drops of moisture cling to her dark eyelashes.

"No, no. Not at all. I-I couldn't wait. Couldn't control it." I'd known I was close, but I thought I'd be alright. I ignored it, caught up in Eden. And then, well, yeah.

Eden leans in, places a kiss over my chest. I feel it through the fabric of my shirt that is still wet at the sleeves. Then she lowers herself to her knees. "So, if I do this"—she leans in, presses her lips against the very obvious bulge in the front of my sweats—"this is ok?"

I grunt unintelligibly. There's fabric between her lips and my skin, but I can feel the heat of her breath. Smell her bodywash. I almost want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her to that bed. Show her everything I've been thinking about nearly since the day I met her.

Almost, but not quite. I want to take from her, just a little bit, for a little while.