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Wes brushed wet hair away from her cheek. “That can be arranged.”

Her eyes stayed on his. And the look in them made it very clear that neither of them was thinking only about getting warm.

CHAPTER 21

Kate

Kate kissed him before either of them moved toward the stairs. Wes pulled her close. They were both soaked and cold, and neither of them let go.

She was staying. The thought made her hold on tighter.

Wes drew back far enough to look at her. “Shower?”

Kate nodded. They left their boots by the door, and he took her hand and led her upstairs.

In the bathroom, Wes turned on the shower, and steam began to spread across the glass while Kate worked her wet sweater over her head. It stuck halfway. She muttered under her breath, tugged again and finally got free.

Wes was watching her, his mouth curving.

“Don’t laugh,” she said, and hooked her fingers beneath the hem of his shirt. He raised his arms. His shirt joined her sweater on the floor.

Kate ran her palms over his chest, feeling the cool damp of his skin give way to warmth beneath her hands. She had touched him before. She knew the shape of his shoulders and back now, and knowing only made her want him more.

Wes bent and kissed her. His hands moved beneath the waistband of her jeans, pushing the wet denim over her hips. Kate helped, awkwardly stepping free before reaching for his belt. They left their clothes in a damp heap on the bathroom floor.

Then Wes opened the shower door and Kate stepped beneath the hot water.

The heat hit her shoulders hard enough to make her groan. For several seconds she stood there, eyes closed, letting the water pour over muscles that had spent three days lifting, carrying and reaching.

Wes came in behind her. His palms slid over her shoulders and down her arms. Kate leaned back against him. He kissed the side of her neck, slowly at first, his mouth moving against rain-chilled skin while the shower warmed them both. His hands moved across her stomach and rested on her hips.

Kate covered one of them with hers.

This was Wes too. Not only the man who had known what she was to him before he ever saw her. Not only the bear she had touched beneath the trees. The man who had stood in his kitchen and offered to take her home when every part of him wanted her to stay.

Kate turned in his arms. Wes cupped her face and kissed her. She opened to him at once. The kiss deepened as he backed her beneath the water, his body pressing hers against the warm tile. Kate slid both hands over his shoulders and into his wet hair.

His mouth left hers and moved along her jaw, then lower. He kissed the hollow of her throat before brushing his lips over the upper curve of one breast. Kate’s breath caught.

Wes lifted his head briefly, his eyes meeting hers. She threaded her fingers through his hair and drew him back.

His mouth closed around her nipple. Kate arched toward him as his tongue moved over the hardened tip. He took his time, alternating between the soft pull of his mouth and slow sweeps of his tongue while his hand cupped her other breast.

Heat gathered low inside her. Kate reached down and wrapped her fingers around him. Wes sucked in a breath against her skin. That small loss of control pleased her.

She stroked him slowly, feeling his body tighten beneath her touch. Wes’s hand closed around her hip, holding her against him as she moved her fingers over him again.

Then he caught her wrist. Not to stop her entirely. Only long enough to kiss her palm before he turned his attention back to her.

His hand slid down her stomach. Kate’s fingers dug into his shoulder when he touched her between the thighs. Wes watched her face. She did not look away.

His fingers moved over her with slow, deliberate strokes. Kate shifted her feet farther apart, letting him touch her more intimately as the warm water continued to fall across them.

Pleasure built quickly. There was none of the nervousness of their first night, none of the breathless sense that she was doing something she had not expected to do when she came to Bear Creek. She knew him now. She trusted the hands on her body.

Wes slipped two fingers inside her. Kate gasped and caught his shoulders. He kissed her again while his fingers moved, his thumb finding the place that made her hips press helplessly toward him. She broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his.

Wes did not hurry. His fingers stroked deeper, then withdrew almost completely before sliding back inside her. He changed the angle, watching her reaction until Kate’s legs began to tremble.