I wrench my eyes away and go to the lav, where I spend way too long under the shower spray. I’m still so hot from hours in that cell in Tierra Fe that I don’t even crank it past lukewarm. The cool water feels heavenly.
Stepping out of the shower, I wrap myself in a towel and poke my head into the main room. “Can I get that shirt?”
Gray tosses it to me, and I duck back into the lav to dry off and pull the T-shirt over my head. It hangs to my knees, making me smile. And my hair smells like his shampoo. I like it.
When I return, his gaze rakes over me in a slow, deliberate tease. Starting from my bare feet, sliding up my legs, lingering on the outline of my nipples against the fabric of his shirt, until finally his eyes meet mine.
“How’s your leg?” he asks gruffly. “Evlynne was convinced it was broken. But it looks okay.”
“It’s fine. I think it was a sprain,” I lie, but only for now. I have every intention of telling him about Valeria and what happened in the cell, but the story requires a lot more words than I’d like to say at the moment. Instead, I utter only three. “I’m really sorry.”
“I know you are.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“I know you were.” He moves closer. “I don’t need your protection.”
He tugs off his shirt, and I’m greeted by muscle, sinew, and abs. His bare chest is really, really nice to look at.
“I don’t want to talk anymore,” I blurt out.
I glimpse a hint of a smile. “What would you like to do then?”
I take his hand and drag him toward the bedroom, and in a heartbeat, his lips are on mine. He lifts me into his arms, and I hook my legs around his waist as he walks us toward the bed.
“We’re supposed to take it slow,” he reminds me, even as he’s kissing the side of my throat.
“Just kissing,” I promise, even as I’m lying through my teeth.
I want to do more than kiss him. My entire body is reacting to him. A relentless, searing ache in places I hadn’t realized were this starved for him.
He lowers me onto the bed and props up on one elbow, his lips lazily dancing over mine as his hand teases the bottom of my shirt, inching it up my thighs. I’m not wearing any underwear, and his eyes narrow when he realizes it.
“Fuck,” he mumbles.
“What’s the matter?” I ask innocently.
Biting his lip, he drags the fabric up higher, baring my stomach and then my breasts.
“One taste,” he says, and I gasp when his mouth covers my nipple. When he licks the tight bead, I arch against him, needing more. But he releases me, groaning softly. “We said just kissing.”
“Aww, come on, ace. I was held captive by Tierrans today,” I say with an exaggerated pout. “I feel like I’ve earned it.”
Chuckling, he squeezes my other breast before skimming his hand down my body, bringing it between my legs.
A jolt of desire shudders through me. I’m wet for him. His eyes gleam with approval when he feels it. He rubs me in slow, deliberate circles, watching my face as my hips rock into his touch.
“You are so beautiful,” he says, his voice hoarse.
It’s difficult to think when he’s touching me like that. My hips rock faster, arching into the ministrations of his fingers. He pushes one inside me, then a second, and gently thrusts both in and out while his thumb tends to the swollen spot that needs the most attention. It’s getting harder and harder to breathe.
“So tight,” he whispers as his fingers move inside me. He licks the shell of my ear. “And wet.” He thrusts deeper, and I moan.
I don’t want this to be only about me. When he leans in to kiss me, I reach between us, but he gently pushes my hand away.
“No,” he says, his lips traveling over the tendons of my neck. “I’m already breaking too many of our rules tonight.”
My breathing grows shallow as his tongue slips into my mouth. As his fingers glide in a slow, excruciating tempo.
