No. But it was a bit of a shock to hear him admit it. Last night should have been an exercise in helping Dex work through his darkness, and she'd been so focused on herself and her own freak-out that she hadn't even checked in with him to see how he was doing. "You didn't think I was enough for you. Did you change your mind?"
"Emma." He groaned and touched his forehead to hers. "I never thought that. Everything I've done thus far has been to protect you, because I … have a history of hurting people. I didn't want to do that to you."
She smoothed a hand down his back, intending to comfort, but he felt so good under her fingertips she kept going, touching whatever she came across at her leisure. "You didn't. You couldn't."
And that was the bottom line. He wasn't going to hurt her. What was she afraid of? That he'd be impossible to walk away from at the end? That was already true. Was she really going to try to stop a bullet train that had already left the station or enjoy the ride as long as possible?
Nuzzling her mouth, he sucked in a breath as she spread her fingers across his beautiful butt. One more time. That was it. Then she'd have to cut herself off before … something bad happened that suddenly didn't seem to matter so much. Maybe she should just fall into the moment and shut the hell up.
"Last night, you slayed me," he murmured. "Tonight it's my turn to prove I'm strong enough to be with you."
Without further elaboration, he yanked her down a rabbit hole with a simple kiss. But then there was nothing simple about this man, and when he took her mouth with his, her whole body flared.
"James," she breathed as he gathered her close, aligning their bodies for maximum possible contact. Her knee slid between his legs and oh, my, all his gorgeous flesh was there within her reach.
He was strong enough, all right. Commanding, charismatic-nothing she'd have said she wanted in a man, but this one had captured her from the first, challenging her, provoking her, forcing her to reevaluate how she defined herself.
"Right here, sweetheart." His chest rumbled against hers, and then there was no more talking as he hustled her backward into the shower.
Steam had risen in the glass cubicle, turning it into a mystical otherworld. Or maybe that was due to the presence of the larger than life man joining her in the small space.
Hot water pelted her skin, sensitizing it. Or maybe that was because of the man too, because when he looked at her like that, as if he planned to devour her whole, it raced through her veins, leaving pure sensation in its wake. And then his hands were on her, touching her, exploring at will. Exciting her. That was way better than just having his eyes on her.
"So beautiful," he murmured and mouthed the hollow of her throat. "You taste like the ocean."
"I, uh, haven't exactly washed since last night," she confessed.
Nice. Now he'd think she was a slovenly frump. That was not sexy. But then she hadn't expected to end up naked with Dex, or she'd have prepared better. She reached for the soap because hello there was no better place to remove day-old salt water from her body than the shower, was there?
He swatted her hand away, and the soap slipped from her grip to bounce across the Mexican title lining the shower floor.
"I love that taste on you." To prove it, he mouthed across her shoulder, getting his tongue in on the action. He traced a crisscrossing path from side to side until he dipped lower to suck at the delicate flesh of her breast.
Little firecrackers exploded under his lips. She gasped as he hefted her a bit higher in the tight grip of his arms. One nipple disappeared between his teeth, and he bit lightly. Her entire body bowed, pushing the tip deeper in his mouth, which he gladly accommodated. Eyes at a sexy, slumberous half-mast, he watched her as he sucked nearly her entire areola into his mouth. An answering tug at her core buckled her knees.
The things he made her feel … like he was inside and out at the same time.
His urgency doubled, and he switched to the other breast, driving her mad with his mouth alone, and then his fingers found her center, twisting at her entrance in teasing little ins and outs. She ached for him to fill her, to push her over the edge into bliss. But not without him.
"James," she gasped. "Please."
She hitched a leg around his waist, opening herself to him, and his hard length throbbed against her core. Almost. There.
"What's your hurry?" he murmured. "I've got all night, and I plan to use it."
All night? Like sleeping together and everything? That sounded remarkably appealing. Everything she'd been afraid to hope might happen, afraid to find out wasn't going to happen because he'd disappeared behind his walls again.
Somehow he'd let down his guard, and she was ravenous to find out what might come of it. "Oh, yeah? Let's see what you've got."
He knelt to retrieve the soap, and still in a squat position that highlighted his mouthwatering thighs, he palmed the slick bar, running it up the inside of her leg. Back down the other side. Her butt tightened involuntarily as she anticipated where he might go with it next.
All over, for the win. Her head tipped back as he soaped her entire body while still in that glorious position at her feet. His fingers lingered at her breasts, pleasuring them. Dipped into the crevice between her butt cheeks, enticing her. A moan slipped from her throat, and she might have begged him again, but he ignored her in favor of focusing on the slow circles he was painting on her abdomen, down her thighs, between them.
At the first firm circle on her nub, she nearly came out of her skin, and when he plunged a finger into her soaking center, her hips bucked, seeking more of the white-hot flame he'd stoked.
"Shh. Be still, Emma."
He opened her wide with a thumb on either side of her sex and oh, God, was he going to … he did and his tongue was there, licking her so hard, so intimately, so perfectly that she saw stars. Oh, my God. Is that how that's supposed to work?
With a whimper that might have formed his name, she soared on a wave of pleasure. So much so that she forgot to be embarrassed. Forgot everything but the feel of Dex between her legs working to create a unique experience for her.
The man's hot tongue coupled with the jet of hot water built the pressure higher, spiraling her toward the ceiling until she came, nonsensical cries ripping from her throat. A hot, thick wave engulfed her whole body as his tongue drew it out, laving at her sensitive bud. The answering ripples nearly caused her to collapse.
But he rose up and caught her expertly, holding her close, and she let him because holy God, she had no muscles left in her body that worked.
"You've done that before," she accused with a thready laugh.
"You haven't," he returned easily. "Or it's been a long time. Which should be a crime."
How in the world had he guessed that? Mortified, she shut her eyes, only to have him take her mouth in a long kiss. The musky, odd flavor reminded her of where his mouth had just been, and she grew mortified all over again.
Then he lifted his lips to murmur, "I'll be doing that again. Later. The sight of you in the throes is-" He sighed lustily. "Too hot. I want to be inside you so bad I almost couldn't finish."
And then he was kissing her again with every ounce of the passion he'd just confessed. It was heady to be the object of his attention, and when he pushed her up against the shower wall and shoved a leg between hers, he hit that sensitive spot he'd just tortured into an orgasm, and it greedily drank in more stimulation, driving her right back to the brink instantly.
Okay. So she had one muscle that still worked just fine apparently.
Please-now-please. He granted her wish this time, hooking her knee over his elbow to open her up, then glorious heaven, he slid into her inch by aching inch as he watched her. His heated gaze was so full of his own pleasure that it was nearly pornographic. She couldn't look away.
She did that to him. She reveled in it even as he filled her to the brim, so solid and hot and hard. He groaned, freezing for a long moment and yes, she agreed. Pausing to process the amazing sensations worked for her too. But then he began to move, heightening the sparks building between their joined bodies.
Yes, exactly like that. Fingers scrabbling for purchase, she dug into his butt cheeks to keep herself upright because oh, my God. Her second release detonated without warning, and he captured her silent cry with his open mouth, his hips pistoning faster, drawing out her orgasm to unbelievable proportions. And then his own hoarse cry echoed in the shower stall, pleasing her enormously even as she clung to him so she didn't slide down the drain along with the rapidly cooling water.
He held her close to his heaving torso, like he'd done last night. It was sweet and touching that he didn't immediately shove her away like a lot of men might after getting what they'd come for. Not that she had a lot of experience either way. But it had been her norm. Until now.