"Are you okay?" he asked. What if he'd hurt her? He recalled her climax just before his, but what if he'd been too rough?
"I'm hot."
"I can-"
She raised up and unhooked the bustier, tossed it aside, then, naked from the waist up, flopped back down on his chest as if undressing had been exhausting. "One thing's for sure, if we're going to keep doing this, I need to keep some spare undies in my purse."
His pulse stuttered. She obviously had no idea how much her easy, satisfied tone relieved him. "Are we going to keep doing this?" he asked quietly.
She rolled to her side and pushed her tangled hair away from her face. "If you want to."
He mirrored her position, trying to seem as calm and casual as she was, though he felt anything but composed. "I do. You?"
"I'm pretty lousy at relationships, Lucas," she said with a flip of her hand as her gaze darted away. "I get busy with my business and have to break dates. I keep weird hours and can rarely go out on the weekends. Plus, I'm trying to find a way to have some sort of normal relationship with my family, and that takes time and attention."
That old people-reading skill saved him once again, allowing him to see through her "busy" excuse. To see that her words and gestures were practiced.
It was possible she really didn't feel as intensely as he did, but he didn't think so. He'd acquired and cultivated arrogance, but he'd never been delusional, after all.
Still, he recognized that he'd met Vanessa at the worst possible time-when he was weak and vulnerable and unsure. He had time commitments of his own, professionally at his new job and some pro bono clients he'd taken on, personally in mentoring Brittany. He had miles to go to prove himself and make amends. Just how far, he wasn't sure.
Yet none of that mattered. He wanted Vanessa. To hold and enjoy, cherish and … love?
He would do whatever he had to to have her. Wasn't tonight's wild loss of control conclusive evidence of that? Part of him was afraid of the road ahead. Part of him was exhilarated. And challenged.
He wanted her to want him as much as he did her. Letting her see the intensity of his feelings, though, wasn't the way to her heart. Plain and simple … Vanessa had been rejected by her family and was afraid of anybody else rejecting her again. He'd bet she deliberately broke dates and lost interest in relationships. Rejecting the guy before he could do the same to her.
Was it really that simple? To see her truth, maybe. To solve the problem it presented him? No damn way.
Keep it casual. No pressure, his instincts urged. Figuring out how to hold on to her would probably be a daily problem, but he would find a way around it. Through it, over it or under it.
He cupped her cheek, and he saw the longing reflected in her blue eyes. "I don't need all your attention. Just some of it."
Though obviously hesitant, she nodded. "I'll try."
"Then come with me." He slid off the bed, crossed briefly to the bedside table for condoms, which he slid into his pants pocket, then held out his hand to her.
She took it, and he led her into the bathroom. He slid the track lighting lever up just a notch, illuminating the huge shower with a soft spotlight. The spa quality of the shower was one of the reasons he'd settled on this apartment.
Moss-green tile covered the floor and walls: a glass enclosure surrounded the shower on three sides, and multiple nozzles jetted from the back wall. It reminded him of the breathtaking waterfalls he'd seen in Hawaii.
"That is some shower. I meant to tell you that the other night."
"You did say you wanted to get naked." He crossed the room and reached inside the shower to start the water. She should have looked ridiculous, standing in the bathroom, bare chested, wearing a leather skirt and sexy stilettos. But she didn't. She looked vulnerable and curious. A beautiful contrast of purity and naughtiness.
He began unbuttoning his shirt, and she bent to take off her shoes. She stumbled, and he darted to her side. "Let me." He helped her out of the shoes, then glanced up. "There, isn't that-"
The look on her face stopped him. The uncertain expression was gone, replaced by longing, a raw need that seemed just out of reach.
He rose, gripping her hand. "What?"
"Nothing." She blinked as if coming out of a spell. "You're pretty terrific."
Keep it casual. He waggled his eyebrows. "And you haven't even seen my soaping technique."
She laid her hands on his shoulders, underneath his shirt, then pushed it down his arms. "I can't wait." She closed the bit of distance between them so their bare chests brushed.
Steam floated around them, and the low light emphasized the intimacy. They undressed each other slowly, pausing for lingering kisses, featherlike touches. Lucas reveled in the incredible softness and delicacy of her skin. With her sass and strength, he wasn't always mindful of her fragility, of the elegant beauty he'd first seen in her.
But as he caressed her body and absorbed her touch in return, the moment he'd seen her at the country club, red dress slithering over her body, came back to him. He'd been irresistibly drawn to her from the start. He wondered if he always would be.
Taking her hand, he led her to the shower, and his sassy lady returned in a snap.
She eyed the multiple nozzles shooting water at several angles. "That first night I was here, I didn't know how to work all the knobs. I mean, this thing has an electronic keypad, for God's sake."
The shower was so large, he could stand back and not get wet. After setting the condoms on the bench at the back, he nudged her toward the sprays. "Try it out."
"Aren't you coming with me?"
"In a minute." He wanted to watch her expression as the crisscross spray hit her for the first time.
She stepped forward without hesitation, straight into the middle. Instantly, she groaned, letting her head fall back. "Oh, my."
Watching the water sluice down her naked, silky body, pounding her curves with a liquid massage, his body roared back to life. "Indeed. You can change the rhythm of the pulses, too." Which he did, with a couple of taps on the keypad.
She moaned again, closing her eyes and turning around.
He smiled wickedly, though she'd likely forgotten he was even there. "And the angle." Another few keystrokes.
This time she gasped. She braced one hand against the tiled wall.
Obviously, he'd managed to hit the right spot.
Her gaze shot to his. Her face was flushed with heat and desire. "That's … amazing."
"I figured you'd enjoy it."
Her head bobbed as she leaned into the spray jetting between her legs. "I want one."
After rolling on a condom, he crossed to her, yanking her into his arms. "Mine." And he didn't just mean the shower. "You have to come to me for your fix."
She threaded her fingers through his wet hair. "I can live with that."
Leaning forward, she kissed him, and the playful mood turned hungry. The water stimulation had obviously cranked up her desire. Touching her, looking at her, hell, just breathing the same air she did, excited him.
As the water streamed over them, her tongue tangled with his. She held him tight against her body, seducing him both with her touch and her palpable need for him.
"You feel incredible," he said in her ear.
She arched into him. "Yes, I do."
"Wanna feel better?"
Laying his hands at her waist, he turned her to face the wall. From behind her, with water rushing over his back, he cupped her breasts, pushing them up and together as his thumbs rolled over her nipples, tightening them to eager peaks. He liked having unfettered access to her body, with no clothes or sheets to deal with. She was his to possess, to tease, to pleasure.
Vanessa pushed her bottom against the impressive hard-on cozying up to her. The shower alone was orgasmic. With Lucas included, the experience shot off the charts.
His warm hands slid down her stomach, his fingers dipping into the pulsing need between her legs. Closing her eyes, she licked her lips. After their hard lovemaking earlier, his wet hands slowly and surely caressing her sex felt like heaven.
Her nipples tingled. Her thighs trembled.
He licked and kissed her neck, even as his fingers spread her wide, and found the vulnerable tip of her desire. He pulled at her clitoris, then rolled it between his fingers. The coil of need tightened low in her belly, the ache spreading outward until her breathing grew shallow, until she was sure she would never reach that peak.