grinned. “You’re a healthy woman, thank God.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand. If someone would have told me that I’d do … well, what we just did … I’d have died of embarrassment just thinking about it.”
“Why?” He toyed with a damp tendril of hair that hung to her shoulder. Her dewy skin looked lustrous and smooth, the bruises almost gone. His stomach knotted with the need to taste her all over.
“Because it’s not like me. I mean, I wasn’t a virgin—”
Emphatic, Dare interrupted her to warn, “I don’t want to hear about you with other men.”
That gave her pause. Then she complained, “I wasn’t going to give you details, for crying out loud.”
Damn right, she wasn’t. “How about I cut to the chase here?” He drew her down to him, chest to chest, and kissed her. With his hands on her ass, ready to explore again, he said, “You aren’t used to being so uninhibited.”
“I’m really not.” She jumped when he pressed a finger into her from behind. “Dare.”
Against her lips, he whispered, “Hmm?” She was even slicker now, a little swollen, and he wanted to hear her come again. As he teased in and out of her, he kissed her more deeply, loving the way her belly moved against his boner, how her cushiony breasts rubbed on his chest. “Scoot up.”
“I don’t know about this.” But she arched her back, driving his fingers deeper.
“Scoot up, Molly. I want to suck on your nipples.”
She whimpered, and her sex tightened around his fingers—but she finally did as he asked. Bracing her hands on his shoulders, she levered up—and Dare closed his mouth around her, sucking hard.
She let out a deep, vibrating moan, rocking against him, damn near pushing him toward release until she finally cried out, climaxing hard again.
On a sigh, she whispered, “Oh, my God,” and tried to settle down against him.
Laughing, Dare caught her shoulders and sat up with her in the tub. “Baby, don’t go to sleep on me.”
“No, I won’t.” But her eyes were slumberous, her body utterly boneless.
Dare grabbed the soap and washed while looking at her. At half-mast, her lids looked heavy, her lashes long. The heat of the bath and her orgasms had left her skin rosy.
And he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything.
After he rinsed, he used the soap on her. Ignoring her disconcerted exclamations, he bathed every inch of her, lingering between her legs again until he knew he had to stop torturing himself or he’d lose it.
He stepped out of the tub to dry off, then helped her out, too.
Licking her lips, Molly stared down at his aching erection. She reached out a hand, saying, “I had wanted to spend a little more time on you.”
Ah, hell. Feeling a nearly uncontrollable surge of lust, Dare caught her wrist just short of her touching him. “Not this time.” He’d had her, but he hadn’t gotten enough. Not yet.
He was beginning to think a lifetime wouldn’t be time enough, not with this one particular woman.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
MOLLY WATCHED AS Dare drained the tub and used the towel to dry it. She stood there, aching all over, nerve endings alive, and he was indulging his tick for orderliness.
He had such an amazing body that she couldn’t look at him without wanting him. But it was so much more than that. Even with everything that had happened to her, he made her feel more independent, stronger and capable than she’d realized possible.
He also brought out her carnal nature, so easily encouraging her to a lack of modesty, a total indulgence into sexuality. It was amazing.
He was amazing.
If he didn’t come to bed with her, right now, she’d probably attack him. Bare foot tapping the tile floor, she asked, “Does my messiness bother you?”
Folding the towel and hanging it over the shower bar, he looked at her—then all over her. “You should see the inside of Chris’s place if you want to see messy. And I still love him.”
Her mouth went dry over that L word. Never had she known a man so comfortable with stating affection, especially for a friend.
Molly cleared her throat. “Well, it’s just that you’re …” She gestured at his naked body. “I mean …” She gestured at her own. “All this could be done later, right?”
“You think I give a damn if your bathroom is cluttered?” He glanced at her askance as he picked up their clothes. “I’m hanging on by a thread here. I was just buying some time to get myself under control.” He strode past her into the bedroom.
“Oh.” Molly hustled after him. “I guess I’m not used to guys—”
Dropping the clothes on the floor, he turned and put a finger to her lips. “Again, I don’t want to hear about you with any other man.” He took her shoulders and dragged her closer to him. “No one has ever made me feel so goddamned possessive.”
She started to say “Oh” again, but he took the word from her in a deep, hot, really possessive kiss.
Her toes curled.
Without her realizing it, he freed her hair from the topknot, and it tumbled down to her shoulders.
He sank both hands into her hair. “I can’t believe you were going to cut this.”
His mouth grazed her throat, her jaw. “I can’t believe it mattered to you.”
“It does.” He kissed her neck, then her ear.
“I couldn’t believe you took the time to work the tangles out for me.” In fact, that might have been the moment she started falling for him. The tenderness after so much brutality, the matter-of-fact way he’d handled her and her personal trauma, had devastated her senses. She hadn’t been prepared. She still wasn’t.
“I enjoyed it.” Hooking a forearm under her derriere, he lifted her and turned with her to the bed.
It was insane, how easily he handled her, the ease with which he lifted her, carried her. His strength continued to amaze her; his care would forever impress her.
Settling into the cradle of her body, he lifted to one elbow and looked down at her. With care, he smoothed back her hair, kissed her swollen lips.
Molly touched his face. Tears threatened.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “The way you look at me makes me feel pretty.”
Pressing a hand between their bodies, he touched her, and his cheekbones darkened with aroused color. “Pretty
