stood there. Or rather, Nathaniel stood. Dani was limp and exhausted and completely at his mercy. She wouldn’t have changed a thing.
In the aftermath of insanity, one thing was clear. She was in love with her boss. If she weren’t mistaken, she had been for a very long time.
The blinders came off painfully. For months, she’d been telling herself she had to find new employment. Now she knew why. This was more than a simple crush. She was deeply, irrevocably in lust and love with this virile, complicated man.
She started to tremble and couldn’t stop.
Nathaniel read her response as being cold. Without speaking or changing their positions, he carried her down the hall to his bedroom. They scooted past the baby and into the opulent master bathroom. Carefully, he lifted her and set her on her feet. “Was that everything you wanted it to be?”
His teasing smile—along with the smug satisfaction he radiated—made her blush.
“It was lovely,” she said primly. “I’ll check that off my bucket list.”
He kissed her nose. “Something tells me I’d like to see your list if those are the kind of things on it.”
“Private,” she said airily. “Need-to-know basis, only.” And you don’t need to know, Nathaniel Winston, because you won’t be around to help me check them off.
Refusing to ruin their romantic moment with her grief, she twisted her hair into a towel and turned on the water in the shower. “I don’t want to get my hair wet. Peaches will be awake soon. Why don’t I go first?”
Nathaniel shook his head, his expression brooking no argument. “I’ll keep your hair dry, Dani, but you’re not getting in my shower without me.”
“Okay. It’s your call.” But the shower took a turn she hadn’t expected. By the time she reached for the faucet and adjusted the water temperature, her boss-now-lover was hard again, impressively so.
Pretending not to notice, she backed into a corner of the marble enclosure. Grabbing a washcloth, she soaped it and prepared to execute the quickest cleanup on record.
Nathaniel took matters—and the washcloth—out of her hands. “Don’t be shy, Dani. Maybe this one is on my bucket list.”
It was depressing to think he had probably enjoyed shower sex with any number of strange women. But when he gently washed her breasts and then moved lower, her eyes closed and her body went lax with pleasure. After he completed his mission, fore and aft, he used the detachable shower sprayer to rinse her completely. As he had promised, the towel protecting her hair stayed perfectly dry.
“Thank you,” she muttered. She felt as if her entire body was covered in one big blush. She’d had sex with the man twice already. Yet still, his touch in this new context left her feeling vulnerable and uncertain.
“Will you do the honors?” He held out the washcloth with a challenging gleam in his eye. Not for the world would Dani let him see how very far out of her depth she was. Ocean deep. Wishing for a life raft. In imminent danger of drowning.
Nathaniel had been careful to point the showerhead away from her. Which meant that she could kneel at his feet and soap him up to her heart’s content.
It was a dangerous game they played. Nathaniel clenched his fists, his eyes closed. His head fell back to rest against the wall. The length of him was fascinating—alive, powerful and so very sensitive to her touch.
For a man to allow a woman this level of intimate attention required a level of trust. In one brief moment, Nathaniel had chosen to yield his power for the sweet pleasure a lover’s caress could bring. Dani held him in two hands, marveling at a creation that was at once so commonplace and yet so incredibly beautiful and life-giving.
The physical relationship between them was new and short-lived. Cleansing him was one thing. Other more intimate attentions were beyond her comfort level. She brushed a soft kiss across the head of his erection and rose to her feet. “Turn around, so I can finish.”
His back was almost as compelling as other parts. Sleek muscles, male sinew and bone, all of it fascinated her. At last, she took the sprayer and removed every soapy bubble. “All done,” she croaked.
Nathaniel spun around so quickly she gasped. He dragged her against him and kissed her hard, desperately. She felt the tang of blood in her mouth. “Dani,” he groaned. “Dani, my sweet Dani.” Maneuvering her like a rag doll, he turned her to the wall and placed her hands above her head, palms flat on the slick, wet surface. “Don’t move.”
One breathless heartbeat later she felt him enter her from behind. This time the theme was slow possession, so measured and deliberate she wanted to claw the wall. Her climax built in gentle swells and waves, one after the next. Nathaniel drew back and pushed in again, his size and force stimulating sensitive flesh already tender from their earlier lovemaking.
His big hands gripped her hips. “I won’t let you forget this,” he growled. “I’ll take you again and again today until you beg me for more, and then we’ll start all over again.”
The provocative mental picture he painted sent her over the edge. She cried out and tried to stay still, but the end was too much for both of them, the shower floor too slick. Nathaniel scooped her up, took two steps out and deposited her on the thick, fluffy bathroom rug. He moved between her thighs with frantic haste. “Now,” he moaned. “Come again, come with me.”
* * *
Nathaniel slumped on top of Dani and tried to remember how to breathe. In the other room, the baby stirred. Damn it. How did couples with babies ever talk? No that he wanted to talk, not really. He was screwed and he knew it.
Dani would have to go to another division, another boss. The idea made his skin crawl. But he wasn’t in denial. There was no way he could work with her now and not be constantly sidelined by lust. Already, he wanted her day and night.
The depth of that wanting scared him more than anything he had ever faced. No woman had ever mattered to him this way. He’d never allowed it. Now, though, he was torn between wanting to keep Dani at arm’s length and being wildly jealous of any other man at NCT who might cross her path.
Incredulous that he had allowed himself to stray so far from his life’s plan, he felt a lick of despair and panic.
He needed to think. He needed a plan. Unfortunately, this entire situation was spiraling madly out of control.
Dani shoved at his shoulders. “Let me go get her, please. She slept forever. I’m sure she’s starving.”
Rolling to one side, he slung an arm over his eyes and tried not to freak out. In his peripheral vision, he saw Dani take his terry robe from the back of the door and belt it twice around herself. The way her narrow waist flared into a curvy ass was an image he would never get out of his brain. His hands tingled with the need to touch her again.
He decided to let Dani tend to the kid for a few moments while he pulled himself together. Once he was dressed again, he felt marginally more normal. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay in the bathroom forever.
When he opened the door to the bedroom, woman and baby were gone. Made sense. The formula and bottles were in the kitchen. He found his missing houseguests there. Dani perched on a stool. Peaches was in her
