been with handsome men, but they’d been handsome in a premeditated way. They spent hours on grooming to look perfect—three-hundred-dollar haircuts and weekly manicures, an expensive stylist to choose the perfect clothes. But Marcus was sexy by just being a man. He combed his hair with his hands and wore faded Levi’s because they were comfortable. His smooth skin was tanned from weeks of work in the sun rather than a few days on a Mediterranean beach or a few hours at a tanning salon. There was something to be said for a man who didn’t have to work at looking like a man.
A tiny smiled twitched at the corners of Eden’s mouth as her gaze fixed on the top button of his jeans. She fought the temptation to reach out and unbutton it, to draw the zipper down and expose him to her touch. It wouldn’t take much to make him hard, and after that she could bring him to a climax with her fingers or her lips. Marcus hadn’t ever tried to resist her.
Eden drew a deep breath. Or they could take the last step in their slow journey toward the inevitable. They’d come so close over the past week, but Marcus had always stopped short, as if he were waiting for an invitation to possess her, permission to lose himself in her body.
A tiny thrill raced through her at the thought of opening herself to him, the sensation of feeling him move inside her. She wanted to make love to him, but it also frightened her at the same time. Things were already too perfect with Marcus Quinn.
Searching for a distraction, she reached out and grabbed a bottle of cologne from the back of the toilet, then sniffed at it. “It doesn’t smell like you,” she murmured.
“And what do I smell like?”
Eden shrugged. “Sweat. Sawdust. Seawater. It’s a very intoxicating scent.”
“There are times when I want to smell nice,” Marcus explained. He tossed the plastic bottle from the dye into the wastebasket, then ripped off the gloves.
“When you want to seduce a woman?”
“Maybe,” Marcus admitted. “Don’t you make yourself smell good when you want to be seduced?”
She unscrewed the cap and tipped a bit of the cologne onto her finger, then slowly drew it down along his naked belly, circling his belly button with her fingertip. “Sometimes,” she said, pressing her nose to the spot and inhaling deeply. “How many women have you seduced with this bottle of cologne?”
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
Eden shrugged. “Then show me how you do it. I want to know. Give me all the details.”
Marcus grinned. “You know how I do it, Eden. I’ve spent the last week seducing you.”
“Oh, really? And I thought I was seducing you.”
Marcus chuckled. “Maybe it was a joint effort.”
“But it obviously hasn’t worked,” she said.
“It hasn’t?” Marcus stepped back. “I recall some rather powerful reactions on your part. Were you faking it, Eden?”
She reached out and hooked her finger in the waistband of his jeans, drawing him closer. “I’m just saying that we haven’t done everything possible.” She nuzzled her nose against him, then bit at the fabric of his jeans.
He shook his head slowly. “I could live the rest of my life with you, Eden, and I don’t think we’d ever get to everything possible between a man and a woman.”
“True. We’ve merely scratched the sexual surface, so to speak.” She stood up and nudged Marcus aside, then bent over the sink and began to rinse her hair. “So what are your fantasies? What do you imagine we’ll do next?”
“I was thinking we’d have breakfast,” he said.
Eden stood up, water dripping from her head. Without a thought, she discarded the towel, letting it fall to the floor. Then she reached out and unbuttoned his jeans, slowly drawing the zipper down. “What are you doing?”
“I need your help,” she said. “In the shower. I can’t get this stuff out of my hair.”
Eden turned and stepped inside the shower. She glanced over her shoulder to see him stripping his jeans off, his penis already growing hard. A moment later he joined her, standing behind her as she turned on the water and adjusted the temperature.
Eden moved beneath the water and tipped her head back while Marcus grabbed a bottle of shampoo and squeezed a measure into his hand. Slowly he worked it into her hair, massaging her scalp. Eden closed her eyes and sank back against him, his erection nestling in the small of her back.
She reached around and grabbed his hips, holding him close as she gently rocked against his body. A moment later he turned her around, his arm snaking around her waist as they both stepped beneath the shower. Warm water sluiced between their bodies, making their skin slick and sensitive.
She was here in his shower, a spot so completely familiar to him. They were no longer living a fantasy, existing on a luxurious yacht, far from the real world. This was real, and her need for him so much more intense.
Eden reached between them and slowly began to caress him, his erection hard and smooth against her palm. When she touched him, she felt the current that connected them, a desire so strong that it was like a magnetic force … undeniable … unflinching.
A soft groan rumbled in his throat and Eden looked up at him. Marcus’s eyes were closed, his lower lip caught between his teeth. She pressed her mouth to his chest, kissing and biting until she found his nipple. Every time they were together there was something new to find, some unexplored spot, some surprise sensation. But it wasn’t just physical pleasure that she took from his body.
When she was with him, naked and entwined in an embrace, she was no longer Eden Ross. All her life fell away and she became someone else, simpler, more satisfied with life.
Suddenly Marcus sucked in a sharp breath. His hands grasped her wrists and he pinned them behind her back, pressing her against the cool marble wall of the shower. “Slow,” he murmured, his breath hot against her neck.
“Show me,” Eden said, grazing her teeth along his shoulder. “Seduce me.”
He stared down at her, his gaze probing hers, water droplets clinging to his dark lashes. His lips parted and she waited for him to speak, but he didn’t. Instead he gripped her wrists in one hand, gently restraining her, and his other hand skimmed over her damp skin.
Eden’s breath caught as his thumb grazed over her nipple, drawing it taut before moving to her other breast. And still he looked into her eyes, watching her every reaction and responding to it with his touch.
Every nerve in her body was alive, awaiting his caress, aching for the sensations her body seemed to crave. She felt desperate for more, but Marcus took his time, bringing her along slowly. And when he finally slipped his fingers between her legs, Eden cried out, surprised by the shock that raced through her body. She closed her eyes as he played with her, so gentle yet intent on his purpose.
The water continued to fall, the sound of her breathing echoing against the walls of the shower. Marcus moved down her body, his lips hot against her skin, until he knelt in front of her. He parted her with his fingers and then tasted her. Eden hadn’t been aware that he’d freed
