mouth dropped open as she realized just exactly what she’d been inviting.
Was her brain ever going to work right again?
His hands moved to the black boxer briefs straining atop the force of his erection. Those went next, and then he was completely, mouthwateringly naked. His body more beautiful than her fantasies could have imagined. And he was closing the distance between them. Coming for her. Opening the glass door, his eyes blazing hot enough to make her body burn even under—
“What the—?” he barked out as he hopped into the far corner of the shower.
Megan knew she probably shouldn’t have laughed, but there was something decidedly satisfying in, for once, not being the one caught off guard. And the stunned confusion etched across the frozen mask of Connor’s face was simply too irresistible.
The rapidly thawing mask of confusion.
“You did that on purpose,” he charged, maintaining his position beyond the stream of water.
“You said you wanted the clarity,” she answered, her body going alert as his focus narrowed on her breasts and then lower. They were both naked. Standing at opposite ends of the oversize stall. The second Connor grabbed for her, she darted out the door, laughing. “Who was I to stop you?”
A deep growl sounded behind her as she reached for the plush warmth of the robe folded over the lip of the tub. Wrapping up, she turned back to the shower and froze. Hands flat against the wall above the tap, muscles flexed and straining, Connor, braced beneath the spray as the cold beat over his body. Then with a shake of his head, he focused on her where she stood beyond the glass.
“I’ll be honest, this doesn’t work as well as I’d expected it to.”
“My thoughts exactly,” she answered, half mesmerized by the picture before her.
“Megan, I’m trying really hard to stay where I am right now, but if you don’t walk out that door, I’m going to walk out this one and put you against it.”
Her mouth fell open.
First the couch. Now the door. It was as if he had seductive superpowers with his ability to infuse the most mundane household objects with deviant potential.
“Or maybe that’s what you’re waiting for.” The promise in his voice was what had her feet moving past the threshold, where she dared one glance back at Connor, who stood watching her, his expression dark, smile wiped clean from his face.
* * *
Connor’s palm hit the tile with a wet smack as he swore under his breath.
Tempted as she was, she wouldn’t take the risk.
Grabbing the soap, he scoured his body with rough strokes, using the task to give himself the time he needed to work through his options.
But damn it, none of them were going to give him what he wanted. Megan coming home with him.
Sure, he was fairly certain, even though it went against her general morals, if he offered Megan no strings, he’d have her beneath him before the water dried from his body. But he didn’t want a single night with her. And he wasn’t after the dog-and-pony show of dating either. Even with someone like Megan, he didn’t want to sink another year into a relationship lacking the authenticity of people who knew they were in it for more than a three- or four-hour window at a stretch. He didn’t want to see her at her best. Primped and prepared for some night of romance. He didn’t want to be waiting for the real to start.
He wanted the real right now.
And he’d had it. Until it spilled through his fingers like an overturned cocktail.
Now, no matter how he tried to show her what it had been like, tell her what he’d learned, make her feel the insanity of the connection between them...it wasn’t the same. Wasn’t enough.
She was going to fly away tomorrow. And nothing he did was going to stop her.
Jerking the tap off, he rubbed the water from his eyes and shook out his hair.
Then, wrapping a towel around his hips, he readied himself for the goodbye he was certain awaited on the other side of the door. Or more likely down in the living room. But definitely not on the couch.
Enough pussyfooting around.
He swung open the bathroom door, determined to face the music like a man—and rooted to his spot, stunned by the sight of Megan, swimming in her giant robe, feet tucked beneath her in the wingback at the far corner of the master suite.
“Okay,” she said, nervously wringing her hands. “I’ll be your wife.”
Megan was talking, but damned if he’d understood a word she said after I’ll be your wife. In a heartbeat he’d crossed the room and had her in his arms. Her mouth was still moving when his crushed down, silencing the words he hadn’t been able to follow. She could tell him later, when the adrenaline rush deafening him to everything but the roar of victory quieted inside his head. Until then, he’d keep her mouth busy with something more productive than talk.
Hands splayed over his chest, she pulled back from him, laughing even as he tried to follow her retreat. “Wait,” she pleaded, her hands moving from his chest to frame his jaw. “Wait, Connor. We need to get a few things straight before we go any further.”
Walking them back to the bed, he shook his head. “Later. Postnuptial agreement, whatever, we’ll work it out. Tomorrow.”
“No, that’s not what—” Then, twisting her head around, she looked behind her. “No, Connor. I’m serious. Not the bed—”
Only, he was already tipping Megan back onto it. “I know you liked the door idea, but give the bed a chance. You won’t be disappointed.”
And then his mouth was on hers again, his hand following the smooth line of her thigh to her bare hip. And hell, yes, she was arching into him, moaning around the thrust of his tongue, clutching at his shoulders and then his hair. Opening wider to him and following the retreat of his tongue with the light flick of her own.
She was so sexy. She was his.
And he was going to taste every...single...inch of her tonight.
His mouth was on her neck, his tongue sliding over the rapid beat of her pulse when Megan’s muffled curse, followed by an urgent wriggle and squirm, had him pulling back to meet her eyes.
“Damn it.”
Her face screwed up into a knot of acute frustration, making Connor pull back even more as, baffled, he watched her scoot from the bed.
“Now, Connor. We need to talk now. Because I can’t agree to everything. We need some ground rules.”
“Ground rules.” He didn’t like the sound of that. “Such as?”
Tightening the belt on her robe, she shifted her weight and squinted at him. “No sex.”
Connor’s teeth ground down as he drew a long breath through his nose. “You mean...tonight?”
