Her words touched him in places he didn’t want her to reach right now. His first instinct was to grab her and clutch her like a lifeline, take comfort in her nearness. But she stood before him bruised and tear-stained and defiant. He didn’t bloody know what to do. He didn’t even know what to think. A few weeks ago, at the first sign of his rejection, the girl would have run away. Now, she was a woman, standing her ground, refusing to give up on him. That had to mean she felt something.
“Raine…”
“Do you want to keep arguing or let me help you undress and get showered? I’ll do whatever pleases you, Sir.”
Against his will, her concern for him burrowed under his skin. There was the lass he’d first fallen head over heels in love with.
“I’ve been taking care of myself for years, Raine. I can still manage.”
“Of course you can. But you don’t have to,” she replied softly. “I’m not here merely to see to Hammer’s needs. You have them, too. Do you have any other objections before I take care of you?”
He didn’t have the energy to keep arguing. And in truth, he didn’t want to. “Fine. Run me a bath, sub. While I’m soaking, I’d like a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of cold stout.”
She gave him a radiant smile. “I’ll be happy to do that, Sir. While I’m gone, think about what else you need and how else I can serve you.”
Her words bowled him over. Never had he expected the spitfire to give him this sort of total submissive devotion, especially after all he’d blurted in a fit of furious jealousy. Now, Liam couldn’t find a word. He might have given her a house, but Raine had just handed him her soul. And he knew damn well she didn’t give an iota of herself easily. Nothing could have told him more eloquently that she understood him, trusted him…loved him.
Remorse burned through his veins. Still, she stood before him, radiating her willingness to give him anything, everything. His Dominant side thrilled with a million possibilities. If he weren’t so tired, he’d savor every damn one. Right now, he simply wanted to touch her.
“Raine…” He cupped her face, his thumb caressing across her cheek. “Love.”
She closed her eyes and nuzzled into his palm. The visible relief on her face amazed and humbled him.
What the hell had he done to deserve her?
When he dropped his hand, Raine sent him a shaky smile, then stepped to the soaking tub and started the taps. As she waited for the water to turn warm, she approached him on soft footfalls. Her silky pink robe caressed her unbound breasts, belted at her tiny waist, brushed her thighs. Lace framed her lapels and wide cuffs. Soft, feminine…so like the woman herself. Despite being wrung out in every way, he ached to sink deep inside her again.
Never taking her stare from his, Raine stopped before him and fingered the top button of his shirt. “Can I undress you, Sir?”
Liam swallowed. “You may.”
She smoothed her palms across his chest, all the way to his shoulders, before working his buttons. One by one, she freed them from their moorings, not so slowly that he’d call her actions seductive…but not so clinically that he’d call them sterile, either.
The gravity in her stare pulled him in deeper to her as she released the second button, the third… Then he lost count, reveling in Raine’s attention.
As she pulled the last one free, she fanned her palms up his bare chest, pushing the shirt off his shoulders. He shrugged out of it, letting it fall to the floor. Liam felt his breathing accelerate, his heart start to thump.
Raine turned away long enough to check the temperature of the water and set the stopper down in the tub. She rummaged around in the cabinet and found some vanilla bath beads and some sort of oil. After pouring both into the filling water, she stashed them away again and turned her entire focus on him once more.
Liam felt it in her stare as she approached him again, then dropped to her knees. The thump of his heart became a drumbeat of a thud—hard, fast, insistent. She bowed her head, and he couldn’t resist running his fingers through the silky hair at her crown as she worked at his laces and pulled his shoes free. His socks followed.
Then she reached for his zipper.
Fifteen minutes ago, he would have thought he’d be too exhausted for this. But she’d barely touched him, and he was hard as a post. Bloody hell.
Raine dragged the little tab down. Liam held his breath as the teeth hissed in the silence, looking at her as she stared up at him, her eyes big blue pools of surrender.
His chest expanded as he dragged in a rough breath and curled his hands into fists as she eased his pants down his legs, past his feet, leaving him bare. Neatly, she folded every garment and set them on the counter behind her, then rocked back on her heels to give him another submissive glance.