“Let me double-check your bath water so I can see if it needs adjusting,” she murmured.
He didn’t really want her to leave his side. In fact, he was ready to ditch the bloody bath and give her all his attention. But her expression told him that she not only wanted to give to him now, she needed it. God knew he wanted to be on the receiving end.
He dropped his palm to her crown again and caressed her. “Go ahead.”
Raine gave him a little smile before she rose to stick her hand in the bath. After taking more than a few showers together, she knew what temperature he preferred. The fact that she cared for his pleasure, down to this level of detail, warmed him.
She fussed with the taps, increasing the heat from the faucet. Liam watched her bent and diligent in assuring his comfort. Why did that turn him on so damn much? He’d never noticed whether Juliet had cooked or bustled after him. Gwyneth hadn’t possessed a caretaking bone in her body, and he’d never missed it a whit. But for as long as he’d known Raine, the sight of her doing anything domestic for him had lit some flame inside him.
Maybe because she’d always shown her feelings for Hammer by taking care of him and he wanted the same for himself. Maybe because, despite what he’d told himself in the beginning, he’d always wanted Raine forever.
That realization set Liam back on his heels.
She turned to him. “I think it’s ready. I’ll make your sandwich.”
As Raine walked past him to swish out of the room, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her against him. His hard cock bobbed between them, brushing against her silken robe as he took her by the waist and thrust another hand in her hair, then captured her lips with his own.
She yielded to him instantly, bracing herself by clinging to his shoulders and tilting her head to accommodate his stroke inside her mouth. He tugged on the robe and pulled at her hair as he ate at her, starving for her taste. He bit at her lower lip, then seized her, gorging on the sweet, giving flavor of her kiss again.
Raine moaned, trembled in his arms, and opened herself to him. He could almost feel her working to keep her walls down. Liam couldn’t remember a time she’d ever put so much effort or heart into her submission.
Panting, he broke away and stared down into her face, her flushed cheeks and swollen lips. Besides being so beautiful she blinded him, she lay so open to him in every way. It stilled his heart. With every move and touch, she stoked the Dominant need inside him.
The past twenty-four hours had been one blindsiding shock after another. This had to be the most amazing of all.
She didn’t move or say a word, just blinked up at him as if awaiting his every command.
Damn near moved to silence, he cleared his throat. “I’d like that beer now. And the sandwich.”
Raine nodded. “I’ll be right back. If you’d like to start soaking, I’ll be in to help you soon.”
Help him? Liam wasn’t sure what that entailed, but it sounded bloody nice. He could think of a thing or two he needed help with… As he glanced down at his engorged cock, he thought it might be a great idea to start there.
Shaking his head, he stepped into the deep tub with a sigh. Perfect. Raine knew him well, and he took comfort in that.
He sank back, eyes closed, and let his spine melt against the back of the tub. He wasn’t sure whether he’d had his eyes closed for two minutes or ten when he heard the water cut off.
Raine bustled over to him with a steaming sandwich oozing cheese and well toasted, just the way he liked it. In the other hand, she carried a frosty mug of black beer.
With a smile, she set both on the wide ledge of the tub. “Anything else?”
“Stay with me.”
Maybe it wasn’t a fair request at nearly three in the morning, but Liam didn’t want her to leave, couldn’t fathom spending the rest of the night without her.
“Of course.” She didn’t hesitate. “Can I wash your hair?”
He all but sighed with bliss. “I’d like that.”
“Then I’d like to do it for you.”
As he took a bite of the gooey sandwich with a hint of crusty sourdough and chased it with a gulp of the stout, he watched her flit to the cabinet to find his favorite shampoo, then disappear. He’d scarfed most of the sandwich and downed the beer by the time she returned with a big plastic cup and knelt by him at the side of the tub again.
Without a word, she turned on the tap once more and filled the cup with water. Liam watched her as she rose and protected his eyes with her hand, tilted his head back, and sluiced warm water through his hair. He groaned at the slice of heaven.