Hand tight around the back of her neck, his fingers digging into one of her plush ass cheeks, he pumped once, then twice before spilling into the condom with a sound that might qualify as a roar.
That buzz of electricity he always felt with Isa spread like fire through his veins, across his chest, and down to his toes. He dropped his head onto her shoulder and caught his breath, one hand still around her hip, the other flat on the wall behind her. He was spent and not because of the sex or the challenge of standing while doing it, but because Isa spent him in a way he had never experienced.
Heart and soul.
He lifted his face to kiss her. She smelled of spice and citrus. She tasted of oaky, buttery chardonnay. With her scent, flavor, and pussy surrounding him, he couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be than right here, right now with her.
“Mmm,” came her soft hum, a smile following. A shiver shook her.
“Cold, or aftershocks?” He palmed her bare shoulder and rubbed one of her arms to warm her, his chest swelling with undiluted pride. He’d wanted to show this fantastic woman exactly what he could do for her—and he had.
“Would you believe both?” she asked.
“I would.” He pushed her hair from her shoulder and smoothed his palms down her arms again, leaving a trail of goose bumps behind. “How about a bath?”
He hadn’t made much use of the tub in the master bedroom, but now was a good time to start.
“And candles?”
He thought for a second. “No promises, but maybe.”
“Bubbles?”
“For you, anything.” He held her eyes as he slipped out of her body. A satisfied groan left both their throats. “Damn, Sable.”
There was more to say, but he couldn’t find the words. More to say about how different she was, how different she was making him. How differently the time passed whenever they were together.
He offered a hand and she accepted. Side by side they walked to the bedroom at the end of the hall.
***
Isa lifted her foot, wrapped her toes around the faucet, and spun the hot water off.
“That is a talent.” Eli’s lips closed over her ear as his hand slipped through the water—with bubbles—and over her belly. “You have many.”
Warm and luxurious, the water slid like silk between them. She’d tied her hair up, so it wasn’t in the way when he moved his mouth from her ear to kiss a trail up her neck.
“I didn’t know you were hiding this bathtub.” A candle flickered at the corner of the tub. “Or a jar candle.”
He grunted against her damp skin before tonguing her earlobe. Even though he was turning her brains to mush again, Isa pondered the candle. It obviously wasn’t his. It was pink, and “sensual vanilla rose” was an odd scent for a Marine.
“Maybe Crystal left it here,” she said.
His lips halted their exploration.
She shouldn’t bring up Crystal Billings, but she couldn’t help it. Seeing him sitting across from a woman who used to share his bed—his life—had sent Isa’s quills standing on end. Oh, she’d maintained her politeness and gave him privacy, but Isa hadn’t stopped thinking about the one woman Eli had shared his home with. This home.
“Maybe,” he said, finding her hand beneath the water and linking their fingers. Soap bubbles slid as she tightened her grip and realized much in the same way he’d found her beneath the suds, Eli had sneaked past her defenses and into her heart.
“You didn’t tell me what the two of you talked about.”
He hummed.
She wanted to know what that hum meant. “What did you talk about?”
“The past. The present,” Eli answered after a deep breath. Isa thought he wasn’t going to say any more until he did. “She asked if I was happy.”
Isa’s heart pounded a hectic beat and she dug deep to find the courage to ask him how he’d answered. But there was no need. He told her anyway.