“I don’t know. There’s nothing more tantalizing than anticipation. I should keep you guessing.”
“You’re a cruel woman, Lana.”
She smiled, reached out and caressed his cheek, her hand going into his hair. His scalp tingled and his body tightened, the wonderful ache spreading through his system.
“I’ll put you out of your misery. I wear this kind of underwear all the time. My drawers are full of it. It makes me feel like a woman even though I have to wear the uniform.”
“I know I’m supposed to look past gender and be a new millennium guy, but Lana, I could never think of you in any other way. You don’t need underwear to be sexy. You just are.”
She closed her eyes and slipped her arms around his waist, pressing her face to his chest.
“Sean, that has to be the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me.”
That admission stripped him to the quick. He realized there was so much that he didn’t know about Lana. But standing here with her, he knew that he wanted to know everything.
Within the soft glow of the candles, they seemed wrapped in a silent, steady flame.
His heart missed a beat, a sudden ache jamming in his throat. What if he messed up? One mistake and he could lose her forever. It was a risk he hadn’t been willing to take before.
But she had blown him away in the station shower. Bold and daring, she’d walked right up to him and had stated in straightforward terms that she wanted him.
He couldn’t help it. He was still worried about where they would go. What this intense feeling would metamorphosize into.
He knew only one thing. He couldn’t lose her.
“It’s true. You’re all woman all the time. Don’t try to be a woman doing a man’s job. Just be who you are. There’s never any danger in that.”
“Sean,” she said, raising her head. “I had no idea you were a philosopher.”
“I do what I can,” he said wryly, and she chuckled against his chest.
She pressed her cheek hard against his chest as she tightened her arms around his waist, rubbing her body against his. He felt her tremble. He placed a kiss on the top of her head, and then slid his fingers along her scalp, cradling her head in his firm grip. The heavy, silky weight of her hair tangled around his fingers, the loose fall like satin against her shoulders. Sean closed his eyes and hugged her hard, a swell of emotion, making his chest tighten.
Only in this moment did he realize the way she filled a hole inside him.
He felt her sigh and he smoothed one hand across her hips and up her back. Easing in a breath of his own, he brushed a kiss against her ear, then spoke, his voice gruff and uneven. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
He tucked his head down against hers and drew her hips flush against him. “You feel so good against me.”
A tremor coursed through her, and Lana dragged her arms free and slipped them around his neck, the shift intimately and fully aligning her body against his. Sean drew an unsteady breath and angled her head back, making a low, indistinguishable sound as he covered her mouth in a kiss that was raw with desire, governed by the need to make it more than lust, more than need.
Lana went still. Then, with a soft exhalation, she clutched at him and yielded to his deep, hot kiss. Sean slid his hand along her jaw, his callused fingers snagging in the long silky strands of her hair as he altered the angle of her head. She moved against him. Sean shuddered and tightened his hold, a fever of emotions sluicing through him.
Dragging his mouth away, he trailed a string of kisses down her neck, then caught her head again and gave her another hot, wet kiss. His breathing ragged, he tightened his hold on her face and drew back, holding her against his chest. He held her like that, his hand cupping the back of her neck, until his breathing evened out. Then he turned, tucking her against him as he moved slightly away from her.
He reached down and turned off the tap. “Let’s get you in the tub.” He reached around her and unsnapped her red-hot bra. Her breasts spilled out and it was all he could do not to cup them, rub his thumbs around her exquisite nipples.
He took off her panties, her hand going to his shoulder for balance.
When he stood, she dipped her hand in the frothy water and splashed it down the front of his shirt.
“Oh, look at that. Your shirt’s all wet. You couldn’t possibly wear it now.”
Sean smiled. “Do you want me to take my shirt off?”
She stepped into the tub, sighing as the warm water closed over her body. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
He laughed. “All you had to do was ask.”