She really wanted this.
She clutched his shoulders and allowed herself to really feel for the first time in her life, suddenly wishing they were out of the pool and naked so she could have what she so desperately needed.
When Grant broke the kiss, she was left shaking and needy. But he only climbed out of the pool and in one swift move hauled her out, too.
“Let’s go inside.”
She looked down at herself, at her soaking wet underwear and dripping body. “I’m all wet, Grant.”
His lips tipped up into a wickedly sexy smile. “God, I hope so.” He took her hand and led her to the side door, then shut it behind them.
The air conditioning inside gave her an immediate chill and she shivered.
“Let’s get you out of those wet clothes.”
It was all moving so fast. Not that she had a problem being naked, but this was different. It wasn’t a photo shoot, and he wasn’t a photographer. There wasn’t staff around and in this, she wasn’t modeling. They were a man and woman, about to become intimate together.
She was in over her head, but she wasn’t about to back down. Not when the endgame was something she wanted so much.
She undid the clasp on her bra and pulled the straps down, letting the bra fall to the floor. Then she shimmied out of her panties and left them on the floor as well.
Grant stared at her. “You are beautiful, Kat.”
He dropped his shorts and she took a moment to admire his chiseled body. Broad shoulders and chest, narrow waist and slim hips and a sizable erection that made her throat go dry.
He grabbed an oversized towel and came over to her, wrapping it around her and himself, bringing their bodies in contact.
“Better?” he asked.
The contact was electrifying. She could stay like this forever, body to body with him. She tilted her head back to look at him. “Much.”
He rubbed her body with the towel, the motion causing a rush of warmth that did nothing to quell the desire running rampant through her. She was flushed with a heat that had a lot more to do with desire than the friction from the towel.
She pushed the towel off and slid her hands across his shoulders.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
“I’ll do a hell of a lot more than that. But not here in the laundry room.”
He swept her up in his arms and stalked out of the room.
“I’m heavy,” she protested.
He laughed and looked down at her. “No, you’re not. But you’re goddamn sexy like this.”
He paused in the hallway and his mouth came down on hers—hard and passionate, his tongue sliding against hers and making her weak with all those unspoken needs that had been swirling around in her head for too long. She twined her hand around the back of his neck, wanting more of what he gave her.
“Goddamn,” he said when he pulled back, licking his lips.
And then he carried her up the stairs to his bedroom, nudged the door open and laid her on the bed. She barely had time to take a breath before he was on top of her, covering her body with his, kissing her until she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t process all these signals her body gave her.
She was swamped with sensations she’d never felt before, had never allowed herself to have before. There were things she wanted to tell Grant. Slow down. Don’t slow down. She wanted it all right now, but wanted to savor everything in slow motion.
This was all so new to her, almost embarrassing that she’d waited so long to allow herself to have it. But now that she was, she intended to fling herself into it all, taste it all, experience it all and not look back. There would be no regrets because she knew she was in it for the fun, for the experience, and nothing more.
Then she’d finally walk away a woman.
Something she’d waited seemingly a lifetime for.
FIFTEEN
GRANT COULDN’T GET ENOUGH OF KATRINA’S TASTE, the silk of her skin gliding along his hands. He felt the fast beat of her heart along her chest, took in her soft moans as he kissed the column of her throat and nibbled at her earlobe.
And the way she touched him made him so goddamn hard he couldn’t wait to slide inside her wet heat and lose himself, ride them both until they both came.
But as he lifted up and looked into her gorgeous violet eyes, he read something there that made him put on the brakes.
An innocence, a wariness he couldn’t quite believe he saw there.
He rolled to his side and took a slow taste of her lips, caressed her rib cage, and gave himself a minute to ogle the perfection of her body.
She was breathing in and out, hard. And she wasn’t aggressive, didn’t roll over on top of him to demand he continue. She hadn’t once grabbed his cock and stroked it. It was almost as if she had no idea what to do. Like she’d never—