baby was going to wake up at the most inopportune moment, Dani might have taken the time to study her lover’s body in detail. As it was, urgency overtook any desire to savor the moment.
“How do we do this?” she asked, the words embarrassingly weak and shaky.
Nathaniel’s smile took all the starch out of her knees. “You let me worry about the logistics, honey. Right now I’m going to kiss you until you forget your name.” With a nonchalance Dani could never have managed in a million years, he took care of the condom and tossed aside the packet.
Dani sighed when he folded her in his arms and held her loosely, brushing her forehead with a tender kiss.
“My lips are down here,” she pointed out, trying to speed things along.
“I never noticed how bossy you are.”
“I never noticed how slow you are.”
Without warning, he scooped her up and palmed her bottom. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. His thick erection pressed against her. He shuddered and panted, his entire body rigid. “More foreplay later, I swear.”
“I believe you.”
The muscles in his arms corded and bunched as he lifted her slowly and carefully lowered her onto his sex. The feeling was indescribable. Despite their pretense that Dani was calling the shots, this particular position put Nathaniel irrevocably in charge.
Gravity worked in his favor. The fit was tight, almost uncomfortable. Dani started to shake as nerves and arousal duked it out in her stomach.
Nathaniel cursed and groaned. “Too much?” he asked, jaw clenched, the words barely audible.
“No, no, no...but don’t forget the door.”
He staggered and laughed and stumbled forward until Dani’s bottom made contact with cold, hard wood. “You asked for this, elf.” With purchase now to aid his mission, Nathaniel thrust forcefully.
Dani held on, fingernails scoring his shoulders. Eyes closed, lungs starved for oxygen, she let him take her savagely, recklessly. It was too much in one second and not enough the next. Laughing, sobbing, she clung to him until she felt her orgasm rise up from the depths of her soul. It flashed and burst and consumed her.
A heartbeat later, Nathaniel pummeled his way to his own reward. “God, Dani. Hold on...” His words faded as he shuddered for what seemed like an eternity and finally slumped against her, pinning her to the door that had been the vehicle for her fantasy.
Afterward, she was never sure how long they stood there. Or rather, Nathaniel stood. Dani was limp and exhausted and completely at his mercy. She wouldn’t have changed a thing.
In the aftermath of insanity, one thing was clear. She was in love with her boss. If she weren’t mistaken, she had been for a very long time.
The blinders came off painfully. For months, she’d been telling herself she had to find new employment. Now she knew why. This was more than a simple crush. She was deeply, irrevocably in lust and love with this virile, complicated man.
She started to tremble and couldn’t stop.
Nathaniel read her response as being cold. Without speaking or changing their positions, he carried her down the hall to his bedroom. They scooted past the baby and into the opulent master bathroom. Carefully, he lifted her and set her on her feet. “Was that everything you wanted it to be?”
His teasing smile—along with the smug satisfaction he radiated—made her blush.
“It was lovely,” she said primly. “I’ll check that off my bucket list.”
He kissed her nose. “Something tells me I’d like to see your list if those are the kind of things on it.”
“Private,” she said airily. “Need-to-know basis, only.” And you don’t need to know, Nathaniel Winston, because you won’t be around to help me check them off.
Refusing to ruin their romantic moment with her grief, she twisted her hair into a towel and turned on the water in the shower. “I don’t want to get my hair wet. Peaches will be awake soon. Why don’t I go first?”
Nathaniel shook his head, his expression brooking no argument. “I’ll keep your hair dry, Dani, but you’re not getting in my shower without me.”
“Okay. It’s your call.” But the shower took a turn she hadn’t expected. By the time she reached for the faucet and adjusted the water temperature, her boss-now-lover was hard again, impressively so.
Pretending not to notice, she backed into a corner of the marble enclosure. Grabbing a washcloth, she soaped it and prepared to execute the quickest cleanup on record.
Nathaniel took matters—and the washcloth—out of her hands. “Don’t be shy, Dani. Maybe this one is on my bucket list.”
It was depressing to think he had probably enjoyed shower sex with any number of strange women. But when he gently washed her breasts and then moved lower, her eyes closed and her body went lax with pleasure. After he completed his mission, fore and aft, he used the detachable shower sprayer to rinse her completely. As he had promised, the towel protecting her hair stayed perfectly dry.
“Thank you,” she muttered. She felt as if her entire body was covered in one big blush. She’d had sex with the man twice already. Yet still, his touch in this new context left her feeling vulnerable and uncertain.
“Will you do the honors?” He held out the washcloth with a challenging gleam in his eye. Not for the world would Dani let him see how very far out of her depth she was. Ocean deep. Wishing for a life raft. In imminent danger of drowning.
Nathaniel had been careful to point the showerhead away from her. Which meant that she could kneel at his feet and soap him up to her heart’s content.
It was a dangerous game they played. Nathaniel clenched his fists, his eyes closed. His head fell back to rest against the wall. The length of him was fascinating—alive, powerful and so very sensitive to her touch.
For a man to allow a woman this level of intimate attention required a level of trust. In one brief moment, Nathaniel had chosen to yield his power for the sweet pleasure a lover’s caress could bring. Dani held him in two hands, marveling at a creation that was at once so commonplace and yet so incredibly beautiful and life-giving.
The physical relationship between them was new and short-lived. Cleansing him was one thing. Other more intimate attentions were beyond her comfort level. She brushed a soft kiss across the head of his erection and rose to her feet. “Turn around, so I can finish.”
His back was almost as compelling as other parts. Sleek muscles, male sinew and bone, all of it fascinated her. At last, she took the sprayer and removed every soapy bubble. “All done,” she croaked.
Nathaniel spun around so quickly she gasped. He dragged her against him and kissed her hard, desperately. She felt the tang of blood in her mouth. “Dani,” he groaned. “Dani, my sweet Dani.” Maneuvering her like a rag doll, he turned her to the wall and placed her hands above her head, palms flat on the slick, wet surface. “Don’t move.”
One breathless heartbeat later she felt him enter her from behind. This time the theme was slow possession, so measured and deliberate she wanted to claw the wall. Her climax built in gentle swells and waves, one after the next. Nathaniel drew back and pushed in again, his size and force stimulating sensitive flesh already tender from their earlier lovemaking.
His big hands gripped her hips. “I won’t let you forget this,” he growled. “I’ll take you again and again today until you beg me for more, and then we’ll start all over again.”
The provocative mental picture he painted sent her over the edge. She cried out and tried to stay still, but the end was too much for both of them, the shower floor too slick. Nathaniel scooped her up, took two steps out and deposited her on the thick, fluffy bathroom rug. He moved between