Page 212 of This Bitter Sweet Temptation
He raises his head, eyes drunk, and finds my gaze. “You okay, Clee?”
“Never better.”
He grunts again, this time in amusement, and lifts me up.
Still holding me like before, but softer now, he carries me to the shower. There, he sets me down and switches on the water, waiting until it’s hot before we step inside.
I kiss him with the same reverence he just gave me.
His scruffy cheeks, his forehead, his nose, his mouth.
It doesn’t take long before his cock springs up, and he pins me against the wall, slowly reclaiming what’s his.
He fucks me as he washes me, lathering soap down my back, clean and filthy and contradictory.
Just the way it should be.
My heart sings louder than my flesh.
If I ever doubted Holden Verity before, he would have banished it all in this moment. The care he shows, making sure every part of me is clean.
We don’t speak.
In the silence, I wash him, too, letting the soap suds stream down the drain. I massage shampoo into his hair and drag thesponge down his body. We give each other all the attention we’ve been neglecting for the past few days.
When we’re finally clean—and running out of hot water—he wraps me in a fluffy towel and we head to the bedroom.
Finally, finally.
It feels like we’ve lost a whole year since we shared a bed together. When we lie down facing each other, he finally speaks.
“Don’t think I’ve ever had sex like that.”
“Not even with me?” I tease.
He shakes his head. “It was different. You’re different, Clee. Don’t know how to explain it.”
“No, I know what you mean.” And I do.
That wasn’t just sex. It was an eruption.
An event horizon that pulls you in and reshapes every conflicted feeling you ever had.
It was consuming.
It waslove.
But I don’t know if either of us are ready to say it again out loud.
My throat goes dry.
“So, uh… I’m sorry I told you to leave back at the museum,” I say, needing to get it out there now. “I was hurt, and I wanted to prove I could do it by myself, but—”
“No.” He captures my hand, bringing it to his mouth and kissing every single one of my fingers. His eyes are heavy on mine. “You were so brave today, woman. So fucking brave.”
“I walked into a trap. That’s hardly brave.” I snort. “I didn’t feel brave either. I felt like I was about to pee myself.”
“Clocking a dangerous wanted merc in the face was a genius move. He never saw it coming, and it bought us all time.”
