Page 53 of Speak of the Devil

“According to the state of California, you’ve already said them to me.” I laugh, and his cheeks tint the slightest shade of pink. But it’s his glittering eyes, a pride for the young man he would have been, that make me say, “My, how the mighty have fallen.”

Leaning forward, he kisses my arm, then higher. “For you.” He slips a hand into the water, runs it between my breasts and then cups one, teasing the nipple and kneading. “I want to make love to you.”

He hasn’t even seen me fully naked, nor have I seen him without boxer briefs. I know he doesn’t care about lace or sheer material when it all comes off anyway, but I’d still like to put something nice on for him.

“I want that, too.” I do. The breathiness of my voice is a dead giveaway on its own. This is it. My thrill of nerves and excitement runs through me. Who cares if I ate my feels and a full lunch today, if my stomach isn’t perfectly flat, or I’m not as toned from skipping my workout? He wants me, and that’s all that matters.

Shane reaches for the towel and holds it open for me. I push up from the tub, careful when I stand, but I don’t rush to cover myself. I feel good about my body, so I push through any fears of judgment and stand before him.

He looks me up and down twice before saying, “You’re so fucking gorgeous.” Kissing me, he urges me back against the wall where he was initially leaning. He drops the towel and dives in for my neck, his mouth taking claim as kisses are staked like he’s marking his territory.

With my eyes closed, I feel every urgent grappling of hands to the kisses that extend from my mouth to my fingertips. Never one to get lost in foreplay, he slips his hand between my legs and slides higher. The bath was the warm-up, the lead-in, as twofingers slide through my desire for him. I moan, unable to stay quiet when feeling this good, this much of everything.

I plant my hands on his shoulders when my body becomes a live wire of nerve endings. Our chemistry is too much to keep my eyes open, the heat between us too hot to deny. I kiss him, wanting him as much as he wants me.

When he swipes through my lower lips, my breath catches, but he’s quick to swallow when his mouth collides with mine. We’re tongues and hands, moans, slippery soaped skin, legs with a pressure that feels so good, and water from my wet body soaking through his shirt.

The back of my head hits the tile, and his lips immediately find my neck, kissing, sucking, drowning me in his affection. Dragging his tongue under my jaw, he slides the bridge of his nose the rest of the way to my ear. My heart beats so loud in my ears that I wonder if he can hear it as well.

His fingers find purchase inside me, eliciting another moan I can’t restrain. I start to lose my balance when my grip loosens under the intensity of sensations. “You feel that?” he asks through harsh breaths. “You feel so good, but I’m going to make you feel so much better when I’m inside you.”

I want to speak, but words escape me. Every thrust of his fingers has me pushing back for more.Begging. When his thumb toys with my clitoris, I sink down, desperate for more pressure. “God yes, I want that. I need you. Right there.”

“That’s right, baby. Tell me everything you need, everything you want me to do to you.” Pressing his large erection against my leg, he seeks to satisfy his own cravings by rocking against me.

I barely manage to crack my eyes open to find his already fixed on me. I run the tips of my fingers over his temple. “You, Shane. That’s all I want.”

He thrusts, his other hand gripping my hip to keep me steady. “You got me.” The scrape of his teeth over my shoulderteases until I’m pleading for more. Faster. Harder. “Yes, Shane. Yes.” Lightning strikes, sending little earthquakes to shock every part of my body. I go with the pleasure, flowing into the darkness of this ecstasy.

It takes years, seconds, moments stolen in time for my body to calm and the tremors to subside. My eyes are closed, and I need longer just to breathe my way back home. Quick and shallow, then deeper and peaceful. I open my eyes, too tired to hold myself up any longer. I sag, but he catches me, holding me so I won’t fall.

Too late.I’m already long gone for this man.

His lips appreciate every millimeter of my mouth as he slides to the side and kisses each corner as well. Tipping his healed head against mine, he whispers, “Come to Seattle with me.”

I smile, but it takes too much effort to hold on to after recovering from what we just did. “What do you mean, come to Seattle?”

His hands return to my face, the scent of our desire still mingling in the air. “We leave on Wednesday for Seattle. The show’s on Thursday. I want you there. I want to see you watching me perform. I want to fuck you backstage. I want nights with you in my bed. Making love, watching movies, ordering food to be delivered. I want that with you, Cat.”

The image is so clear that I can see it as well. I feel that same need to be with him. “Sounds like a dream.” But it’s not rational.

The blue of his eyes is electric, like we are together. His smile so big that I can’t stop smiling for him. “It will be. I promise. I’ll get the biggest suite they have and treat you to?—”

“It sounds like a dream because it is.” I steady myself after readjusting to stand on my own two feet. I cup his face, running the tips of my fingers over the sharper scruff of a few days’ worth of growth. “I work next week and only have a few vacation days left because of the house issue.”

Handing me the towel, he leaves too much space to dry off when he moves toward the door. I already miss his warmth. He stops across the small bathroom. “You won’t come to Seattle, not even for me?”

“I can’t. I’m sorry. Not next week.”

“I need you with me.” The admission makes me pause. What does he want me to do? Quit?Not possible.

“I need to work.”

Looking past me, he stares at something over my head as if in disbelief. When his gaze meets mine again, he asks, “So you won’t go? Not even for me?”

“I can’t.”

“Youwon’t. There’s a difference.”