Naturally Naughty - Leslie Kelly [40]
His mind told him no even after his body had decided yes.
When she hissed, he realized he’d pressed too hard against her bruise. “I’m sorry, you really are in pain.” He looked up and saw her flushed face, her parted lips.
Well, she didn’t look entirely pained. She also looked very aroused, very…close. Hot satisfaction at having brought her to the brink swept through him. He’d seen her this way in his dreams. Every night since the night they’d met.
Shit.
Unless he was prepared to forget all about his decision to be a decent guy and not make love to her again while they were here in Pleasantville, he needed to exit stage left. Immediately if not sooner.
He stood, trying not to notice that the curtain had moved farther to the side, completely baring one perfect breast and delicious puckered nipple. Remembering how sensitive she was there made his feet freeze and his hands clench.
“I’m going to get you some ice,” he finally said tightly. He somehow found the strength to turn and walk out of the bathroom.
Kate watched him leave, then let out a long, shuddery breath. “Not one of your brightest ideas, Kate Jones.”
No. Not smart. She’d come into the bathroom knowing full well there were no towels. She’d had one thing in mind. Okay, two, if she counted washing away the grime of several hours’ worth of driving. Even more than cleanliness, however, she’d wanted payback. Just a tiny bit of satisfaction by way of some brief shower exhibitionism. The way Jack had walked away from her next door—after commenting on how she’d had to pleasure herself in her bed the day they’d met—had pricked her ego. Not to mention her libido.
Damned if she hadn’t wanted to prick his, too.
Hence the naked-in-the-shower-without-a-towel bit. Okay, so it was sneaky, though, she really hadn’t intended for him to see her reflection completely. She’d figured there would be only a foggy image to get his imagination racing and give him some sleepless hours tonight.
Once their eyes had met and she’d seen the heat in his stare, her will had fled as quickly as the steam on the mirror.
She’d certainly been repaid in full. Because, man, oh man, she’d been the one left shaking and unfulfilled. Yes, she’d brought him to his knees, literally. But looking down, seeing him with his mouth and tongue on her body, so warm, so tender, so close to where she’d wanted him to be—had been agony.
“I can’t believe you just left,” she whispered angrily as she got out of the tub, grabbed one of the towels off the counter and began drying off.
His quick departure rankled. No, she wasn’t going to sleep with him, she’d already decided. Getting further involved with him would be about as stupid as sitting in a tub full of water and turning on the hair dryer.
Good analogy. He could fry her brains and she knew it.
Of course, that didn’t mean she didn’t want him to want her. She had to admit, if only to herself in the quiet bathroom—it bugged her that he’d walked away, that he’d been able to walk away. If the fit of his briefs was any indication, he had not been physically unaffected by her.
Which meant he didn’t want her mentally.
“Well, doesn’t this suck eggs,” she muttered. The first guy she’d had sex with in two years, and it wasn’t even good enough to make him want seconds, not even when she had been wet and naked right in front of him.
Frowning, she moved faster, drying her body in quick, almost rough strokes. She winced as the cotton scraped across her bruised