She held her breath as he shifted his hand over her curls, and then he was cupping her sex, his broad palm covering every inch of her slick heat, and her breath was coming out in a rush of pleasure as she tilted her head back against his shoulder.

There was no stopping her hips from pushing into his fingers, and thank God, she knew he was done teasing her when two thick fingers spread her tender flesh and his other hand moved to concentrate on her clitoris.

His tongue and then his teeth found her earlobe and despite the warm water, despite the heat of his body behind her, she was wracked with shivers.

“You’re so beautiful, sweetheart. So damn beautiful.” His tongue licked out just at that sensitive spot beneath her earlobe a split second before he urged her, “Come for me. I need to see it. Need to feel it.”

But she was already there, already panting and bucking into his hands as the tremors inside her belly turned into a full-fledged, unstoppable earthquake.

“Gabe!”

He helped her ride out her climax, never letting up for one single second with both his hands, and when she finally came back to earth in the bathtub, she realized just how big, how hard he was against her lower back.

Fortunately, he was well prepared as she spotted a condom wrapper on top of the blanket. Not caring at all that he’d known what a sure thing she was going to be tonight, she leaned over the tub to pick it up. She ripped it open—with her hands this time, instead of her teeth, although that had been fun and more than a little crazy—and he silently lifted her hips up out of the water so that she could slide it onto his gloriously erect shaft.

“I know we agreed no what-ifs tonight, but I can’t help but wonder, what if—” She paused, licked her lips. “—you helped me live out a fantasy?”

She suddenly wanted a chance to reclaim not just the bathtub, but also her hope for the future, rather than always going forward holding onto fear.

His hands moved over her thighs, her kneecaps in the water. “What kind of fantasy?” The raw tenor of his words nearly had her giving up the fantasy and climbing onto his lap, instead.

“I’ve never taken a bath with a man before tonight.”

“Good.”

She had to smile at his jealous pleasure over being her first. She was glad, too, glad that she could experience these fantasies for the first time with Gabe.

“But sometimes when I’m alone and I’m—” She paused on the words she wasn’t used to speaking aloud.

“Touching yourself?”

She nodded. “Sometimes I like to think about being in a tub like this and having my—”

She bit her lip again and he growled, “If you don’t stop doing that, I’m not sure we’re going to get to your fantasy.”

Her eyes wide, she let her lip go. “Oh.” She almost bit her lip again and caught herself at the last second. “Okay.”

“Megan.” She heard the sensual warning in his voice, which was quickly backed up when he said, “What’s your fantasy?”

But she’d already figured out she’d never be able to put voice to it. Instead, she’d have to show him.

With as much grace as she could manage considering how aroused she was, and how nervous at the same time, she moved her limbs beneath the water so that she wasn’t facing Gabe anymore. Looking at him over her shoulder, she slowly lifted up onto her hands and knees.

“This,” she said in a whisper that was almost swallowed up by the sound of water moving in the tub. “This is my fantasy.”

His groan ricocheted off the tiled walls, and then, thank God, he was moving too, and cupping her bottom in his big hands. But even though she was playing it as risky as she ever had with a lover, she was shocked when he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to first one cheek and then the other. Slowly, he moved his mouth up from her lower back to what felt like each vertebra along her spine, until he was biting at the curve of her shoulder.

“Is this it, Megan? Is this your fantasy?”

She couldn’t speak, could only nod and hold on tight to the edge of the tub as she pushed her bottom into the curve of his hips. Water splashed all around them as he thrust into her from behind and this time when she lost hold of her sanity, he was right there with her, pounding into her so hard, so deep as he came that she didn’t know where he left off and she began.

With one of his big hands on her br**sts, the other between her legs, and his teeth and tongue on her neck, Megan completely shattered in Gabe’s arms.

Chapter Twenty-two

Figure out how to handle the inevitable highs and lows.

~ from “Firefighting 101” ~

Gabe loved watching Megan sleep so peacefully, a small smile on her lips as she curled in closer to him. He felt content, and happy being with her like this, as sunlight streamed in on a new year.

But while his sisters had called him clueless at least a thousand times over the years, Gabe knew that even though Megan had talked about new beginnings and washing the past clean, odds were pretty darn high that she’d be just as upset about ending up in bed with him as she’d been the first time in Lake Tahoe.

Just because he’d made up his mind about what he wanted, didn’t mean she had.

She stirred again and slowly opened her eyes.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

He was damn glad to see that her eyes didn’t go wide with horror this time. Instead, she reached up to slide one hand through his hair. “Hi.”

But before he could get his hopes up too high, she was moving from the bed.