Wordlessly, he lifted her from the water, marveling at her utter loveliness. It tightened his chest that he should have this time with her, that she trusted him this much. Thoughts of tomorrow tried to invade the moment, but he pushed back, wanting to preserve this night with her, to pretend tomorrow would never come, for as long as he could.
“You’re cold.” He grabbed a towel that had been placed by the wooden tub.
“I feel warm inside,” she said, a shy expression on her face.
He loved how honest she was. He’d never been with such a forthright woman. But he blamed himself for that, as he should. He had not been open to it before Maggie. Regret pierced him briefly for the pain his aloofness must have caused his girlfriends, but the past could not be changed so he forced himself to let it go.
Once he had Maggie settled on the bed, he took his time drying her. She watched him steadily, silently. “What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I’m thinking I can understand how women become wanton,” she said, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink.
The idea that he’d possibly be gone soon, that some other man would one day know her passionate nature, filled him with anger. He wanted to be as honest with her as she was being with him. He rose to sit back on his knees, the bed creaking under him and water dripping off him. “I don’t think I can stand to hear about how your passion has been awakened, Maggie, and definitely not how you can see yourself indulging more later.”
“What?” Her gaze widened. “Rhys, nay!” She scrambled to her knees before him, her head reaching his chest, her palms coming flat against it as she tilted her head to look up at him. He met her gaze as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth, a habit he’d seen her do when she was considering what to say. She inhaled a long, slow breath. “I can nae imagine ever allowing another man to touch me, Rhys. I meant I can understand how a woman who finds a man she—” She nibbled her lower lip again, and he had to wonder what she had been about to say. “Yer touch makes me see how a woman could crave it forever, seek it out over and over again, regardless of the consequences to herself.”
“Do you regret letting me touch you?” he asked.
“Nay.” She pressed a kiss to his chest that made it tighten oddly. “Nay,” she repeated, kissing his chest again but now also sliding her hands over the ridges of his stomach. His muscles tensed and jumped, responding to her feathery touch. She drew her hands up over his shoulders, rounded them with sure fingers, and then moved down his back, skimming his butt, and finally circling around to brush her fingers over his hardness.
All the blood in his body rushed to where her fingers were gripping him. He had to clench his teeth not to let out a guttural moan. He didn’t want to scare her with just how damn good she made him feel.
She looked down, and he struggled not to smile, the realization that she was studying him settling in. He was sure she’d never seen a man naked.
“Is every man made like this?” she asked almost in a whisper.
He was big. He knew he was. A guy learned a lot in locker rooms and with three brothers through the years. “Every man is different, Maggie, but I’m a big guy, so my parts are big.” He was grinning now. He couldn’t damn well help it. Male pride was a bitch to contain.
“Rhys,” she said, still looking down but now her hands explored the length of him. “Tell me what to do to give ye pleasure. Teach me.”
His head pounded with desire and anger. It was an odd combination. “I want to,” he managed through gritted teeth. “But the thought of you touching another man like this—”
“I will nae,” she said vehemently and looked up suddenly. The truth of her words blazed in her eyes, making them shine. “I vow it. Can ye give me that vow for yerself? Will ye nae ever give to another woman what ye give to me tonight?”
Christ, he could promise that easily. She was inside him. His heartbeat. His breath. She moved the very blood through his veins with her presence. No woman had ever done that for him, nor ever would again. How could he go back? The question echoed through his mind again. He still didn’t have an answer, but he still felt he had to. He had a responsibility to his family. He captured her lips with his, delving his tongue inside her mouth, giving her his promise first with his kiss, and when he pulled away, he used his words. “I vow to you that I will never give to another woman what I give to you tonight.”
“What brings ye pleasure?” she asked, her hands stroking him. She was a natural seductress.
“Your smile,” he answered, completely serious.
“Rhys!” she said, laughter in her voice. “Be truthful.”
“I am.” He brought his hands to her hips to trace the gentle curves of her body as she touched him. “Your closeness. Talking to you. Watching your emotions on your face. And yes,” he said, finding it increasingly hard to talk as his desire built, “your touch. Just like this. You know what to do instinctively.”
She grinned, looking tempting and sinful. “So ye like this?” She ran her hands up and down him once more.
“Like,”he choked out, “is too weak a word.”
“What if I move my hands faster?” she asked, her voice suddenly husky.
“If you move faster,” he ground out, his blood roaring in his ears, pumping fast to every part of him, “I’ll co—spill my seed,” he self-corrected, knowing she wouldn’t know the modern word.
“I want to see that,” she whispered. “I want to see ye losing control for me.”
He slid his hand into her hair, knotting it into the mass and bringing her face close to his. “I aim to please you, Maggie,” he said, and then he let go as he never had before.
When he crashed back into himself, it was just in time to grasp that thread of control he’d vowed not to let go of. Every instinct he possessed urged him to take her, possess her, make her his forever, but he fought against that instinct. He collapsed to the side of her, cleaned himself off, and then gathered her in his arms. She curled into him like a cat, and he chuckled when she grinned up at him.
“I like to watch ye lose control,” she said, running her fingernails back and forth over his chest as he ran his hand up and down the length of her arm.
