Page 85 of Hush Darling

Her breath hitched, and he chuckled, sliding into the water and removing his body from view. He liked having her eyes on him more than he should.

“What do you see when you look at me?”

Her gaze jumped to his. “Authority. Strength. Power.”

“Scars?”

Her head tilted. “Yes. But also beauty.”

That was enough of that. He eased back and closed his eyes.

“Is the water warm enough?”

The heat was divine. “Yes.”

“Good.” She reached over his shoulder, and he caught her wrist faster than a croc snaps up its prey. She held a washcloth in her hand. “I was only going to wet the cloth.”

“Why?”

“So I could wash your back.”

No one had ever bathed him that he could remember. He was a grown man. He could wash himself. But still, he released her to see if she actually would.

As she dragged that cloth over his chest, he discovered new levels of pleasure. Never before had bathing been more than a necessity. She transformed it into something luxurious and sinful. Shutting his eyes, he leaned back and rested his arms on the ledge, allowing her to carry on.

“Are you sore?”

Her hand stilled, and he took that as confirmation. “I was. Soaking in the bath helped.”

“I shouldn’t have been so rough with you—at least not for your first time.”

“I didn’t mind.”

He glanced back at her. “You don’t have to say that.”

“But I’m fine. There’s just a satisfying ache where you’ve been. It’s nothing I can’t live with.”

He lifted a brow. “Satisfying?”

She blushed again. “Yes, very.”

His cock hardened under the water. “The ache will ease in time.”

“Not if you have me again before it fades.”

Was she truly offering herself? Or was this another game?

She bit her lip in that sexy way she often did. “What are you thinking?”

Her shoulder lifted in a delicate shrug. “That you were right—about all of it.”

“What do you mean?”

He watched her struggle to put her feelings into words. He suspected she knew what she wanted to say, but some part of her still feared the sky would fall if she said it out loud. Her gaze lowered, and she licked her lips. “The more I surrendered control, the freer I became.”

She was either telling the truth, or he was a damn fool because he felt her sincerity in his gut. She was being honest. She liked his depraved darkness.

“You’re a dangerous woman, Wendy Moira Angela Darling.”