His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(83)
Author: Shayla Black

He clenched his teeth. “Wipe him from your memory bank.”

Was he jealous? As crazy as that sounded, it was the only conclusion she could come up with.

“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “He’s the reason my first time was my last.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Joaquin sounded shocked. She supposed that, at her age, he’d already had sex a zillion times. She just hadn’t seen what the big deal was until him.

Bailey pushed him away. “I can shower alone. You don’t have to help me.”

“I’m sorry. That came out wrong.” He reached for her again, wrapping his hands around her waist and drawing her closer. “I’m just surprised.”

That stung. She shoved him back. “You’re surprised I don’t sleep around?”

“No. That’s not what I meant. Forget it. You’re rattled and upset. My brain is still fogged over with pleasure. I’m not leaving you.” He reached for the soap as if the matter was closed.

She was both annoyed and relieved. Jeez, she sounded contrary. “You’re used to getting your way.”

“Not always, but I fight when I know I’m right.”

Like this case. Like saving her life. Like not leaving her alone to sort through her feelings now?

Rubbing the scented bar between his hands, he lathered up, then set the soap back in the dish. “Turn around.”

“I can wash myself.”

“I know.” He sighed. “Can you just stop being stubborn for a second and let me take care of you? I drove into you like a Mack truck. I just want to make sure you’re okay so I can feel a little less guilty.”

When he put it like that . . . She nodded and spun around, presenting him her back and moving her hair over her shoulder, out of his way.

His hands glided over her back, starting at her shoulder blades, then skimming down her rib cage. He embraced her waist, enveloping her in his strong grip. Shuffling closer, he kissed the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met. He breathed over her skin and nipped at her lobe as he eased his soapy palms over her hips, then pressed against her body.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he murmured.

She shivered as he nipped his way across her neck to settle against her other ear.

“Thank you for trusting me with your body, for putting your life in my hands.”

As his palm worked inward, over her stomach, then began gliding lower, Bailey tensed. His fingers worked past the swollen lips of her sex to graze her sensitive clit.

She gasped and grabbed his wrist, closing her eyes. “Stop. As soon as I got in the shower, I realized we forgot a condom.”

“I’m clean,” he swore. “If you want me to prove it, I will.”

“Unless you’re sterile, that’s not the only issue.”

“Whatever happens, we’ll work it out.”

She whirled on him. “Your own family, the people you grew up with, never see you. Why would you bother with some girl stupid enough to let you kidnap her and knock her up? You wouldn’t. I bet that if I told you I was pregnant tomorrow, you’d run in horror. I’ll take half the blame for this mistake, but do me a favor. Don’t touch me anymore.”

Because the thought of getting close to Joaquin—maybe falling in love with him—only to have him bail on her was more than she could take.

Bailey pushed her way past him, heading for the shower door. He grabbed her arm. “That’s not going to happen. The lack of a condom tonight was my mistake. I take responsibility entirely. If you get preg—”

“Stop it. Just . . . don’t. You took my whole life from me and you can’t respect my one wish, to leave me alone?”

Joaquin cocked his head, looking dark and sure of himself. “If I thought staying away from you would solve anything or make you happier, I’d give it one hell of a try. But in your head, everyone important in your life has left you, so I don’t think you want me to repeat the pattern, no matter how much you protest otherwise.”

Bailey couldn’t look at him. Damn him for seeing through her again and being so right. She trembled, on the verge of tears once more. She hated the way he’d crawled under her skin.

She jerked from his grip. “Can you at least give me five minutes to myself?”

“Five,” he growled. “Don’t leave the room or get into trouble. And don’t think I don’t give a shit. I’ve been fighting for you since I laid eyes on you. I won’t stop.”

She grabbed a towel and left the bathroom then. After throwing on the cotton nightie Callie had brought her, Bailey crawled between the sheets. She lay staring at the wall, wondering what the hell had happened tonight. Joaquin had reached her as a woman on every level. She’d opened herself to him—and she didn’t know how to stop. Worse, by the time she’d sorted through the tangle of her thoughts, her five minutes was up.