Mystery couldn’t catch her breath. “Now.”
He pumped inside her, watching her breasts jiggle every time he slammed deep. A sense of being taken and owned steamrolled her, and it turned her on more than she’d ever imagined. Yes, she’d wanted to be closer to Axel. Her heart cried out for him. But her body certainly wanted its fair share of him, too.
When he dragged his length down her sensitive channel, then shoved back in again, she clawed his shoulders.
He rammed her, pummeling deep, baring his teeth and staring straight into her eyes. “That’s it . . . Feel. Every. Inch. Of. Me.” He punctuated each word with another thrust.
His strength, the force of every upward surge, ricocheted through her body. She cried out, her pleas echoing off the tile.
Her nerve endings were already so sensitive, so stimulated—yet miraculously ready for more. The scrape of his cock pushing up through her swollen tissue delivered tingles. As he withdrew, he left behind a terrible ache. Time slipped away, disappearing like the water down the drain. Mystery simply let herself feel as he worked, grunting and flexing, to deliver the orgasm brewing right behind her clit.
She tightened on his cock, locked her arms around his neck, stared into his eyes and swore she saw the future coming together. She’d missed him every day since Death Valley. She didn’t ever want to miss him again.
“Axel!” Her breath hitched. She whimpered.
He readjusted, grabbing her by the ass, then using every rippling muscle in his arms, chest, and shoulders, lifting her up his cock, then impaling her again, thrusting at the end of the stroke to reach that damn spot that reacted to the feel of him deep.
With a scream, she splintered in his arms, shattering into little pieces around him.
Axel barely gave her time to catch her breath. Pressing his forehead into hers, he clenched his jaw and jackhammered into her like a madman, the lightning speed and pure power he put into every stroke dazzling her until she saw stars. Mystery reclined her head against the tile, closed her eyes, and tumbled into bright, tingling pleasure again.
Her body was still aglow when he withdrew and set her on her feet. She blinked, head dizzy, as she watched Axel take himself in hand and stroke his cock roughly. Soon, he clenched his teeth and stared at her with blue eyes that burned into her. With one look, he wanted her to know that, even if he wasn’t coming inside her, he considered her his. Then he sprayed across her belly with a low groan.
As he panted and recovered, the waterfall from the showerhead pelted his torso. She stood against the wall, protected from the deluge, and felt the most primal urge to touch his seed, rub it into her skin.
When she tested the need by grazing her fingertips over her stomach, he drew closer and grabbed her wrist, then flattened her palm into the warm, thick liquid and worked it. “That’s it. I want you to smell like me.”
Her breath caught. The idea of carrying his scent all night long didn’t merely arouse her again, but made her heart thump. It sounded odd and maybe even a little taboo, she realized, wanting to wear the product of someone’s passion. On the other hand, she couldn’t deny that she liked the idea of belonging to Axel in every way he would let her.
A tiny part of her heart wished that he’d wanted to come inside her and see if nature blessed them, but she understood why he hadn’t. They juggled so much right now—a stalker, a burgeoning relationship. She was supposed to be back in the UK next week. She lived there . . . and he’d still be here. What if she’d conceived? Yeah, she didn’t have an answer. She’d better start using her brain and stop letting her heart and hormones run the show.
He cupped her face and dropped a little kiss on her lips. “I’m always going to take care of you first.”
His expression told her that he would have loved to take her up on her offer, but duty compelled him to be responsible.
No way could she be upset with him for that. “You always have. Thank you.” I love you.
He smiled and reached for a towel. Mystery air dried while she tried to repair her hopelessly half-drowned hair. Within a few minutes, they’d dressed, and she felt more than a little wicked knowing that Axel’s very essence had seeped into her skin.
As he opened the bedroom door and led her into the hall, he rested his protective hand at the small of her back. “I think Callie stashed something sugary and fattening in the fridge.”
Sugary sounded great about now. Once inside, they pulled out plates and forks and a massive piece of turtle cheesecake. With an indulgent grin, Axel took a bite and watched her devour half of it in less than a minute.
“That good?” he teased. “I couldn’t tell.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “If you don’t stop running off your mouth, I’m going to eat all this alone. You won’t get any.”
“I’ve gotten what I wanted.” He leaned closer and grabbed the arms of her chair, sliding her and the furniture closer to him. “I might want more of that.”
A flush raced to Mystery’s cheeks. Every moment with him just seemed easy and natural. They came from totally different worlds, and yet it was as if they’d been made for one another.
“I might give it to you.” She bit her lip.
Axel sent her a grin that showed off his dimples. “No ‘might’ about it. I plan to take you again . . . and again, until you beg me to stop. We’ll see if I have any mercy then.”
* * *
THEY ate in silence until most of the piece was demolished. Then Axel stood and started a pot of coffee. Mystery fell in beside him, washing off their plate, finding coffee cups and creamer. Then they waited together, and a sense of peace settled over him. Being with this woman was so simple, like breathing.
Not taking her up on her invitation to come inside her had been one of the most difficult things he’d ever done. And if he kept thinking about it, he’d pull her pants down, lay her across the kitchen table, fuck her senseless—and change his mind.
“I’m surprised your father let you come to the States without him,” he remarked. “He’s incredibly protective. And after what happened to you as a teenager, it’s no wonder.”
“The only way he’d let me make this trip ‘solo’ was with Heath. He wanted to send a whole team of people with me, but I argued that Aunt Gail lives in the middle of nowhere. It’s not like the paparazzi hang out there. And we’d certainly see any intruders coming a mile away. After World War Three, he finally relented.”
“I’m glad you came and your dad compromised.”
“I didn’t think he was going to.” She sighed. “And it sounds terrible, but whenever he’s in between girlfriends, he’s cranky.”
Axel laughed, refraining from pointing out that most men were when they weren’t getting any. “I’m sure he’d appreciate that observation. What was it like growing up with Marshall Mullins as a single father? Was he strict? Absent? Difficult?”
She shrugged. “All of the above. Of course, he knew I was always being watched. But after my mother’s death, he definitely hovered more, which only got worse after my abduction. It hasn’t let up since. As a kid, I missed my mom a lot. I think he did, too. But I have to admit, the house was more peaceful after she passed. They fought all the time.”
“About your dad’s love life?” Axel asked but he felt sure he knew the answer.
“Totally. He wasn’t even discreet about it half the time. At first, I guess he thought I was too young to understand why there were so many pictures of him out on the town with other women. I was about seven when he got slapped with his first paternity suit, but he wasn’t the father. I’m sure that was just luck, though.”
“Did your mom take the cheating hard?”
“Absolutely. When she’d had too much wine, she’d clutch their wedding album to her chest and ask herself what went wrong. I didn’t have an answer.”