That she’d been able to rouse him to this condition made her feel like a conquering heroine.

That is, if the heroine was too tired to do more than breathe afterward.

Which she was.

And sated. She felt completely and utterly satisfied.

She couldn’t ever remember—

“Kate. Are you still awake?”

Was she? She had her doubts. Could this blissful state be considered sleeping?

“Mmm.”

It was really all she could manage to say at the moment and perfectly expressed the way she felt.

After a few silent minutes, as his heart slowly reverted to a normal rhythm and she could breathe more easily, he shifted beneath her.

“Alright, sweetheart. Enough lying around already. Time for a shower.”

Since that sounded good, she draped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her face into the curve of his neck. “Okay. But you have to carry me since my state of . . . whatever state this is, is all your fault.”

He chuckled, a deep rasp of sound that, amazingly, made her pussy clench with desire.

She couldn’t believe after that last orgasm that she could even think about having more sex right now.

This must be what obsessed means.

Lying against him, she thought about that as he maneuvered her into his arms with minimal effort then stood as if she didn’t weigh more than a sack of potatoes.

She felt warm and boneless against him and she wondered if she’d seen a bathtub in his bathroom.

Then couldn’t remember if she’d seen his bathroom at all.

She became sufficiently curious to lift her head from his chest when he stopped moving. Opening her eyes, she looked around. “Wow. I didn’t realize how much of a hedonist you really are.”

He paused before pulling back so he could see her expression. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this bathroom. It’s amazing. You designed this too, didn’t you?”

His lips twisted in a crooked smile. “What makes you think that?”

Where his bedroom was decorated in shades of light and dark blue, the bathroom was black and white. But it wasn’t at all cold.

The walls appeared to be covered with black moiré silk and the black marble shower took up nearly a third of the floor space. A clear glass door hid nothing from view and she saw several showerheads protruding from the walls and the ceiling.

A sunken tub that could hold a party of four occupied the other side of the room, and she nearly started to salivate over that.

“It’s masculine and bold but understated enough not to be pretentious.”

“Glad you like it.”

“Oh, I do. That tub is amazing.”

“Then I guess we’ll have to christen it.”

“You’ve never used it?”

He shook his head and something crossed his expression, some old pain. “I’m not really one to soak for hours on end.”

Setting her on her feet next to the massive tub, he bent to twist the taps. Water immediately gushed forth and, seconds, later, steam heated her skin.

“I think it’s finally time for this to come off.”

He reached for her shirt as she stared up at him. His expression had sharpened again. It gave her a thrill deep inside to know he continued to find her sexy, even after he’d screwed her senseless.

Standing still, she stared at his face as he watched his fingers undo the two buttons holding the shirt together. He took his time, his knuckles brushing against her tight nipples, teasing them into even harder peaks. When the shirt gaped open, he brushed it off her shoulders and watched it fall to the ground.

Then his gaze and his fingers returned to her bra. “Turn.”

She obeyed, presenting him with her back. It only took a second for her bra to join the shirt.

Since he didn’t say anything else, she stayed as she was and nearly jumped out of her skin when his fingers trailed down her spine. Her head dropped back, her hair brushing against her spine for a few seconds before he gathered it in one hand and twisted it around his fist.

She felt him bend close and rub his cheek against the top of her head as he tugged on her hair.

A second later, he released her, and she sucked in a sharp gasp of air at the almost overwhelming urge to grab him and make sure he was coming back to her.

This man was going to give her a heart attack.

Next, she felt his fingers at her waist, undoing the buttons on the skirt until that fell to the floor as well.

He paused before removing the thong, plucking at the string between her ass cheeks, sending sharp jolts of lightning zinging through her.

“I know I didn’t say anything earlier”—he brushed his lips against her nape, causing her to tilt her head to give him more access—“but I really admire this design.”

He tugged again, a little harder this time, and the seam at the front caught her clit at just the right angle. As she’d designed it to do.

She swore she heard him smile. “Such a simple design and yet so . . . ingenious.”

Slipping his fingers between her legs, he stroked the bare lips of her sex, sensitive, slick, and puffy from their recent play.

“It’s a shame I have to take them off, but I know I’ll see them again.”

He sounded awfully sure of himself and she wanted to have a snappy retort, but her brain simply didn’t have the necessary cell power left to come up with something.

Instead, she bit back a moan as he slid one finger inside her and stroked.

His fast withdrawal left her aching. She barely noticed as he stripped the thong down her legs.

“Let’s get you in the tub. I’m sure you’re ready for a good soak.”

He swept her off her feet and the next second, she found herself submerged up to her shoulders in perfectly hot water.

She glared up at him, determined to tell him off for treating her like a rag doll, but the words died in her throat as she caught him in the act of pushing his boxer briefs off his hips.

My God, a naked Tyler would be enough to give the most devout nun second thoughts about her vows.

He left his boxers next to her clothes then climbed into the tub behind her.

Leaning into the curve, he drew her back until her head rested comfortably on his chest.

He didn’t wrap his arms around her this time but rested them on the ledge of the tub. His chest rose and fell on a deep breath and she swore she felt every muscle in his body relax.

Encouraged to do the same, she let her mind drift, knowing he wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her.

The silence wasn’t uncomfortable but she felt Tyler shift and do something behind her just before soft music filled the air.

Jazz.

“Is that okay?” he asked. “I can turn something else on if you don’t like it.”

“No, that’s fine, though I don’t really know a lot about jazz. My parents listened to a lot of blues when I was a kid. And they were both heavily into Springsteen.”

“My grandfather got me started on jazz. He was into big band, Sinatra and the Rat Pack, music like that. As I got older, I started listening to more Coltrane, Stanley Clarke, Wynton Marsalis.”

“I like it. It’s soothing.”

“Are you going to fall asleep on me?”

“What do you expect? You wore me out.” She punctuated that with a yawn that caught her off guard.

His husky laughter rumbled through her back. “So I shouldn’t do this.”

He shifted again and pressed his stiffening erection between the cheeks of her ass.

She moaned, because, yes, she did want him to do that. But she wasn’t going to be able to keep her eyes open much longer.

“So not fair. But I’m warning you. I may fall asleep in the middle. Just saying.”

“Then I guess I should get you back to bed. Just to sleep, of course.”

“You don’t have to be too hasty.” She paused. “So what prompted your visit tonight, Tyler? Not that I don’t appreciate it, but I was a little surprised to find you there. After you didn’t call all week.”

If she was expecting an apology, she should’ve known better. “I wanted to see you.”

“So you were horny.”

He didn’t answer right away. “Is that a problem?”

“No. Unless that’s all you want from me. Then I’d prefer you to be honest.”

“Do you only want a relationship based on sex?”

“I’m not sure. Do you?”

Another pause. “Can I answer that honestly and say I’m not sure what I’m looking for?”

She told herself that pang in her gut was relief. It had to be, because she couldn’t allow herself to believe it was anything else. She’d only recently broken off a long engagement. She wanted to change her life and that could include moving away from her home, possibly to New York City. If she was lucky, it would be New York.

She wasn’t in the market for a relationship that sank emotional hooks into her.

And if she was lying to herself just a little . . . well, she could ignore that too.

She scooted back just a little, wriggled her ass just a tiny bit more and smiled when he hitched in a breath.

“Honesty works for me.”

“Then, honestly, I want you again, Kate.”

It was a wonder the water splashing over the side of the tub didn’t flood the room.

* * *

“So this reception . . . How many people are going to be there?”

“About a hundred.”

Watching Tyler expertly do his tie while she put in her earrings, she wondered if the reason she wasn’t nervous about this event was because she couldn’t think beyond the fact that Tyler in a suit scrambled her brain or that she wasn’t going to know anyone so she’d probably be mostly invisible.