Avenged: A MacKenzie Family Novella (MacKenzie World #6)

My eyebrows shot up to my hairline and a chuckle rumbled out of my chest at her stuttering admission. She was telling me she had listened to me jerk off while thinking about her. A better man would be embarrassed and apologize. I wasn’t even a good man, so there was no way that was happening.

I shrugged my shoulders at her and pointed at my once again stirring cock. Anytime I was close enough to breathe the same air as her, I seemed to get hard. “You saw what I was dealing with when I climbed out of bed. It wasn’t going to go away on its own.” I had a beast that was used to being fed regularly, and lately I’d been starving it. “Give me a minute and you can get in here.”

“Well…I uh…kind of figured since you were already in here and wet, I would just jump in behind you so you don’t have to worry about changing again after you help me wash my hair. That shower is the smallest thing I’ve ever seen; there is no way you can help me without getting soaked.” She tilted her head back so she was looking in my eyes and when she smiled at me, it took every ounce of self-control I had not to grab her, lift her up on the counter, and make a permanent place for myself between her legs. “I figured this was more practical.”

What it was, was sweet agony. If the feds wanted to get me to talk, they should have sent her in with her calculating eyes and alluring body. I would have rolled over in a hot second and given them whatever they wanted if it meant I got the chance to touch her, put my mouth on her.

“It’s a lot of things, Pop-Tart, but practical isn’t one of them.” I inclined my head into the narrow, muggy room and gave her enough space to slide in around me. I leaned against the sink and gave her a challenging smirk. “I think this is the first time I’ve ever gotten a woman naked in order to clean her up instead of getting her dirty.” I circled a finger in the air in front of her. “Strip.”

She automatically moved to follow my direction, which meant my dick went rock hard. I liked a woman with fight, but I liked it even more when that fight faded to obedience. She let out a yelp when she moved her bad arm without thinking. I swore when she had to blink away tears of pain as she let the limb drop back to her side.

I took a step toward her, reaching for the hem of my shirt that covered her to mid-thigh. “I forgot for a second that you can’t handle the basics right now, which is the only reason I’m here. I’ll take care of you, promise.” I skimmed the thick fabric over her curves and off over her head, my lungs seizing and my heart stopping when I was face to face with her full breasts, perfectly pink nipples, and bare center. She was a stunner; all that white skin that looked like porcelain contrasted so vividly against her dark hair. If I was the prince, there was no way a simple kiss would ever do if Snow White looked like her. It was impossible to resist the urge to touch, to taste.

She didn’t try and cover up, but a pretty flush did find its way across her chest and up her throat. She turned on her foot and climbed into the shower I had just vacated. I leaned against the rickety vanity once again and watched her as she cranked on the water without closing the shower curtain. She was short enough that the stream hit her on the top of the head when it came on, making her jump as water touched her wound. Immediately, rivulets of rosy colored water started to track over her skin as her hair went slick, the curls heavy with moisture.

I waited for her to tell me to go, to insist. I waited for her to look at me and tell me she was fine and would call if she needed me. I kept my eyes glued to her sexy shimmy as she moved her head from side to side in order to make sure she washed away the last of her accident. I knew I should go, but I was rooted in place and it was going to take more than a conscience I didn’t have to make me move.

She grabbed my shampoo bottle and held it out to me, blinking water out of her eyes. “Can you squirt this in my hand? I think I can scrub okay with one hand, but I don’t think I can get it out of the bottle.”

Jesus. She had no sense of self-preservation. She wasn’t just pulling the wolf’s tail; she was waving a raw steak in front of its giant teeth and exposed claws. If I got close enough to touch, that was exactly what was going to happen. I only had so much self-control and the cords were stretched as thin as they had ever been.

Uncrossing my arms, I pushed off the sink and closed the distance between us. I took the shampoo out of her hand and emptied the viscous liquid into my own palm. “Turn around and I’ll do it for you. I don’t want you to aggravate that wound. It still looks pretty ugly.”

Again, she followed my order without complaint. I had a hungry growl working its way up through my chest but I managed to bite it back. I sank my hands into her hair and started to work up a lather. I lightly skimmed my fingers over her scalp and slipped her curls through my palms. I’d never had a gentle bone in my body but suddenly I was learning I could be all kinds of soft and tender when I needed to be. The fingers on her injured side twitched as she lifted her good arm in front of her, her hand skimming across the swell of her breasts. My brain short-circuited and forgot everything it knew before her when she caught one of those very pink, very pointed nipples between her fingers and gave a little tug.

My stomach tightened, my cock kicked under the towel, and my thighs locked.

She tilted her head to the side and gave me a sultry, searching look as I worked my hands down the length of her hair. “You were thinking about me while you were in here, weren’t you? I heard you say my name.” She let go of the hold she had on her breast and her long, tapered fingers danced over the smooth skin of her stomach as she watched me and waited for an answer.

I guided the water over her hair with my hands and chased the suds down the line of her back and over the curve of her backside. She sucked in a breath at the blatant caress, but her eyes held mine, waiting for an answer.

“I was thinking about sex with you while I was in here. I was thinking how good you would feel, how sweet you would taste. It was the two of us together that got me off, not the idea of a hot, naked girl who is pretty much at my mercy.” That was something that would have gotten me off in the past, but with her, I wanted more.

I wanted her to want me for more than the fact that she owed me something.

“Oh.” Her teeth bit into her bottom lip at my words and the hand that was circling her belly button dipped into that valley between her legs that I was pretty sure was where heaven resided. “I feel hot. I feel wet, slippery, and slick.” Her eyes blazed, bluer than anything had the right to be, lit with an inner fire I wanted to touch. “I also feel empty. There is an ache here, a throb that matches every beat of my heart.”