We Fall Like Ashes | Wildfire Series

Fifty-One: Just Kidding

"You weren't serious when you said we should see if this tub is deep enough for you to sit on my lap again?" I whispered.

"Well, not right now," she said thickly.

"Oh?" I raised a brow. "You suddenly don't want to see if it's deep enough to ride my cock, to finally see what that feels like beneath the water? Because a minute ago...you sounded pretty damn ready."

"I, well—"

A flush worked its way up Nessa's neck. It might have been because of my words—which were her words—but it also could have been due to the steam rising in the bathroom. Nearly halfway filled, the tub was raising hot, sticky moisture, which coated the mirror behind Nessa. It swirled in the air, thick enough to get Nessa's words stuck in her throat.

"Damn, baby." I smiled, leaning down to kiss along her jawline and murmur across her skin. "Did your sharp tongue drown in the whiskey tonight?"

She bristled at that. "Of course not."

"Of course not," I repeated with a broadening of my grin. My lips fell to her neck. "You're just trying to decide exactly how deep you want to dig your heels in about this."

"You're acting ridiculous, Grayson," she said, and once again, I could hear Nessa's expression in her tone. The roll of her eyes, the tightening of her lips.

"You're wrong about that, Adler. Tonight, I'm being very serious. Which is what you were a minute ago, too. Until you decided to be the ridiculous one."

With a meaningful look, I backed away. Nessa kept her eyes on me as I walked to the shower and rinsed my feet so that I wouldn't get sand in the tub. The water splashing into the bath echoed noisily around us, but I swore Nessa's heartbeat could be heard, too. She watched as I stripped my shirt off and over my head, flinging it to the tiled floor. My shorts followed, and Nessa's eyes betrayed her, immediately falling to scrape over my naked body.

"Gray..." she said warningly, and I flashed her a cheeky grin before stepping into the bath and sinking into it.

"You're awfully stubborn tonight, Wednesday baby." I moaned as the hot water caressed my muscles, which were stiff from the long car ride earlier. "More than usual."

"I'm just doing us both a favor." She sniffed, purposefully—and regretfully—looking away. "How boring would it be if I always let you get what you want?"

I laughed at how falsely determined she was. "You should have thought about that before dangling something you knew I'd want right in front of me." I dropped my voice as a reminder. "You know I'm persistent when I want to be."

Nessa's eyes couldn't help but dart back toward me. They caught on my face, my smile, and I could tell she was fighting her own grin. She crossed her arms over her chest as her gaze fell to wander over me.

"If you don't want to get in, fine," I said, accompanied by an over-dramatic sigh. "I'll just enjoy a soak on my own and imagine you in my lap, then."                                      

My erection was pretty undeniable at this point. It had snapped to attention as soon as I'd looked up earlier to see Nessa dragging her feet through the sand as she walked toward me, naughty expression—and words—in tow. And if she didn't want to follow through, I'd just have to make do without her.

Momentarily, of course, because we both knew she was about to fold.

I tipped my head back and closed my eyes, relaxing. Well, pretending to relax. I couldn't really relax. Not now when I was so goddamn wired from what Nessa had described. But I tried to make myself relax anyway so that when I wrapped my hand around my cock beneath the water, I could let out a satisfied groan.