“But you don’t mind it when I touch you.” It’s not a question. He’s stating a fact he’s already aware of.

“No, I don’t.”

“Why not? Because of my chair?” His voice is quiet but strong.

I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

“With or without the use of my legs, I could still overpower you.”

“I know you could.”

“Do you? Then why do you let me touch you?”

I jerk my foot back and slide back to my side of the large tub. “I don’t know why. All right? I have no idea why you don’t scare me. But you don’t.” I think about it. “Well, not that way, anyway. Not physically. I don’t think you would hurt me.”

“Why not?”

I suck in a breath and then count to ten while I release it. “When I was doing that thing for you the other day…”

He grins. “The blowjob!” he whispers vehemently.

“That thing,” I say again. “You could have held my head in place or forced me to take it deeper or any number of other things against my will, but you didn’t. You just let me do it and you enjoyed what I did.” I stop. “Wait. Why didn’t you take over? Did you know then about what happened to me?”

“No, no!” he rushes to say. “That wasn’t it at all. I was enjoying the fuck out of what you were doing. I wasn’t even thinking about the past. Or the future. Or anything else but coming.”

“I was willing to try swallowing,” I murmur. My cheeks fill with heat.

He laughs. “I know you were.” He waits a beat. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s make a deal.”

I narrow my eyes at him and he laughs. “What kind of deal?”

“I won’t assume you’re pitying me and you don’t assume I’m holding back because of your past. Deal?” He waits for me to answer.

“Deal,” I say.

“Good. Now will you please come over here? I don’t like for you to be so far away, seeing as how you’re naked and all.” He laughs.

“Come where?”

“On my face, preferably, but I’ll be happy if you’ll just come and slide in here close to me.”

He has such a naughty mind. “Are you going to touch me?” I ask. God, I hope he’s going to touch me.

“Unless you tell me you don’t want me to, yes.” He says it so directly. So succinctly. “You tell me to stop and I will. That’s all you have to do. Tell me to stop. I’ll listen. I promise.”

“You promise?”

He holds up a hand. “I swear it.”

I hop up on my knees and look down at my boobs. They’re covered in mounds of bubbles. I walk on my knees over to him. He pushes to one side of the tub, but I center his legs between mine and straddle him, moving up to where I can meet my torso with his.

“This is much better than what I had in mind,” he murmurs. He hooks an arm around my waist and pulls me closer. Then he kisses me. I lose the ability to speak, because I’m on top, I’m in charge, and he’s letting me do this.

Josh’s lips tug at mine, and his tongue tangles with mine inside my mouth, licking and nibbling and biting until I’m breathless and wiggling. He pulls back and looks at my face.

“I’m okay,” I say even before he can ask.

“I know,” he says quietly.

His hand skims up my side and he palms the side of my breast. He lifts it to his lips as he looks into my eyes. My nipple strains toward his lips and I arch my back, trying to get closer and closer. He blows a warm breath against my cold, hard nipple and my own breath escapes me. “Please, Josh,” I beg.

He barely touches his lips to my nipple, and then he pulls back. “What do you want, Star?” He covers my nipple with his open mouth, but he doesn’t bear down or make contact. He just hovers there.

“Please,” I say again.

“Right here?” he asks around my nipple.

“Yes,” I whisper.

Suddenly, he tightens his arm around my waist, and his hand cups my breast a little tighter, and he sucks my nipple into his mouth. Pleasure shoots straight to the center of me, and I have to reach for his shoulders to keep from falling. I hold tightly to him.

“I’ve got you,” he says, lifting his head for barely a second. “I won’t let you fall.” Then he sucks my nipple back into his mouth. Hard. He’s not gentle or easy. He takes me inside his mouth and tugs, lips and teeth and tongue pulling, teasing, and sucking.

His free hand slips up my waist and he grabs my other breast, kneading and tugging. I moan. “God, Josh…”

He drops my breasts, but he doesn’t let my nipple fall from his mouth as he palms my ass and jerks me hard against him, pulling me forward, as close as I can get to his swim trunks. The hard length of his manhood presses against me.

“Too fast?” he asks.

“Not fast enough,” I tell him. I palm the back of his head, abrading his scalp with my fingernails, and he starts to hum around my nipple. It’s a hot, happy sound and I like it. “Josh…” The place between my thighs is thrumming like crazy and I don’t know what to do with all these new, fabulous sensations that are wracking my body.

“Hmm?” he hums at me, his eyes lifting to meet mine. He lets my nipple go and says, “You taste like cotton candy.”

I laugh. It’s a throaty sound, and I’m surprised to hear it. “You’re so full of compliments.”