“One step ahead of you.” I growled at her sassy and sure words. Her newfound confidence might be more of a turn-on than her miles of silken hair and all that golden skin that only I was allowed to touch. “You need to catch up.”

I growled at her again and put my hands under her backside and effortlessly lifted her up. She immediately wound her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I was smugly pleased with myself when I realized she no longer felt featherlight. She was still slight, lithe and easy to carry from one place to the other, but the hollows in her face had filled out and there was more than enough to fill my hands as they curled possessively around the soft swell of her ass.

Her nose brushed up and down the side of my neck and I shivered as her tongue darted out and flicked along the line of my pulse where it was thudding heavy and hurried as we stumbled into the opulent bathroom. The shower was a walk-in surrounded by glass with multiple shower heads. It looked like it was made with all intentions of more than one person using it to get clean. I set Poppy down on the edge of the sprawling vanity and took a step back so I could kick off my boots and peel off my filthy coveralls. She watched me with avid eyes that got hotter and hotter the more clothes I lost. Soon I was standing in front of her in nothing more than aqua-blue boxer briefs.

She bit down on her lower lip and reached out a hand so that she could trail a tentative finger along the ridge of my cock that was stretching the colorful fabric to its limits. She had hesitantly put her hands on my dick when we fooled around before, but she typically pulled back like it would burn her. This time she kept up her delicate caress until she reached the waistband, where the eagerly swollen head was peeking out of the elastic. I had to lock my knees to keep them from turning to jelly when she used the tip of her finger to circle the sensitive flesh over and over again.

“You always have on underwear that’s some kind of crazy color. Why no black or white?”

Of all the times she could pick to ask me about my choice of undergarments, of course she would pick the moment when I couldn’t think straight because of the way her hand was sliding into those brightly colored briefs and wrapping around the rock-hard erection they were covering.

I ran my hands up the outside of her denim-covered legs until I got to her waist. I watched her carefully as I worked my palms up under the hem of her baggy sweater. I started to inch the material up her rib cage but had to stop and suck in a breath when her grasp around my dick tightened and my eyes crossed because of how good it felt. “I dunno. You can find black and white anywhere and it’s kind of expected. It’s boring.”

I got her sweater up over her head and let out a grunt of appreciation at the sight of her in nothing but her jeans and a soft, rose-colored bra. It looked silky, so of course I ran my fingers over the outside edge and watched as the touch made her creamy skin pebble in anticipation. Her legs tightened around my hips as I trailed a lone finger directly down the center of her chest, lightly skimming her belly button and stopping to pop open the button of her jeans.

She sucked in a sharp breath, so I stopped and started to pull back, not wanting to rush her. However, I had to chuckle when she used the grip she had on the most sensitive part of my anatomy to hold me in place.

“Nothing about you is boring. All of you stands out.” She lifted her hips for me, and reluctantly pulled her hand out of my underwear so that I could pull her jeans off her legs. Her underwear matched the pretty bra and did very little to hide that private place on her body that I only knew by touch and taste. She wasn’t lying to stroke my ego. There was a visible damp spot right in the center of the silk that made my mouth water.

“I spent my entire childhood feeling like I was overlooked, like nobody could see me. When I was old enough to do something about it, I made sure no one would be able to ignore me.” I put my hands back on her hips and pulled her to the edge of the counter so that her softness and wetness were pressed up against the straining hardness between my legs that was begging for some kind of relief. “I wanted to be seen.”

She skimmed her hands over my shoulders, down over the wolf inked on my chest, and across each and every single one of the lines that were carved into my stomach. She traced the twin lines over my hips that arrowed into the elastic waistband of my underwear and brushed the backs of her fingers over the narrow shot of hair under my belly button that was practically a neon sign guiding her toward the place on my body that couldn’t hide the way I was affected by her.

“I see you, Wheeler. Even when I wasn’t looking, I saw you.”

They were words very similar to the ones I had said to her when I was trying to convince her to give me a shot.

“I’m glad we both had our eyes open.” The last of the words dropped as she hopped off the counter so all of her was pressed against all of me. She hooked a single finger in the waistband and tugged.

“Off.”

Her eyes turned sultry and heavy-lidded. The insanely thick lashes dropping low as I did as she requested. It was the first time I’d been fully naked in front of her and everything inside of me quivered with the overwhelming need for her to like what she saw. I didn’t need to worry, like she said, she saw me even when she wasn’t looking, and now that she was looking, she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“That tattoo goes all the way down.” Her voice was hushed as she traced the swirling black ink that decorated my lower abdomen all the way down to the base of my cock. The tribal flames went as low as they could without actually being on my dick. They hurt like a bitch to get but I was glad they were there as her fingers lightly drifted over them, going lower and lower. Her touch seared my skin and I knew I would feel it long after we left this bathroom.

I reached around her for the clasp on the back of her bra. She stiffened in my arms and lifted wide eyes up to mine. “I don’t know that I’m ready for that just yet.” She looked embarrassed to say it, which should be at odds with the way she was rubbing against my unleashed cock, but somehow it was so very Poppy.

I tucked the front of her long hair behind her ear, cupped her face in my dirty hands, and lowered my head so I could kiss her. When I pulled back, we were both breathing hard and her eyes were unfocused. I stepped back and walked over to the shower so that I could turn it on and find the right temperature. She leaned back on the vanity, her arms bent as she braced herself so that she could watch me as I stepped under the steamy water and let it sluice off all the oil and grime from work. I popped open the mini-shampoo and scrubbed my matted-down hair and rubbed my hands roughly over my face and chest, chasing any other hidden smudges and smears that might mark up her flawless skin.